Dristi Chakma defies the odds, wins international recognition in architecture
Dristi Chakma grew up in Rangamati, a small town nestled among the hills and waterways of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. From a young age, she was drawn to the landscapes, homes, and everyday scenes of her community, which she captured through her sketches. In her school, art was given the same importance as science or math, with regular competitions nurturing her creativity. What began as a childhood habit gradually evolved into a design philosophy rooted in both structure and story. Even as she moved to Dhaka, then Melbourne, and now London, the essence of that early engagement has remained a constant.
Recently, social media was flooded with her success story, as her work was selected as one of the top entries from over 7,000 submissions for London's prestigious Drawing of the Year Awards. Her illustration was also featured in the Drawing of the Year 2025 book, earning her international recognition.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
The Daily Star got in touch with the young architect, who now resides in London, over the phone.
"Growing up in an indigenous community, I was surrounded by layered cultures and lived traditions. That exposure shaped my sensitivity to context, and it continues to influence how I approach design," Dristi shared. "I've come to think socially as much as visually. It's made me more curious about the stories behind spaces, who gets included, who gets left out, and it helped me to get more attuned to the quiet beauty in everyday life. With this illustration being recognised globally, it felt like coming full circle."
Dristi studied architecture at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), where she learned to balance creativity with structural logic. She later worked at VITTI Sthapati Brindo Ltd and taught as a lecturer at MIST, gaining hands-on experience from concept to construction. Her perspective broadened further during her Master of Architecture at the University of Melbourne, supported by the Australia Awards Scholarship. There, she discovered the works of Peter Cook and Doug John Miller, visionaries who showed her that architectural drawing could be bold, emotional, and poetic.
"Everything you see in my drawing has structural reasoning," she explained. "I'm particular about how elements connect and behave, even when the work leans into a more expressive or narrative direction. There's always a dialogue between the technical and the intuitive. The architectural logic grounds the work, while the illustrative side gives it character and breath. I think that's where its richness comes from—being both rooted and imaginative at once."
When discussing her tools, Dristi explained that she primarily works digitally. She uses Rhino for modeling, Illustrator and Photoshop for refinement, and Procreate for hand-drawn overlays. Each tool contributes something unique. Rhino provides clarity and structure. Adobe enhances the visual language. Procreate keeps the process fluid and instinctive. The combination helps her strike a balance between architectural precision and expressive storytelling.
On whether her approach differs between painting and architectural design, she reflected, "I wouldn't call myself a painter, but architecture is where my creative process truly comes alive. In the early stages of a project, it's loose and exploratory. I sketch freely, test moods, forms, and spatial ideas. It's open-ended and imaginative. But as the design progresses, it becomes more technical. Structure, materials, and coordination start to take over. I enjoy that shift. It's where vision meets reality, and that's where architecture gets exciting."
Her award-winning submission, "Dissemination and Storage: Archive as Spectacle", reimagines how we interact with museums. Instead of quiet galleries and passive viewers, the illustration envisions a space where artifacts move freely through intelligent systems, while human visitors are confined to designated paths.
"The drawing was developed during a studio titled 'Art, Culture and Other Things', where we were invited to rethink cultural infrastructure. In this piece, I flipped the conventional narrative. Rather than artifacts being static and humans being the viewers, the roles are reversed. Visitors follow controlled routes, while artifacts glide independently through the space. It brings the hidden labor, sorting, and systems of storage to the forefront. It questions how culture is consumed, who holds agency, and what we consider worthy of display," stated Dristi.
Technically, the piece began as a Rhino model. "I carefully set a frame that captured the story and spatial composition in one view," she explained. "From there, I extracted linework and layered the atmosphere in Illustrator and Photoshop, with intuitive overlays in Procreate to keep the image alive and fluid."
But beyond the process, what moved her most was the reception. "Being selected from over 7,000 entries was surreal. But what truly stood out was being showcased alongside leading studios like Foster + Partners and RSHP, and having my work reviewed by a jury from firms I've admired for years—Zaha Hadid Architects, Hayes Davidson, Foster + Partners. Meeting some of them at the exhibition and exchanging ideas felt like more than just recognition—it felt like a conversation. One where I could speak through my drawings and be heard by those I'd once only read about."
Reflecting on the publication itself, she added, "Being included in the Drawing of the Year 2025 book was incredibly special. It wasn't just for the recognition, but for what it represented. The book highlights some of the year's most compelling architectural visuals, and to see my work among them was humbling. It felt like a small piece of my journey had entered a global conversation, purely through a visual language. When I told my parents, they were incredibly proud, even though they don't quite know what architectural illustration is! For them, seeing my name published and knowing the work was acknowledged globally meant everything."
However, the journey has not been without challenges. As a Bangladeshi woman in a male-dominated field, Dristi has faced her share of obstacles.
"Globally, architecture remains a demanding profession where women are still underrepresented. In Bangladesh, these challenges can be even more pronounced, especially in leadership and on-site roles. You often have to balance expectations around family, career, and identity in spaces where women have not always had a voice. But I have been fortunate to have mentors and a supportive family. I deeply respect the women who manage both work and life while contributing meaningfully to the field. Things are changing, and it is encouraging to see more women entering architecture and being recognized not just for participating, but for leading."
Dristi Chakma's journey is more than a story of international acclaim. It's a testament to staying grounded while reaching for the extraordinary. From the quiet hills of Rangamati to global recognition, her work continues to breathe with memory, meaning, and imagination. It reminds us that creativity, when rooted in lived experience, has the power to travel far and speak volumes.
Comments