Series I is composed of records related to Dunham's professional work as an architect, and primarily includes photographs, negatives, slides, and reproductions of architectural drawings. It is organized geographically, with the exception of Subseries 4, which includes material related to a MoMA exhibition.
Dunham's architectural career was primarily concentrated in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) where he was Chief Architect of the local office of Berger Engineers Ltd. (later known as the Louis Berger Group) from 1960-1962. Here, Dunham designed and/or oversaw the construction of Rajshahi University, Mymensingh Agricultural University, Barisal College, various Thana (village) administrative officer housing, and most famously, Kamalapur Railway Station in Dhaka. This station was featured in the Museum of Modern Art's 2022 exhibition The Project of Independence: Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia. Correspondence and photographs compiled by Dunham's daughter, Katherine D. Dunham, and his biographer, Rafique Islam, related to the exhibition are included in Subseries 4. Also included are various correspondence and articles by architectural organizations (such as DOCOMOMO, the Institute of Architects Bangladesh, and Niklaus Graber) and the MoMA curators, Martino Stierli and Sean Anderson, calling for the preservation of Kamalapur Railway Station after government announcements for its demolition. Included in Subseries 1: East Pakistan, are pages from his portfolio documenting these projects, which he submitted as part of his Wheelwright Prize application (the remaining application can be found in Series V: Personal Papers).
Also included in this series are smaller residential projects in both India and New York, which are represented primarily through sketches, photographs, and small-scale reproductions of architectural drawings.
A gap in this series is original full-scale architectural drawings.
Box 1 Folder 1 Portfolio for Wheelwright Application, 1960-1972 Mar
Includes photographs, reproductions of architectural drawings, and written descriptions by Daniel Dunham of his work as an architect and consultant in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) assembled in a portfolio for his 1972 Wheelwright Application. Architectural projects included are: Rajshahi University, Mymensingh University, East Bengal Railways (Kamalapur), Thana houses, East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) faculty housing. Consultancy projects include: Calcutta latrines, rural housing, lower-middle class housing. Included is a copy of his article on courtyard houses and a report on hire-purchase housing in Calcutta.
Box 1 Folder 2 Rajshahi University (Rajshahi, Bangladesh). Photographs, 1960-1990
Includes photographs and negatives of architectural model, construction (bamboo scaffolding), faculty residences, dormitories, library, medical clinic. Photographs with verso annotations are sleeved separately; those with no annotations are doubled. Photographs taken by Daniel in the 1960s and Katherine Dunham in the 1990s. (103 Items)
Box 1 Folder 3 Rajshahi University (Rajshahi, Bangladesh). Architectural Drawings, 1960-1962
Includes reproductions of the master plan. (3 items)
Box 1 Folder 4 Rajshahi University (Rajshahi, Bangladesh). News Coverage, 1961
Includes articles by Nurul Islam and A.F.G. Mohiuddin in the Campus Compendium. (2 items)
Box 1 Folder 5 East Pakistan (Bangladesh) University of Engineering and Technology (Dhakka, Bangladesh), 1960-1965, 1994
Includes photographs taken by Daniel Dunham in the 1960s and by Katherine Dunham in the 1990s, and reproductions of architectural drawings. Most material is of faculty housing. (26 photographs/negatives; 3 drawings)
Box 1 Folder 6 Mymensingh (Bangladesh) Agricultural University (Mymensingh, Bangladesh), 1960-1965, 1994
Includes photographs taken by Daniel Dunham in the 1960s and by Katherine Dunham in the 1990s, and reproductions of architectural drawings. Photographs with verso annotations are sleeved separately; those with no annotations are doubled. (57 photographs/negatives; 2 drawings; 1 contact sheet)
Box 1 Folder 7 Barisal College (Barisal, Bangladesh), circa 1960-1990
Includes photographs and negatives taken by Daniel Dunham in the 1960s and color photographs possibly from the 1990s. Included are photographs of construction with bamboo scaffolding. Photographs with verso annotations are sleeved separately; those with no annotations are doubled. (84 items)
Box 1 Folder 8 Thana Officers Twin-House, circa 1960-1967
Includes reproductions of architectural drawings. (2 Items)
Box 1 Folder 9 Kamalapur Railway Station (Dhakka, Bangladesh), 1961, circa 1990s, 2021
Includes photographs and negatives taken by Katherine Dunham in the 1990s (likely 1997) and others from the 1970s. Most photographs (reprinted in 2021) are of the construction process and depict bamboo scaffolding. Two contact sheets are included which show Kamalapur Railway Station and what are likely buildings from Mymensingh, as well as some identified buildings. A CD-ROM with two digital photographs selected by Katherine Dunham for the MoMA Exhibition is included. Architectural reproductions are included. Photographs of rickshaws with paintings of the railway station, printed in 2021, are included. Stamps and a postcard with the railway station are included, and a 1997 Star periodical with an article on the station. (54 photographs; 4 architectural drawings; 1 CD-ROM; 5 items)
Box 1 Folder 10 Correspondence, 1960-1965, 1994
Includes correspondence regarding Daniel Dunham's employment at Louis Berger, Inc. as well as personal correspondence between Louis Berger and Daniel Dunham who maintained a lifelong relationship after Dunham left the former's employment. Also included is a spreadsheet of Louis Berger, Inc.'s experience. (9 items)
Box 1 Folder 11 Bose House (Bangalore, India), circa 1968
Architectural drawings and sketches (7 items)
Box 1 Folder 12 Bimla House, circa 1980s
Architectural drawings (6 items)
Box 1 Folder 13 Toshi's House (Dalhousi, India), undated, 2005
Includes photographs of exterior and 2005 email correspondence with Mary Frances and Katherine Dunham and print-out architectural drawings regarding addition by other architects
Box 1 Folder 14 Schwartz House (Cape Cod, Massachusetts), 1971, 2000
Includes architectural sketches and photographs, as well as architectural drawings prepared by John B. Curtis (1971) and Frank Capson of Innovative Designs (2000). Correspondence regarding the original design and latter renovation by Innovative Designs are included. The Schwartz family dismissed Capson's designs and sought the advice of Daniel Dunham and his family. (16 items)
Box 1 Folder 15 New York Projects, 1958, circa 1960s, 1983
Box 1 Correspondence, 2020-2021
Print-outs of email correspondence between Katherine Dunham and Aaron Smithson of DOCOMOMO and Facebook print-outs of the Institute of Architects Bangladesh discussing proposed demolition of Kamalapur Railway Station. Also included is an open letter from MoMA curators Martino Stierli and Sean Anderson, a letter from Katherine Dunham to the IAB, and a letter from Niklaus Graber.
Box 1 Folder 17 Articles, 2019-2021
Print-outs of articles on Kamalapur Railway Station and its planned demolition by Anowar Hossain, Adnan Zillan Morshed, and others, as well as a draft of the exhibition's catalog text by Da Hyung.