Award Cycle: 1987-1989 Cycle
Status: Award Recipient
Country of origin: Bangladesh
Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Client: Bangladesh Public Works Department
Architect: Louis I. Kahn, with David Wisdom and Associates (after 1979)
Size: 3'400'000 m²
Completed: 1983
Clear in form and composition, powerful in scale and siting, this building is widely considered a masterpiece. The architect drew upon and assimilated both the vernacular and monumental archetypes of the region, and abstracted and transformed, to a degree of utter purity, lasting architectural ideas from many eras and civilisations. The core of the composition is the assembly chamber, a 300-seat, 30-meters high, domed amphitheatre and the library. These spaces alternate among eight light and air courts" and a restaurant, as well as entrances to the garden and mosque.