Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban (National Assembly Building), Dhaka, Bangladesh

Related people

Abul Quasem Abdullah (was created by)
Louis Isidore Kahn (architect)

Date

1962-1983

Description

The National Capital of Bangladesh at Dhaka, a massive project that stretched over two decades, is widely considered to be architect Louis Kahn's masterwork. Begun as a commission for the nation of East Pakistan, and only after declined offers to Le Corbusier and Alvar Aalto, the capital project survived the fires of the Bangladeshi revolution to be completed in 1983, almost ten years after Kahn's death. The National Campus complex, known as Sher-E-Bangla-Nagar, consists of a main assembly building, the Supreme Court, residences for government officials, offices, a mosque, schools, and a hospital. The Assembly Building is the focal point, a diamond-shaped 'Citadel of Assembly' flanked on three sides by a crescent-shaped lake, across which lie the hostels for ministers, secretaries, and members of the assembly. "The Assembly Building is constructed inside and out of reinforced concrete, cast in 5 foot (1.5 metre) high sections in formwork made from narrow vertical wood boards, giving the walls a subtle vertical texture when seen up close... ...The horizontal pour lines, where the daily concrete casting stops, were kept 'as the marks of making' by casting a recess in the concrete into which 6 inch bands of white marble were set." (McCarter, 269) Above selection from: McCarter, R. (2005). Louis I Kahn. New York: Phaidon Press. Keywords: Bangladesh, Dhaka, parliament, poured concrete, marble banding, brick, diamond, citadel, castle, moat, pure geometry, prayer, mosque, circular window, semi-circular window. Submitted by Abul Quasem Abdullah.

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