Description

Bangladesh is closer than it seems. Bangladesh is the second-largest exporter of Western clothing in the world, you may be wearing something made there as you are reading it now.

Bangladesh has grown a very active modern architecture scene over just a few decades, but most people don’t know about it. There is now a stunning body of work that can easily be compared to Western architecture in terms of its versatility, quality, and originality. The fact that almost no one knows about them! Buildings from Bangladesh are not frequently displayed in the West. The genuine beauty of Bangladesh remains concealed by all the negative flaws spread by the media.

The only building that broke this rule is the Assembly Building in Dhaka, which was designed by American architect Louis Isadore Kahn. This monumental building is clearly one of the great mythical works of modernism in the 20th century. It is famous all over the world, yet it is visited by only a handful of people. But maybe at least as interesting as the building itself is how it came to be and how it contributed to contemporary Bangladeshi architecture. It is the result of an unlikely cultural exchange that was started by a Bangladeshi architect Muzharul Islam, who is believed to be the first modern architect in the area. Islam had studied architecture at Yale in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. having Paul Rudolph as one of his professors. When he came back to East Pakistan (which didn’t become Bangladesh until 1971), he looked at the traditional building culture of Bengal through the eyes of Western modernism and made a unique mix of Eastern and Western ideas about space. In 1962, when Dacca (now Dhaka) needed a new parliament building, he would have been the best person to design it. He wanted to improve the process of culture exchange, so he suggested asking a well-known architect from another globe to do the job. Kahn was thrilled to be chosen, and he immediately embraced the Bengali history of architecture right away. With the intellectual company of Islam and the inspiration for deltaic culture, Kahn finally accomplished Bengal’s dream.

The Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban (National Assembly Building) is the most notable modern building in Bangladesh and is regarded by many as Kahn’s finest achievement. A visit to the interior, including the octagonal Assembly Hall, is a special delight, despite the exterior’s characteristic bold geometric patterns.

The National Assembly has restricted access. We organize private tours of the interior of the renowned Parliament building with a minimum of ten working days’ notice. A typical excursion to the parliament takes approximately an hour or less. It is also possible to arrange extended visit permission for architects or someone with a special interest in this monumental architecture. Any foreign national or resident must obtain a permit using the application form which you will receive from us. The application must be filled out, signed, and accompanied by a copy of the applicant’s passport and visa. To submit a complete application for a guaranteed visit, it is recommended that all visitors obtain a visa from their native country. Any visitor intending to obtain a visa upon arrival who wishes to visit the parliament within a few business days of arrival may be unable to do so. The parliament is accessible to the public Sunday through Thursday and is closed on Friday, Saturday, and other government holidays.

Dhaka architecture tour is a down-to-dusk program. Besides the National Parliament Building, on this trip you will also visit a lot of modern and elegant buildings of Muzharul Islam, Bashirul Haq, Saif Ul Haque, Kazi Khaleed Ashraf, Nahas Ahmed Khalil, Mohammad Foyez Ullah, W. Shamsul Wares, Mustapha Khalid Palash, Marina Tabassum, Salauddin Ahmed, and Kashef Mahbub Chowdhury.