Dhaka, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. It is the ninth-largest and seventh-most densely populated city in the world with a density of 23,234 people per square kilometer within a total area of approximately 300 square kilometers. Dhaka is a megacity, and has a population of 10.2 million residents as of 2024, and a population of over 23.9 million residents in Dhaka Metropolitan Area. It is widely considered to be the most densely populated built-up urban area in the world. Dhaka is the most important cultural, economic, and scientific hub of Eastern South Asia, as well as a major Muslim-majority city. Dhaka ranks third in South Asia and 39th in the world in terms of GDP. Lying on the Ganges Delta, it is bounded by the Buriganga, Turag, Dhaleshwari and Shitalakshya rivers. Dhaka is also the largest Bengali-speaking city in the world.
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) is an architectural prize established by Aga Khan IV in 1977. It aims to identify and reward architectural concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies in the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community development and improvement, restoration, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscape design and improvement of the environment.
The Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban is the house of the Parliament of Bangladesh, located at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. Designed while the country was still part of Pakistan by architect Louis Kahn, the complex is one of the largest legislative complexes in the world, covering 208 acres (840,000 m2).
Baitul Mukarram, officially Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, is a mosque located at the center of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The mosque was completed in 1968. It has a capacity of more than 42,000 worshipers.
The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is given for a distinguished body of work rather than for one building and is therefore not awarded for merely being currently fashionable.
The Architecture of Bengal, which comprises the modern country of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley, has a long and rich history, blending indigenous elements from the Indian subcontinent, with influences from different parts of the world. Bengali architecture includes ancient urban architecture, religious architecture, rural vernacular architecture, colonial townhouses and country houses and modern urban styles. The bungalow style is a notable architectural export of Bengal. The corner towers of Bengali religious buildings were replicated in medieval Southeast Asia. Bengali curved roofs, suitable for the very heavy rains, were adopted into a distinct local style of Indo-Islamic architecture, and used decoratively elsewhere in north India in Mughal architecture.
Muzharul Islam was a Bangladeshi architect, urban planner, educator and activist. He is considered as the Grand Master of regional modernism in South Asia. Islam is the pioneer of modern architecture in Bangladesh and the father of Bangali modernism. Islam's style and influence dominated the architectural scene in the country during the 1960s and 70s, along with major US architects he brought to work in Dhaka.
Lesley Naa Norle Lokko is a Ghanaian-Scottish academic, and novelist. From 2019 to 2020, she was a professor and served as dean of the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture in New York, in addition to holding teaching and other positions in Johannesburg, London, Accra and Edinburgh.
Muhammad Rafiq Azam is a Bangladeshi architect who is principal architect at Shatotto Architecture.
Bashirul Haq was a Bangladeshi architect, town planner and visiting professor of MIT. He was regarded as one of the most influential architects in South Asia in terms of environmentally and socially responsive design.
Friendship is a needs-driven non-governmental organisation that works in the Char islands and riverbanks of northern Bangladesh, the coastal belt in the south, and as of 2017, the Rohingya refugee camps in Ukhia, Cox's Bazar in the southeast. Established by Runa Khan in 2002, Friendship works to empower people through a sustainable, integrated development approach.
The Samdani Art Foundation is a private art foundation founded in 2011 in Dhaka, Bangladesh that aims to increase artistic engagement between the art and architecture of Bangladesh and the rest of the world. It is best known for producing the bi-annual Dhaka Art Summit, which is the highest daily visited contemporary art exhibition in the world, welcoming over 477,000 visitors in its fifth edition in February 2020. It completed its sixth edition in 2023. The foundation produces education programmes and exhibitions across the year in collaboration with Bangladeshi and international institutions and is one of the most active art institutions in South Asia.
Kazi Khaleed Ashraf is a Bangladeshi architect, urbanist and architectural historian. Writing from the intersection of architecture, landscape and the city, Ashraf has authored books and essays on architecture in India and Bangladesh, the work of Louis Kahn, and the city of Dhaka. His various writings on the architecture of Bangladesh have provided a theoretical ground for understanding both the historical and contemporary forms of architecture, while his written and design work on Dhaka advances that city as a "theorem" for understanding urbanism in a deltaic geography. Ashraf and contributing team received the Pierre Vago Journalism Award from the International Committee of Architectural Critics for the Architectural Design publication Made in India. He has also co-authored a number of publications with the architect Saif Ul Haque. Ashraf has recently established an international publication series called Locations: Anthology of Architecture and Urbanism that will present works and features from around the globe.
Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi architect.
Saif Ul Haque is an architect and educator based in Dhaka. He received Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2017-2019 cycle.
Ehsan Khan is a Bangladeshi architect and Urban Designer.
Swadhinata Stambha or Independence Monument is a national monument in Bangladesh to commemorate the historical events that took place in the Suhrawardy Udyan, previously known as Ramna Race Course ground regarding the Liberation War of Bangladesh.
Khaleda Ekram was a Bangladeshi architect, professor, researcher, and academic. She served as the 12th vice-chancellor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). She was the former dean of the faculty of architecture and planning and head of the department of architecture at BUET. She was the first woman to be appointed as the vice-chancellor of BUET. She held the position from September 2014 until her death in May 2016.
The Bait Ur Rouf Mosque is a distinctive urban mosque located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Designed by Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum and completed in 2012, it has been called a refuge of spirituality in urban Dhaka and received recognition for its beautiful use of natural light and for challenging the status quo of traditional mosque design. Instead of traditional symbolism such as domes and minarets, the mosque relies on open space and the rich interplay of light and shadow to create a prayer space that elevates the spirit.
