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Published : 03 Sep 2025, 12:06 AM
Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum is set to receive the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the second time.
The Aga Khan Award is one of the most prestigious honours in global architecture.
Marina has been nominated for her innovative project “Khudi Bari”, or Little House, a climate-adaptive housing solution designed for communities repeatedly displaced by flooding and river erosion in Bangladesh.
Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus and Cultural Affairs Advisor Mostofa Sarwar Farooki have congratulated her on being nominated for one of the world’s most prestigious architecture awards.
Marina, who chairs the board of trustees of the Bangladesh National Museum, is the first Bangladeshi architect to win the award twice.
This year, the award committee has announced seven winning projects.
The ceremony is scheduled to take place in Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek on Sept 15.
Marina previously won the award in 2016 for designing the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque in Dhaka.
In his congratulatory message, Yunus said: “Your innovative work on Khudi Bari -- a climate-resilient, affordable, and portable home for communities displaced by river erosion -- brilliantly demonstrates how architecture can serve humanity with compassion and vision.
“You have shown the world that design is not only about form and aesthetics, but also about dignity, resilience, and the power of human ingenuity to address the greatest challenges of our time.
Born in 1969, Marina graduated in architecture from BUET in 1995.
She later co-founded the practice URBANA with fellow architect Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury.
The two married in 1997 and jointly designed the Independence Monument and Museum of Independence at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka.
After their separation in 2005, Marina left URBANA and went on to establish her own firm, Marina Tabassum Architects.
