Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2016 Winner: Bait ur Rouf Mosque Dhaka, Bangladesh

Architect: Marina Tabassum Architects – Client: Sufia Khatun

Project Gallery

Aga Khan Award for Architecture

A gap in the brick wall denote the direction of the qibla, and then splays it so that, during worship, people don’t get distracted by the sight lines onto the street, but see instead the sunlight bouncing off the thickness of the wall.. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

Apart from being the spiritual centre for the residents, the mosque became a community centre, a place to gather, a place that was orderly, clean, and filled with light and good ventilation.. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

Built within a modest budget, one that was raised through charitable contributions. Yet it is the architectural expression that is admirable – the quintessential mosque, elegant yet elemental, with spaces that are direct, simple and robust, allowing the congregation to gather in prayer as equals. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

Interior view showing the minimum materials used, exposed concrete and bricks, where light and ventilation are naturally provided by the simple vocabulary of Jali bricks architecture. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

The prayer hall separates itself from the rest of the structure by open-to-sky light wells between the cylinder and the inner square. Light pours down on the unplastered brick walls, giving it a primordial character. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

Detailed view of the brick jali, gaps between bricks let air and daylight through the wall while diffusing the glare of direct sunlight.. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

The prayer hall is a carefully scaled and proportioned volume that is contemplative in nature, is evenly lit to enhance the feeling of all as equal. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

Built on the northeast limits of the city, this terracotta brick building is exquisitely scaled, holding the corner in what is a fragmented, chaotic urban landscape. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

Built in brick using traditional methods, this mosque is an attempt to create a language of architecture that takes essence from the glorious legacy of mosque architecture in Bengal during the Sultanate period, while maintaining a contemporary expression. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

The Mosque is a perfect square that sits on a high plinth, which prevents floodwater from entering the structure, allows people to sit and talk, and creates a separation between the sacred site and the busy street.. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

To solve the 13 degree angle created by the existing site with the Qibla axis, a cylendrical volume was inserted into the square envelope to facilitate the rotation of the prayer hall towards Qibla simultaneously formulating light courts on four sides. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

Exterior view of corner Lightcourt and the vertival linear gap that indicates the qibla direction. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

The riwaq, or colonnade use the additional depth allocated by the cylinder off-centred on the south facing side. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

Built in brick, this mosque is an attempt at creating a language of architecture that takes essence from the Sultanate period and gives a contemporary expression. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

The ablution uses the additional depth allocated by the cylinder off-centred on the east facing side. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

The quality of space and architecture in this project proves that with the use of local materials and dedicated craftsmen, and an attempt towards spirituality through light can span the distance between here and infinity, between today and eternity. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

The monsoon rain may pose a problem as the openings for the hot air to escape also allow in rain. However, it is important to keep cross-ventilation even when it is raining, and the rain seems to have good drainage in the spaces where it enters. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

Column free prayer hall is raised on eight peripheral columns, in addition to four light courts, random circular roof openings allows daylight into the prayer hall creating an ornate pattern on the floor enhancing spirituality through light . Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

Qibla direction is marked by a slit of light penetrating the cylendrical brick wall which forms a light court with the facing flat wall. Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora

Project description

An adherence to the essential – both in the definition of the space and the means of construction – was crucial in formulating the design of Bait ur Rouf Mosque. With land donated by her grandmother and modest funds raised by the local community, the architect has created an elemental place for meditation and prayer.

The irregularly shaped site is covered by a high plinth, which not only protects against flooding but provides a gathering place set apart from the crowded street below. On top of the plinth sits the mosque, a perfect square, 23m x 23m and 7.6m high. Within this square is a cylinder, displaced to the northwest corner of the perimeter wall to create additional
depth for the colonnade and the ablution area on the southand east-facing sides respectively. And within this cylinder is in turn a smaller square, 16.75m x 16.75m and 10.6m high – that is, 3m taller than the perimeter wall. Rotated within the cylinder to orientate itself with the qibla, this pavilion contains the prayer hall, which is separated from the rest of the building by open-to-sky lightwells.

There are two structural systems in place – the load-bearing brick walls that define the outer perimeter and the smaller spaces, and the reinforced-concrete frame that spans the column-free prayer hall. The brick walls exploit the depth between the outer square and the inner cylinder, allowing for buttressing in the interstitial space. This in turn makes it possible for panels between the load-bearing structure to have a jali of brick, leaving out alternate bricks and rotating them. In the prayer hall itself a simple vertical gap in the brick denotes the direction of the qibla, but the recess is splayed so that worshippers are not distracted by sight lines onto the busy street. What they see instead is sunlight bouncing off the wall behind. Awash with light, open to the elements, the mosque ‘breathes’.

Jury citation

“In a transitional area caught between urban hyper-density and rural proximity, the terracotta mosque is an exquisitely proportioned building that is both elegant and eternal. Funded primarily by community donors, the mosque design challenges the status quo and understands that a space for prayer should elevate the spirit. The mosque does so through the creation of an interior space that is rich with light and
shadow, but at the same time possesses a robust simplicity that allows for deep reflection and contemplation in prayer.”

“The mosque appears to be inspired by multiple sources – one essentially traditional reference is to the heritage of the formal terracotta brick structures of the Bengal Sultanate of the fifteenth century; another inspiration is the Capitol complex built by Louis Kahn in Dhaka.”

“The quality of construction frequently raises the quality of life. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Bait ur Rouf Mosque, which contains an intricate geometric
layering of space – a square prayer chamber contained within cylindrical walls, which are in turn enclosed by a square terracotta brick structure that serves as the austere
public face of the building. Within the prayer chamber, the architect has created a delicate interplay of bare walls textured in red brick and pierced by shafts of light that
create an abstract, almost primeval symbolism when viewed in conjunction with the spots of light that punctuate the surface of the bare floors at different moments of the day. This abstract symbolism is undiluted by conventional forms of mosque architecture. Gone are the dome and the everprevalent minarets, the decorative panels of designed relief and calligraphy. In their place stand intricately structured
brick walls that imbue the structure with a unique aura of spirituality.”

About Marina Tabassum – mtarchitekts.com

Marina Tabassum graduated from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 1995. The same year, with Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury, she founded URBANA, an
architecture practice based in Dhaka. In 1997, her second year into practice, the firm won a prestigious national competition to design the Independence Monument of Bangladesh and the Liberation War Museum.

In 2005, Tabassum ended her ten-year partnership in URBANA to establish MTA (Marina Tabassum Architects). MTA began its journey in the quest to establish a language of
architecture that is contemporary to the world yet rooted to the place. The practice is consciously kept and retained at an optimum size, and projects undertaken are carefully chosen and are limited by number per year.

Marina Tabassum is the academic director of the Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements. She has conducted design studios in BRAC University since 2005. She taught an Advanced Design Studio as visiting professor at the
University of Texas.

Tabassum has lectured and presented her works and ideas on architecture at various prestigious international architectural events. She has curated exhibitions and directed architecture symposia in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her project the Pavilion Apartment in Dhaka was shortlisted for an Aga Khan Award in 2004. Tabassum received an Ananya Shirshwa Dash award which recognised the top ten women of Bangladesh in 2004.

Project Data

Aga Khan Award for Architecture Website

www.akdn.org/architecture

2016 Winners

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2016 Winner: Friendship Centre Gaibandha, Bangladesh

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2016 Winner: Bait ur Rouf Mosque Dhaka, Bangladesh

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2016 Winner: Hutong Children’s Library and Art Centre Beijing, China

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2016 Winner: Superkilen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2016 Winner: Tabiat Pedestrian Bridge, Tehran

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2016 Winner: Issam Fares Institute Beirut, Lebanon

2016 Nominated Projects

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 19): Makoko Floating School, Lagos, Nigeria - The Floating School is a prototype structure whose main aim is to generate an alternative building system and urban culture for the populations of Africa’s coastal regions. The triangular A-frame or pyramid

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 18): 40 Knots House, Tehran, Iran - Creating a small and low budget apartment building in Tehran does not leave much space for creativity, yet an architect can try to do something with the material, textures, outer envelope and light.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 17): Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, Dhaka, Bangladesh - In an increasingly dense neighbourhood of Dhaka, the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque was raised on a plinth on a site axis creating a 13-degree angle with the qibla direction, which called for creativity with the layout.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 16): Bunateka Libraries, various locations, Kosovo - A series of public libraries for disadvantaged youth in rural areas. “The idea is that books are a source of knowledge just like water is the source of life,” says the architect.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 15): Casa-Port New Railway Station, Casablanca, Morocco - Casa-Port railway station (French: Gare de Casa-Port) is a "Moroccan National Railway" station in the centre of Casablanca. This transport hub, designed to anticipate 25 million passenger trips-per-year in the future

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 14): Ceuta Public Library, Spain - Ceuta, is a small Spanish enclave city on the Moroccan soil. The site of the Ceuta library is located on the original Marinid dynasty's archaeological area...The excavation ground was included in the interior space of the public building, and the architects

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 13): Doha Tower, Doha, Qatar - It is a cylindrical volume that measures 45m in diameter. The steel and concrete structure follows a diamond shaped grid that bends along the virtual surface of the cylinder. The façade uses a double skin system. The exterior skin is composed

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 12): Friendship Centre, Bangladesh - The Friendship Centre in Gaibandha, Bangladesh, was built for the local NGO Friendship, which provides services for poor citizens of the region. Built by Dhaka-based architect Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury, it was designed

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 11): Guelmim School of Technology, Morocco - Situated in Guelmim, Morocco, 200 kilometres south of Agadir and known as the “door of the Sahara”, the School was conceived in line with a policy of decentralisation and making education more accessible to those living in remote areas.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 10): Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, Beirut, Lebanon - The Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI) building at the American University of Beirut (AUB) advances the university’s academic mission in the 21st century

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 9): King Fahad National Library, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - The King Fahad National Library is one of the most important cultural buildings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was completed and went into use for its intended purpose in November 2013.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 8): Manouchehri House, Textile Centre & Boutique Hotel, Kashan, Iran - The Manouchehri House is a boutique hotel and textile centre situated in Kashan’s historic residential neighborhood, in the province of Isfahan. The project entailed the restoration of a 19th century merchant home

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 7): Micro Yuan’er – Hutong/courtyard Renovation, Beijing, China - Micro Yuan'er is a project by zhang ke’s Beijing-based standardarchitecture, which revitalizes a historic hutong courtyard. The inserted structure, which contains a miniature art space and library

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 6): Restoration of Nasrid Tower, Almeria, Spain - This project by Castillo Miras Arquitectos explores the dichotomy between the solid, ageless construction of the existing 13th century Nasrid Tower, and the provisional, light, and degradable nature of the contemporary.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 5): New Power Station – Baku, Azerbaijan - The Power Station is located on a natural harbor in the Bay of Baku, which used to serve as a small shipyard for the ships working for the oil platforms. The original brief asked the architects to demolish the old

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 4): Royal Academy for Nature Conservation – Ajloun Forest Reserve, Jordan - Royal Academy for Nature Conservation in Ajloun Forest Reserve of Jordan is “the first centre in the Arab world” specialised in offering training on nature conservation.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 3): Superkilen – Public Park – Copenhagen, Denmark - Superkilen is a public park in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. A public space promoting integration across lines of ethnicity, religion and culture. A meeting place for residents of Denmark

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 2): Tabiat – Pedestrian Bridge – Tehran, Iran - Tabiat Bridge, literally: “Nature Bridge” is the largest pedestrian overpass built in Tehran, Iran. The architects first conceived the two-to-three level, 270-metre-long curved pedestrian bridge of varying width

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2014-2016 Cycle (Shortlisted Project # 1): Thread – Artists Residency & Cultural Center – Senegal - Thread is a socio-cultural centre that houses two artists’ dwellings and studio space for local and international artists. An ecologically sensitive meeting place which demonstrates how art and architecture can be part of rural life

Researched & Compiled by Arif Ali