Listed by the British Magazine Prospect as the third-greatest thinker in the COVID-19 era for “embracing the design challenges posed by what we are collectively doing to the planet,” Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum achieved international acclaim by winning the prestigious 2016 Aga Khan Architecture Award and Jameel Prize 5 of the V&A for designing and building a ‘visionary’ mosque. Located in a popular neighborhood on the northeastern periphery of the capital Dhaka (Faidabad Transmitter Link Road), the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, also known as Lal Masjid, was completed in 2012. A community space in addition to being a contemplative and spiritual center for the residents of the neighborhood, the mosque also functions as a school, meeting place, and as a playground. The land for the project was donated by her grandmother, Sufia Khatun (d. 2006); the mosque itself was built over the course of twelve years on a modest budget, largely raised by local residents. In her design, Tabassum recounts, she drew on the legacy of spiritual buildings such as the 8th-century Great Mosque of Cordoba in Spain “with its infinite space and magical light,” the 6th-century Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (the basilica that was converted back into a mosque in July 2020), and the earliest type of mosque, the hypostyle mosque, inspired by the house of the Prophet Muhammad.

At the same time, the architect wanted to evoke the architectural language that captures the essence of the ‘golden age’ of Bengali mosque architecture during the Sultanate period (14th to 16th centuries) while also communicating a creative contemporary expression. She thus made “a conscious decision not to incorporate symbolic elements” (such as a dome, minaret, or mihrab) but “to focus instead on the sense of spirituality.” Tabassum’s sensitive approach to the local geographical, cultural and social realities of the building is particularly commendable. Built with perforated terracotta brickwork using traditional methods, the mosque ‘breathes’ through porous brick walls, so that even during the summer months the prayer hall is ventilated and cool. Dappled natural light filtering in through the prayer hall’s perforated roof allows sufficient daylight to enter. Sunlight is also used to mark the qibla, identified by a vertical slit in the cylindrical brick wall, visible through a large opening in the wall of the prayer hall. The variations of natural daylight that changes throughout the day and the interplay of light and shadow underline Tabassum’s desire to communicate an atmosphere of “spirituality through light [that] can span the distance between here and infinity, between today and eternity,” creating a place that evokes physical sensations that may “get under your skin”, allowing the visitor to “look inward.”