Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh, National Assembly Building: elevation sketch of light elements
Louis I. Kahn
American, born Estonia. 1901–1974
1963
This charcoal and graphite elevation sketch by Louis I. Kahn explores the composition and treatment of light for his design of the National Assembly Building in Dhaka, attempting to resolve monumental geometric masses and rhythmic apertures into a civic façade.
On thin tracing paper, spare, gestural charcoal lines arrange repeating circular and rectangular modules across a low horizontal plane, with darker smudges at the center that make the drawing feel both measured and searching by hand.
The study reveals Kahn’s practice of hand-drawing as a mode of architectural thinking—melding modernist geometry, monumentality, and daylight strategies—which helped define a new language for postcolonial civic architecture.
Medium
Charcoal and graphite on tracing paper
Dimensions
12 x 24" (30.5 x 61 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architect
Accession
403.1967
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
