Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Prayer Hall: plan sketch
Louis I. Kahn
American, born Estonia. 1901–1974
1965
A charcoal-on-tracing-paper plan sketch in which Louis Kahn experiments with interlocking circles and a grounding rectangle to organize a prayer hall’s space and light.
What strikes you is the bold, hand-drawn central circle flanked by two smaller circles and tentative vertical lines, the marks feeling like a moment of discovery rather than a finished plan.
The drawing captures Kahn’s late-career search for elemental geometry and monumentality, a formative approach that helped define modern civic and sacred architecture in Dhaka and beyond.
Medium
Charcoal on tracing paper
Dimensions
12 x 16" (30.5 x 40.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architect
Accession
409.1967
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
