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 tests intersecting circles and a simple grid to work out the form and spatial logic of a prayer hall for Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka.
What hits you is the hand-made geometry—faint guide circles and a pair of bold, overlapping wheel-like rings rendered in smudged charcoal so that precise planning reads as tactile, iterative thinking.
The drawing shows Kahn’s signature method of using archetypal geometry to fuse monumentality and spirituality in modern civic architecture, an approach that influenced how architects translate idea into built form.
Medium
Charcoal on tracing paper
Dimensions
9 x 17 5/8" (22.9 x 44.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architect
Accession
410.1967
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
