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 by Louis I. Kahn that experiments with a bold, centralized arrangement for the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar prayer hall, testing how simple geometric elements might order ritual space and light.
The sheet is dominated by a dark, wheel‑like core—a heavily shaded circle pierced by a vertical mast and a horizontal bridge—with dashed construction marks, tentative guiding arcs, and smudged gestures that make the drawing feel like a working idea in motion.
As a working study for Kahn’s Dhaka complex, this sketch crystallizes his effort to fuse modernist abstraction with ancient typologies of centrality and light, helping to reshape how twentieth‑century architects approached civic and sacred space.
Medium
Charcoal on tracing paper
Dimensions
12 1/8 x 17 3/8" (30.8 x 44.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architect
Accession
416.1967
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
