1st Track : Evolution of Mosque Architecture through the Ages
Role/Contribution
presenter
Research paper Title
A Phantom Mosque, Islamic Democracy and Construction of a National Identity
Personal Biography
Upon completion of her professional degree in architecture (B. Arch) from Bangladesh University of
Engineering Technology (BUET), Dr. Samayeen completed her dual master’s in architecture (M.
Arch) and urban design (M.U.D) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with distinction. She
recently received her PhD in Landscape Architecture focusing on Louis I. Kahn and his National
Assembly Complex in Dhaka. In her formative years, she was professionally engaged in large-scale
projects over urban landscapes in Dhaka, New York’s Beyer Blinder Belle LLP, HOK Group,
Eisenman Architects, and ZGF LLP, as well as Shalon Baranes Architects in Washington, DC. She
was also a faculty member of Howard University in Washington DC. Currently, she is affiliated with
the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign as a doctoral researcher. Though loosely, she continues
to be involved with projects and doing long-distance advisory at Reincarnation- an architectural office
in Bangladesh for years now.
Paper Abstract
This paper examines how a mosque, through its design and presence, can contribute to the formation of national identity. Focusing on the mosque designed by American Jewish architect Louis Isadore Kahn (1901-1974) within the National Capitol Complex in Dhaka, constructed between 1963 and 1983, the study explores the mosque's complex role in shaping Bangladesh's national identity in the postcolonial era. Originally conceived under the political aspirations of Pakistan’s president, Army General Ayub Khan, the Capitol Complex, now a symbol of Bangladesh’s democratic identity, received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1989. Notably, the mosque is designed without visible symbols such as domes or minarets and is obscured behind cylinders, making it largely unnoticed by the general public. This paper investigates how the Complex simultaneously embodies Islamic and democratic principles and discusses the paradoxical role of the concealed mosque in reflecting the country's evolving political paradigms, including the adoption of secularism after its independence in 1971.
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