In a moment of immense pride for Bangladesh, Marina Tabassum Architects’ groundbreaking housing solution “Khudi Bari” received the 2025 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. This prestigious award recognizes the project’s innovative and sustainable approach to addressing the housing challenges of communities displaced by climate change in Bangladesh.
His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V, the Steering Committee Chair of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, noted: “Inspiring younger generations to build with environmental care, knowledge and empathy is among the greatest aims of this Award. Architecture today must engage with the climate crisis, enhance education and nourish our humanity. Through it, we plant seeds of optimism – quiet acts of resilience that grow into spaces of belonging, where the future may thrive in dignity and hope.”
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture, established in 1977 by His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, recognizes building concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of communities in which Muslims have a significant presence. It seeks to identify and reward architectural works that not only meet people’s physical, social, and economic needs but also stimulate and express their cultural and spiritual aspirations. The Award emphasizes architecture that serves as a catalyst for pluralism, community resilience, social transformation, cultural dialogue and climate-responsive design. The $1 million prize, shared by all the winners, is one of the largest in architecture.
Held every three years, the prize-giving ceremony for the 16th cycle of the Award took place at the Toktogul Satylganov Kyrgyz National Philharmonic in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. His Excellency Mr. Mohammad Monirul Islam, the Bangladesh Ambassador to Uzbekistan and accredited to the Kyrgyz Republic, represented the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh at the event.
Marina Tabassum Architects previously received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2016 for the Bait-ur-Rouf Mosque, located in Dhaka.