Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban

Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban, the National Parliament House, is the seat of the Parliament of Bangladesh and stands in the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar district of Dhaka. It is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of 20th-century architecture — the greatest work of the American architect Louis I. Kahn — and the single most important piece of modern design in the country.

The project began in the 1960s, when Dhaka was the second capital of Pakistan, and was completed in 1982, eight years after Kahn's death in 1974, with his associates carrying the work through. The result is monumental: poured-in-place concrete banded with strips of white marble, its massive walls pierced by huge circles, triangles and rectangles that flood the interior with controlled light.

What lifts the building beyond its raw power is its setting. The main structure sits on an artificial lake that wraps around it, echoing the riverine landscape of Bengal, mirroring the geometry and helping to cool the vast concrete mass. Around it spreads a landscaped campus of more than 200 acres — gardens, plazas and the members' residential blocks — making it the largest legislative complex in the world by area.

It is, however, a working seat of government, so the interior is generally not open to casual visitors. Most people admire and photograph it from the surrounding grounds and the South Plaza, a popular public gathering place — especially in the late afternoon and evening, when the lawns fill with families and the concrete glows in the low light. The building's stature has been recognised internationally, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1989.

The complex was designed by the American architect Louis I. Kahn, with the project beginning in the 1960s when Dhaka served as the second capital of Pakistan.

Kahn died in 1974 with the building unfinished; his associates completed the work, and the complex was inaugurated in 1982 as the home of the Parliament of independent Bangladesh.

It went on to win the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1989 and is celebrated as one of the defining works of modern architecture worldwide.

November to February is cool and dry — pleasant for walking the open grounds.

Late afternoon into evening is the most rewarding time, when the light warms the concrete, the lawns are busy and the building is illuminated.

March to May is hot, and the monsoon (June to October) brings heavy rain, though the lake is at its fullest.