Marina Tabassum

Tabassum was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the daughter of an oncologist. Her family migrated to Dhaka, Bangladesh from India during the partition of Bengal in 1947. She attended Holy Cross Girls School and College. She then graduated in architecture from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 1994. ==Career==

In 1995, Tabassum founded URBANA, an architecture practice based in Dhaka, Bangladesh with Kashef Chowdhury. The firm designed a number of projects for about ten years. In 2005, Tabassum established Marina Tabassum Architects, and she serves as its principal architect. Tabassum designed the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque in Dhaka, completed in 2012. She won her first Aga Khan Award for Architecture for this project in 2016. As of 2025, Tabassum is a professor of Architectural Design for Climate Adaptation at the Department of Architecture at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands. She held the Gehry Chair at the University of Toronto during 2022–2023. Tabassum chairs Foundation for Architecture and Community Equity (F.A.C.E) and Prokritee, a fare trade organization. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). ==Notable works==

• 1997–2006: Museum of Independence, Dhaka, Bangladesh • 2001: A5 Residence, Dhaka, Bangladesh • 2006–2011: Comfort Reverie, Dhaka, Bangladesh • 2009: Vacation House at Faridabad, Dhaka, Bangladesh • 2012: Baitur Rouf Mosque, Dhaka, Bangladesh • 2018: Panigram Eco Resort and Spa, Jashore, Bangladesh • 2020: Khudi Bari, Chars in the coastal areas of Bangladesh • 2025: 24th Serpentine Pavilion in Kensington Gardens, London. ==Awards and honors==

presenting the Ekushe Padak to Marina • First prize for the Independence Monument and the Liberation War Museum by the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (1997) • Architect of the Year Award, by the Indian Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (2001) • Anannya Top Ten Awards (2004) • Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2016) • Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize (2021) • Soane Medal (2021) • Lifetime Achievement Award (2022) • Time list of 100 Most Influential People of 2024 • Ekushe Padak (2026) ==Exhibitions==

• Marina Tabassum Architects: In Bangladesh (2023) ==References==