Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum has won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2025 for her Khudi Bari project, marking her second time receiving the honor after first winning in 2016 for the Baitur-Rouf Mosque. The award was announced in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where Tabassum was named among seven laureates.
Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus congratulated her, praising the Khudi Bari as a symbol of resilience and dignity. Designed as affordable, portable bamboo-and-steel homes, these two-storey structures provide shelter for people displaced by climate change, floods, and river erosion. The jury commended the project’s ecological vision and innovative use of bamboo.
Tabassum, also Chairperson of the Bangladesh National Museum’s Board of Trustees and chief adviser to the July Uprising Memorial Museum, has earned global acclaim, including the UK’s Soane Medal (2021) and recognition in Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people (2024).
This year’s Aga Khan Award winners also include projects from China, Egypt, Pakistan, Palestine, and Iran. The awards ceremony will be held on 15 September in Bishkek, with USD 1 million in prize money shared among the winners.
