Shah Muhammad Mohsin Khan Mausoleum
by Sthapotik
Client Private
Award RIBA International Awards for Excellence 2024
An uplifting, light dappled Mausoleum in Dhaka, Bangladesh, built for the local community.
Located in the grounds of a family home, this beautiful Mausoleum structure was built to preserve the client’s father’s memory and continue his legacy. A single space, with a simple palette of materials, is elevated to a spiritual level through the playful manipulation of light entering the contemplative space.
Jali wall brickwork allows dappled light to sprinkle through the curved walls - the light seemingly dancing across the brick surfaces. The interesting plan, set on a grid of circles, results in curved, ribbed external walls, and informs the astonishing cylindrical concrete turreted ceiling, leading the eye to the sky beyond the cylinder capped skylights.
Their aim in the creation of the Mausoleum was to preserve the memory of their father, and continue his legacy, by providing a publicly accessible space for the local community to gather and use for contemplation and memorial.
Future phases of the site’s development will include the construction of a mosque, a library, and a family home; in the meantime, the Mausoleum will provide the focus for the Community to gather and interact.
The building is located near to the entrance of the site, forming one side of a new publicly accessible external space. A symmetrical, double-height, single storey structure, is centered on a raised brick plinth, (a culturally traditional arrangement), with a ramp discretely hidden at the back.
The confident use of a single material (local masons building with a locally made red brick) for the plinth, the curved walls, and rectangular entrance frame, allow the forms and shapes and level of perforation of the materials to stimulate the eye.
The Architect explained that the plan and circular turreted motif is inspired by the multi domed mosques of the Sultani period.
Set on a grid of 6x6 circles, the perimeter circles form the external walls with semi circular brickwork (3/4 circles on the corners), leading up to brick cylinders framing the sky lights, inspired by the corner turrets of the Sultani period. The central 16 circles are at roof level and form what the architect describes as ‘cylindrical droppings’ forming a ‘chandelier of paradise’.
The result is an inventive, extraordinary space achieving a sense of calm and enlightenment, whilst generously providing an important publicly accessible gathering place of the local community.
Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Date of completion: 03/05/2022
Cost: Confidential
Gross internal area: 220.36 m²
