Architecture of Transition: A Talk by Marina Tabassum

A research project in 2019 brought Marina Tabassum Architects' focus to the displacement of people within Bangladesh and cross-border from Myanmar. The displacement of people is posing a major crisis induced by climate change, disparity in human conditions, war and conflict, to name a few. People are living in transition for an indefinite period of time, while 'life is being lived'. As Architects, what can we offer as dignified living and how?

Questions such as the above prompted Marina and her team to take on their part of the responsibility through research, education, and practice.

For the last six years, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA) and their Foundation for Architecture and Community Equity (FACE) have built mobile housing and community spaces for marginalised communities, while working with women from these communities to strengthen livelihood opportunities.

These works and projects received local and international attention including receiving the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2025.

In this lecture, Marina will primarily focus on these works that define her design thinking, and the development of her 'language of architecture'.

Marina Tabassum is a Bangladeshi architect and educator. She graduated from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 1995 and founded Dhaka-based Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA) in 2005. In her work, Tabassum seeks to establish a language of architecture that is contemporary yet reflectively rooted to place, always against an ecological rubric containing climate, context, culture, history. Her project Bait Ur Rouf Mosque was listed among the top 25 post war buildings of the world by New York Times. She received the coveted Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2016. Among her important works is the Independence Museum and monument of Bangladesh designed in 1997. Tabassum is a Professor at the Technical University Delft, in the Netherlands. She received honorary doctorate from Technical University Munich. As a visiting professor she has taught at Yale University, University of Toronto, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, University of Texas and BRAC University. She held the position of Academic Director of the Bengal Institute from 2015 to 2021. Tabassum served as a member of the Steering Committee of the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture from 2017 to 2022. Tabassum Chairs the Executive Board of Prokritee, a fare trade organization that promotes crafts and provides livelihood to more than 5000 women artisans of Bangladesh. She is the founder and chairperson of Foundation for Architecture and Community Equity (FACE). Her social engagements focus on marginalisation, climate justice and architecture. She has also received the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2025) for the Khudi Bari Initiative, marking her second time receiving this honor. Tabassum was named one of the 100 most influential people of 2024 by TIMES magazine. Marina Tabassum’s pursuit for the ‘Architecture of Relevance’ has won her various international accolades such as the Soane Medal from United Kingdom, the Gold Medal of the French Academy of Architecture, Arnold Brunner Prize from American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Banner images: Serpentine Pavilion 2025.

Following the lecture at 7.45pm, we invite you to join the exhibition launch of 'Architecture for Dignity: Lessons from Diverse Geographies', showcasing the 2023-2025 cycle of the Aga Khan Architecture Awards in the Atrium, Level 1, Glyn Davis Building.

If you are a University of Melbourne alumni, information about your participation may be shared with the Advancement team, as explained in our .