Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi architect.

Early life and education

Chowdhury was born in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest ...

, the son of a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

, growing up in Bangladesh and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

before graduating in architecture from the

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, commonly known by the acronym BUET, is a public technological research university in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded in 1876 as the Dacca Survey School, it is the oldest institution for the study ...

(BUET) in 1995. In 2006, he attended the

Glenn Murcutt Glenn Marcus Murcutt AO (born 25 July 1936) is an Australian architect and winner of the 1992 Alvar Aalto Medal, the 2002 Pritzker Architecture Prize, the 2009 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the 2021 Praemium Imperiale. Gle ...

Masterclass in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

Career

After working with architect Uttam Kumar Saha, he established the practice URBANA in partnership with

Marina Tabassum Marina Tabassum (born ) is a Bangladeshi architect. She is the principal architect of Marina Tabassum Architects. In 2016, she won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the design of Bait-ur-Rouf Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In 2020, Tabassum ...

in 1995. From 2005 he has continued as the Principal of the firm. Chowdhury is married to Rajrupa Chowdhury, an Indian classical musician of the instrument

Sarod The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the swe ...

. They have a son, Rayan Mahboob Chowdhury. Chowdhury has a studio based practice whose works find root in history with strong emphasis on climate, materials and context - both natural and human. Projects in the studio are given extended time for research so as to reach a level of innovation and original expression. Works range from conversion of ship and low cost raised settlements in 'chars' to training centre, mosque, art gallery, museum, residences and multi-family housing to corporate head offices. Gulshan Society Jame Masjid 02

Chowdhury has been a visiting faculty at the

North South University North South University ( bn, নর্থ সাউথ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, also known as NSU) is a private university based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Its business school is the first Bangladeshi university to receive Americ ...

and

BRAC University BRAC University ( bn, ব্র্যাক বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, also known as BracU) is a private research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was established in 2001 as a branch of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed's BRAC un ...

, both in Bangladesh and has been a juror in final year crits in universities in Dhaka. He was twice finalist in the

Aga Khan Award for Architecture The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) is an architectural prize established by Aga Khan IV in 1977. It aims to identify and reward architectural concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies in the field ...

and has won first prize in Architectural Review's AR+D Emerging Architecture Award 2012. Chowdhury takes an active interest in art and in 2004 presented a lecture series 'Aspects of Contemporary Art in Germany' at the

Goethe Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

, Dhaka. He has worked as a professional photographer and has held seven solo exhibitions. He has designed and published three books: Around Dhaka, 2004; Plot Number Fifty Six, 2009 and The Night of Fifteen November, 2011 - a photographic and recorded account of some survivors of the Cyclone Sidr in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. Catherine Slessor and Rob Gregory, writing in 'Emerging Architecture and Creative Resilience' (Architectural Review, December 2012) notes: "In his studio, time is held in high regard, so much so that until recently he deliberately resisted using any form of artificial light, choosing instead to operate the business during daylight hours. This was done to enforce a natural pattern to the working day, and to encourage people not to work excessively long hours, and while changes to this routine were perhaps inevitable, Chowdhury maintains his respect of time, stating his desire to separate his studio from the influences of ‘the passing world’ to avoid ‘rushing through the design process’, and to always remember that ‘time is of the essence’." and was nominated for the

2010 for designing the Chandgaon Mosque in

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in ...

Notable works

* 1997-2006:

Museum of Independence The Museum of Independence ( pl, Muzeum Niepodległości) is a museum in Warsaw, Poland. It was established on 30 January 1990 as the Museum of the History of Polish Independence and Social Movements and is located in the former Przebendowski Palac ...

, Dhaka, Bangladesh * 2001: A5 Residence, Dhaka, Bangladesh * 2007
Chandgaon Mosque
Chittagong, Bangladesh * 2011
Friendship Centre
Gaibandha, Bangladesh * 2013
EHL Premium Condominiums
Dhaka, Bangladesh * 2017: Gulshan Society Mosque, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Awards

* First prize for the Independence Monument and the

by the Bangladeshi Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2 ...

(1997) * Finalist of Aga Khan Award for A5, a pavilion apartment (2004) * First runner-up of Nishorgo Architectural Competition (2006) *

Institute of Architects Bangladesh The Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ স্থপতি ইন্‌স্‌টিটিউট ''Bānglādēsh Sthāpāti Institute'' ) is a professional organization for architects in Bangladesh. Archit ...

(IAB) Design Award, Bangladesh, 2010
AR+ Emerging Architecture Award
UK, 2012

(AYA) for Focus Countries, India, 2013 *

, for Friendship Center 2014-16 Cycle * RIBA International Awards for Excellence 2021

Early life and education

Career

Notable works

Awards

References

Further reading