Zebun Nessa Mosque

Architects in Bangladesh have long been designing cutting-edge modernist mosques, but this rose-colored structure on the outskirts of Dhaka cuts a striking figure amid its industrial environs. The owner of one of the area’s many textile factories commissioned the Zebun Nessa Mosque, named for his late mother, as a respite for the compound’s 6,500 garment workers. “Naming it after a woman gave me the idea to make a place which can be a very soft shelter for the garment workers,” says Saiqa Iqbal Meghna, cofounder and director of Dhaka’s Studio Morphogenesis. The mosque is complete with thoughtfully designed spaces for women to enter, gather, and pray—something often left out of mosques in the country. The pink cement façade is a nod to the earthy tones of the region’s terracotta and mud architecture, and perforations in the gently curving walls evoke the latticework of traditional mosques while also providing ventilation in Bangladesh’s tropical climate. A sculptural staircase leading up to the women’s gallery spirals around a Chhatim tree with leaves fanning out overhead like an umbrella. A striking translucent glass mihrab, the niche that traditionally orients a mosque toward Mecca, was designed in collaboration with artist Wakilur Rahman. From the courtyards to the lush lawns and waterside prayer space, there are numerous nooks where tradespeople and other visitors can seek peace during their long days, even outside prayer times. “This place should belong to all the garment workers,” says Meghna. “That is a major achievement as an architect—that the people own it.”