National Assembly Building

Dhaka


In 1963 the Pakistanis commissioned Louis Kahn, a world-renowned American architect, to design a regional capitol for East Pakistan. Due to the liberation movement and ensuing war, the National Assembly Building wasn’t completed until 1982. The building often features in books on modern architecture, and is regarded as among Kahn’s finest works. It’s a huge assembly of concrete cylinders and rectangular boxes, sliced open with bold, multi-storey circular and triangular apertures instead of windows.

You can enter the building only on a pre-arranged four-hour guided tour, which you must book in advance. You can pick up a booking form at the front gate, or download it from the parliament website. You also need to bring two copies of your passport and visa.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Dhaka attractions

1. Zia Uddyan

0.21 MILES

Park near Bangladesh's National Assembly, home to the lakeside mausoleum of Zia Rahman, former prime minister of the country who was assassinated in 1981.

4. DRIK

0.9 MILES

Gallery specialising in photography

5. Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts

0.91 MILES

Bangladesh's home of fine arts, this gallery was established in 200 by the Bengal Foundation, and holds regular exhibitions of art and photography as well…

6. Sat Gumbad Mosque

1.2 MILES

Dating from 1680, Sat Gumbad Mosque is a white-washed onion-dome mosque, and the finest example of the pure Mughal-style mosque in Dhaka.

7. National Museum

2 MILES

The excellent National Museum, sprawling over several floors, begins with the geological formation of Bangladesh, whisks you through a rundown of the…

8. Faculty of Fine Art

2.11 MILES

Hosts art exhibitions, housed inside Dhaka University's Institute of Arts and Crafts.

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "bangladesh/dhaka/attractions/national-assembly-building/a/poi-sig/1432213/355783",
      "destination": "Dhaka",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "Bangladesh",
      "city": "Dhaka",
      "position": "superzone"
    }