The Geopolitics of Jatio Sangsad Bhaban in the Cold War Era

Abstract

The Jatio Sangsad Bhaban (JSB) or National Assembly Building in Bangladesh, is an emblem of Bangladeshi identity. It was commissioned by the then Military dictator of Pakistan Ayub Khan in 1962 and designed by renowned American architect Louis I Kahn. Commissioned in the period of intense global political activity during the Cold War, the building has become iconic because of its cultural and historical significance in the context of immense change in Bangladesh. During this period, developing countries, including Pakistan, were given large amounts of technical, cultural and military aid by the US in an attempt to stem the growth of communism. Architecture and the arts became cultural weapons. Against this backdrop American architect Louis I Kahn was commissioned to design the National Assembly Building in East Pakistan in 1964. Ksiazek, an architectural historian describes this as a form of US cultural imperialism. This paper investigates the underlying issues that relate to the notion of American cultural imperialism in connection to JSB and considers Ksiazek’s hypothesis as the pivotal argument in its investigation.