Saiqa Iqbal Meghna: Pink Mosque Puts Bangladesh on the Global Map

🏆 A Historic Milestone

When TIME Magazine listed the Zebun Nessa Mosque among the “World’s Greatest Places of 2025,” it didn’t just honor a building; it recognized a quiet revolution led by Saiqa Iqbal Meghna. As the first Bangladeshi architect to achieve this global milestone for a local landmark, she is dismantling the narrative that the industrial atmosphere must be cold and utilitarian.

⚡Fast Facts: Saiqa Iqbal Meghna

Role	Details
Current Title	Partner, Studio Morphogenesis; Asst. Prof., BRAC University
Education	BUET (Dhaka), IAAC (Barcelona), Glenn Murcutt Master Class (Australia)
Major Win	TIME World’s Greatest Places 2025 (First for Bangladesh), Shortlist for Inaugural RIBA Asia Pacific Award, 34th JK Architect of the Year Award, Top Five Civic Projects of Dezeen Award 2024, Top Five Religious Projects of ArchDaily Building of the Year Award 2024
Signature Style	“Breathing” architecture, pink concrete, sensory design, sustainability and resilience
Passion	Designing inclusive public spaces & empowering women

🩷A Pink Rose in a Grey Forest

In the cacophony of Ashulia’s industrial zone where the rhythm of textile looms typically drowns out silence, a new structure has risen. It isn’t made of steel and smoke, but of “breathing” pink concrete and light.

This is the Zebun Nessa Mosque, a spiritual oasis designed by Saiqa Iqbal Meghna, which recently shattered a glass ceiling for Bangladeshi architecture by landing on TIME Magazine’s “World’s Greatest Places of 2025.”

For Meghna, this isn’t just a building; it’s a “soft shelter.” In a landscape dominated by factories, she has carved out a sanctuary where garment workers, especially women can find dignity, ownership, and peace. It is a bold declaration that beauty belongs everywhere, not just in the capital’s elite enclaves.

🎨Art in the Blood

Born and raised in the densely packed neighborhoods of Dhaka, Meghna didn’t have to look far for inspiration. Her father was an artist, filling their home with the smell of paint and the spirit of creation.

“My home was filled with a deep appreciation for art and craft,” she recalls. “This environment naturally shaped my sensibilities.”

Growing up in a secular, open-minded family gave her the freedom to question and explore. Surrounded by uncles and cousins who were writers, photographers, and singers, she realized early on that her path wouldn’t be ordinary. She saw architecture not just as building walls, but as an intersection where “artistic expression could meet real human needs.“

🏙️Listening to the Land

Meghna’s journey took her from the classrooms of BUET to the avant-garde studios of Barcelona (IAAC) and the rugged landscapes of Australia for the Glenn Murcutt Master Class.

But her true “spark” came from a desire to fight the concrete jungle. She noticed that Dhaka was losing its “lungs”, its ability to breathe. While others chased profit-driven, glossy commercial towers, Meghna felt a calling to design spaces that respected the climate. She wanted to work with the fluid delta, not against it.

This philosophy birthed both her practices Sthanik Consultants and Studio Morphogenesis, which she co-founded to champion “tropical resilience.” Her mission? To prove that local materials such as mud, brick, and air are as luxurious as glass and steel.

✍️Designing for Dignity

The road hasn’t been easy. In a construction industry obsessed with “fast and cheap,” advocating for craftsmanship and ecology is a constant battle.

“Working against profit-driven construction tendencies… has been a constant challenge,” she admits.

Yet, she persisted. She chose to work closely with local artisans, celebrating handmade imperfections over machine-made precision. Her defining moment arrived with the “Zebun Nessa Mosque”. Commissioned by a factory owner to honor anf named after his late mother, Meghna saw an opportunity to change the narrative.

She designed a crescent-shaped mezzanine specifically for female workers, a rare feature in industrial mosques. She ditched glass for open “breathing walls” that filter light like tree canopies. When TIME Magazine recognized it in 2025, it wasn’t just a win for her; it was a win for every garment worker who found a moment of rest in that pink sanctuary.

🏛️Architecture as “Soft Shelter”

Meghna’s work stands out because it prioritizes feeling over form.

• Global Recognition: The first Bangladeshi landmark to hit TIME’s list.
• Inclusive Design: Spaces that actively invite women and garment workers to take ownership.
• Climate Wisdom: Buildings that cool themselves naturally without relying on heavy air conditioning.

She isn’t just building structures; she is curating “atmospheric worlds.” Whether it’s the play of shadow on a rough concrete wall or the sound of rain hitting a courtyard, her designs demand that you pause and feel.

🤝A City for Everyone

Today, Meghna balances her time between running her award-winning studio and teaching the next generation at BRAC University. She remains grounded by her daily sun salutations and her love for reading feminist literature like Arundhati Roy.

What’s next? She is developing modular public-space interventions for Dhaka, scalable designs aimed at making the city safer and more welcoming for women.

“I seek to empower women, making their presence visible in the public sphere,” she says.

💪Empowering Takeaway

For those navigating their own creative or professional battles, Meghna offers this poetic advice:

“Embrace the atmospheric world around you. Embrace Pluralism. Learn to sense sunlight, rain, silence, and absence… Ultimately, never stop dreaming of a better world.”

🔗 Connect With Meghna

Instagram: Saiqa Iqbal Meghna 
Facebook: Saiqa Iqbal Meghna 

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