The Youth Panel at Sir John Soane's Museum, many of whom have a personal interest in architecture and design, have been exploring the works of Marina Tabassum in light of her receiving the 2021 Soane Medal. In response to her extraordinary buildings, members of the Panel have shared their reflections on the impact and importance of Marina's work.

Suweda Back to top

The interior of the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, with spots and inlets of natural light illuminating a visitor in the vast main room. A circular skylight, build from patterns of red brick, letting sunlight into the space below.

Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, Dhaka.

Image Credits: Sandro Di Carlo Darsa and Hasan Saifuddin Chandan

"In this image of Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, I find that Marina Tabassum is attempting to heighten one's sense of spirituality through the light from the crisp-cut ring of the roof, and the red-brick walls that run-up to the broad sky. Her use of light and space in this Mosque is not only aesthetically-pleasing, but also thought-provoking to allow people to form a stronger, and deeper connection to God."

Liam Back to top

A modular home, designed in a traditional Bangladeshi style, capable of being moved to avoid flood waters. A modular home, designed in a traditional Bangladeshi style, capable of being moved to avoid flood waters.

Inheriting Wetness, Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2019, Sharjah, UAE

Image credit: Sharjah Triennial 2019

"For me, Inheriting Wetness calls into question the nature of ‘land’ as a hereditary concept; in such a dynamic landscape, Marina Tabassum highlights the hardship of families having no fixed abode and captures how the people of Bangladesh think about ‘home’."

Molly Back to top

A sunken stone seating area in an apartment building, with sunlight streaming in. Evening light illuminates the interior of an apartment.

A5 Pavilion Apartment, Marina Tabassum and Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury, 1999 - 2001.

Image credit: MTA

"I chose this work because of the beautiful synergy of the clean blocks of light and the clean lines of the stone. Such simple colours and shapes come alive with the addition of sunlight to create numerous places to look and patterns to see. Such clean geometry also works really beautifully with the stark contrast between light and dark, the chiaroscuro lending a timelessness to the image that goes hand in hand with the Classical images in Sir John’s own collection. This piece also really showcases John Soane’s love of light as a natural architectural feature and reflects Marina’s collaboration with the natural world to form the idea of a building as a natural being."

More about the Youth Panel

The Youth Panel is a group of young people aged 15–24 who help the Museum shape the activities, events and opportunities we offer young people. Meeting roughly once a fortnight, joining the Youth Panel provides a great opportunity to develop real skills that will be invaluable in a future career, whilst also meeting other young people, having fun and developing new skills and interests. Find out more.