Bangladeshi Marina Tabassum Named Among Time's Top 100 Influential People

Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum has secured a place in Time magazine's list of the world's influential 100 people.

Yesterday, Wednesday (April 17), Time published the list of the influential 100 people of 2024. In this list, architect Marina Tabassum has been placed in the Innovators category.

Among the influential personalities on the list are Russia's Yulia Navalnaya, Nobel Peace Prize winner Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and many other familiar faces. Indian film actress Alia Bhatt has also secured a place in this list under the Artists category.

Time writes about Marina Tabassum, mentioning that usually the issue of philanthropy is not highlighted alongside award-winning architects, but Marina Tabassum is not ordinary. She has created a method in architectural discourse where alongside local culture and values, we address the impending crises facing our planet.

Bangladesh is one of the countries most at risk due to climate change. Time magazine writes that in Bangladesh, one of the countries most at risk from climate change, Marina Tabassum has built a home that is a sanctuary, with construction costs low and the home easily relocatable.

Architect Marina Tabassum had previously received the Order of the British Empire for building humane homes in the United Kingdom in 2021. In 2020, she ranked third among the top 10 thinkers in the British magazine Prospect. 

Earlier, in 2018, she won the Jameel Prize for her architectural design of the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka. Prior to that, she received the Aga Khan Award in 2016 for the same design. Built in 2012 in Dhaka, the mosque designed by Sultan Ahmed's architecture won praise.