Chandgaon Mosque

The Chandgaon Mosque (Bengali: , Arabic: ) is a Sunni mosque in Chittagong, Bangladesh, completed in 2007. Designed by Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury, it was shortlisted for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2010.

Chittagong, an ancient seaport, was under various rulers, beginning with Muslim control in the 13th century, followed by Portuguese dominance in the 16th and 17th centuries. Muslim rule was restored by the Mughals in 1666 and lasted until the early 19th century. With the rise of British power in India, Chittagong became a key area for the British East India Company, known for its tea and jute. During World War II, the British developed Chittagong into a significant military base, which was heavily bombed by the Japanese. After the Bangladesh War of Liberation in 1971, post-independence, Chittagong has become a major hub for import-export activities and has seen substantial industrial growth, particularly in shipping. The northern section, Chandgaon, is part of the 2nd Extended Ward of Chittagong City Corporation. With the largest port on the Bay of Bengal, Chittagong remains a vital center for trade and business to this day.

Chandgaon, a village with around 4,500 inhabitants, lies on the northern edge of Chittagong. It is rapidly changing due to economic growth driven by the ready-made garments sector, a key part of Bangladesh's economy. Despite this growth, the village still maintains its traditional rural and agricultural lifestyle, with rice paddies dominating the landscape. On the city's periphery, Chandgaon features modern buildings made of reinforced concrete and brick, dating from the 1950s onward. Notably, the organized modernist architecture of the 3- to 4-storey apartment buildings from the 1950s to 1970s stand out. However, rapid urbanization and industrialization since the late 1980s have led to the construction of many poorly designed concrete buildings, contributing to Chittagong's current unappealing urban landscape. In essence, the city of Chittagong needed to revive the original innovative touch that the first modernist buildings brought and, at the same time, reconnect the modernist architecture with traditional Bangladeshi vernacular architecture. As a result, the Chandgaon Mosque project, initiated by businessman and former Foreign Minister Morshed Khan, aimed to replace an old, deteriorating mosque - which is used currently being used as a school - with a modern, monolithic structure that reflects contemporary universal values. The project, driven by his son Faisal M. Khan, also intended to create a community center that integrates architecture with social purpose. Faisal M. Khan emphasized two main goals: contributing to the community and serving as a model for similar projects inspired by practices in Arabic countries. Another of the project's overarching goals was to emphasize ecological sustainability through the various design elements. The Master Plan for the Chandgaon Mosque eventually expanded to include an orphanage, observatory/minaret, and potentially a library.

The architectural character of Chandgaon and Chittagong is influenced by their river delta location. Local construction relies on readily available materials like bamboo, brick, and clay-rich mud. In the villages, residential architecture typically features clusters of houses based on extended family ties. The standard mosque architecture in Bangladesh includes a series of open and closed courts with permeable walls; the common layout of an open porch or court and a covered main space remains consistent throughout urban and rural mosque architecture.

Mosque data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).