Marina Tabassum, the Dhaka-based architect who designed the 2025 Serpentine Pavilion in London, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Richard Neutra Award for Professional Excellence. The honor makes her the latest architect to be recognized for shaping the global built environment, and it arrives while her practice, Marina Tabassum Architects, continues its work in Bangladesh. She is the founder of the firm, which is known by the initials MTA.
Marina Tabassum. Photo: Sounak Das.
The award is presented every year by the Department of Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona, and 2026 marks its 31st year. Because the prize looks back across a long list of laureates, the company Tabassum joins is easy to measure. Past honorees include Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando, Renzo Piano and Thom Mayne, along with more recent recipients Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee, James Corner, Toyo Ito and Francis Kéré. The Neutra Award now sits alongside the major architecture awards that bring such figures together.
Read more:
Photo: Sounak Das.
Cal Poly Pomona explained its choice in a statement. “We are incredibly honored to announce Marina Tabassum as the recipient of our 2026 Neutra Award for Professional Excellence,” the department said. “Known for her profound approach to material application, community resilience, and climate-responsive design, we are privileged to share this introduction to her work.” The statement places material choices and climate response at the center of her reputation, two themes that run through her built work, including the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque.
Photo: Sounak Das.
Tabassum is also recognized for her contributions to environmental design and for an approach that breaks from commercialism, so that her architecture stays in touch with local communities and the needs of everyday people. That commitment to ordinary users has shaped how she works as a practitioner, and it has also reached the classroom. She has previously taught at the Harvard GSD and at the University of Texas at Austin. Tabassum recently traveled to Los Angeles to accept the award, and an interview with her was recorded there as part of the occasion.
Olivia Bennett is a seasoned American news editor at Arch2O, born in the UK and a proud alumna of UCLA, where she studied Architecture and Media Studies. With a strong editorial background and a passion for design storytelling, she excels in translating complex architectural ideas into engaging narratives. Olivia focuses on contemporary trends, sustainability, and emerging talents in the field, offering readers a fresh, global perspective on the built environment.