In 1963 the Pakistanis commissioned Louis Kahn, a world-renowned American architect, to design a regional capital for East Pakistan. Due to the liberation movement and ensuing war, the National Assembly building wasn't completed until 1982. The building often features in books on modern architecture, and is regarded as among Kahn's finest works.

It's a huge assembly of concrete cylinders and rectangular boxes, sliced open with bold, multi-storey circular and triangular apertures instead of windows, and is probably only considered attractive by fans of grim '70's architecture. It is not usually possible to approach the building too closely. On the opposite side of the road is a large and enjoyable park full of loving couples.