The Globe and Mail

The preservation of modern architecture knows few triumphs. But a recent decision by the high court of Bangladesh to honour American architect Louis Kahn's masterwork in Dhaka is a stunning endorsement of great architecture. The decision safeguards the original vision of Khan's national assembly building and the overall layout of the capitol. It forces the demolition of two, nearly completed residences for the parliamentary speaker and deputy speaker, which were ruled to be gross violations of the architect's master plan. The high court also directed that the 324-hectare parliament precinct be declared a national heritage site, preventing further construction on the landscape defined by palm trees, brick plazas and channels of water -- Khan's mighty transformation of what was once a dusty battleground. In peaceful Canada, where the average per capita income is about $29,000, visual literacy is tossed around like a frivolous luxury. But cultural complacency is something we can ill afford. Our modern classics of architecture are regularly beaten up rather than being revered or even maintained.