Designed in a 1960s modernist style, it was completed in 1971, and is an iconic symbol of Karachi as well as one of the most popular tourist sites in the city.

[6] The competition was initially won by British architect William Whitfield,[7] of the Raglan Squire and Partners firm.

[4] Numerous proposals were submitted by Pakistani citizens following independence: ranging from a shrine, to a neo-Mughal monument.

[4] The idealists suggestions directly from ordinary Pakistani citizens reflected the "radical utopianism" that swept through the Muslims of the subcontinent around the Pakistan Movement.

[4] Proposals from the Malay engineer and architect Ainuddin, suggested a complex reminiscent of a Sufi shrine,[6] with mosques, libraries, school, restaurants, and shops to merge into the fabric of the city.

The plan called for an avant-garde neo-futurist mausoleum mounted on an elevated platform in a neo-Mughal garden, with a central parabola and pointed edges at its six corners reaching out "in an exuberant motion towards the sky.

"[4] Following the 1958 coup of President Ayub Khan, who presented himself as a modernizer, the Whitfield-Squire proposal gained favor among the military elite, although public reception was not warm.

[3] The use of white marble to suggest purity, and pure geometric forms, are designed to portray Jinnah as a larger-than-life figure.

[12] The cool inner sanctum reflects the green of a four-tiered crystal chandelier given by the People's Republic of China.

The one to the north, which is decorated with a series of black floral design at the base, belongs to Miss [Fatima Jinnah], Quaid-e-Azam's sister.

All these graves are made of Italian white marble, and they are of the box type, like the sarcophagus of Jinnah, placed on a triple base.

On 14 August 2017, Pakistan's Independence Day, it was used for paying a tribute to Jinnah through 3d projection mapping show by 3D illumination.