Aga Khan Award for Architecture

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) is an architectural prize established by Aga Khan IV in 1977. It aims to identify and reward architectural concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Islamic societies in the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community development and improvement, restoration, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscape design and improvement of the environment." [http://www.architectureweek.com/2002/0109/news_1-1.html Aga Khan Award for Architecture] ." "ArchitectureWeek" 9 Jan. 2002.] It is presented in three-year cycles to multiple projects and has a monetary award, with prizes totalling up to US$ 500,000. [http://www.canadianarchitect.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=64306&issue=01122007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture announces Master Jury for 2007." "Canadian Architect" 12 Jan. 2007.] Uniquely among architectural awards, it recognizes projects, teams, and stakeholders in addition to buildings and people.

The award is associated with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).

Award process and Chairman's Award

The award is aimed at societies in which Muslims have a significant presence. It is organized on the basis of a three-year cycle and is governed by a steering committee chaired by the Aga Khan IV.

A new committee is constituted each cycle to establish the eligibility criteria for project, provide thematic direction with reference to current concerns, and to develop plans for the long-term future of the award. The "Steering Committee" is responsible for the selection of the "Master Jury" appointed for each award cycle, and for activities such as
seminars and field visits, the award ceremony, publications and exhibitions.

Prizes totalling up to US$500,000, constituting the largest architectural award in the world, are presented every three years to projects selected by the Master Jury.cite news | url=http://www.canadianarchitect.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=64306&issue=01122007 |title=Aga Khan Award for Architecture announces Master Jury for 2007 |work=Canadian Architect |publisher=Business Information Group |date=2007-01-12 |accessdate=2007-01-28] The award has completed nine cycles of activity since 1977; documentation has been compiled on over 7500 building projects located throughout the world. To date, 92 projects have receive awards. The tenth award cycle covers the period from 2005 to 2007.

The "Chairman's Award" is given in honor of accomplishments that fall outside the mandate of the Master Jury. It recognizes the lifetime achievement. It has been presented three times: In 1980 to Egyptian architect and urban planner Hassan Fathy, [ [http://www.akdn.org/agency/akaa/firstcycle/chairman.html Lifetime Achievements of Hassan Fathy] ] in 1986 to Iraqi architect and educator Rifat Chadirji, [ [http://www.akdn.org/agency/akaa/thirdcycle/thirdcycle_chairman.html Lifetime Achievements of Rifat Chadirji] ] and in 2001 to Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. [ [http://www.akdn.org/agency/akaa/eighthcycle/bawa.htm Lifetime Achievements of Geoffrey Bawa] ]

Award cycles

First (1978-1980)

The award ceremony took place at the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, Pakistan. During this cycle, the Chairman's Award was given to Hassan Fathy in recognition of his lifelong commitment to architecture in the Muslim world.

Award recipients:
*Kampung Improvement Programme (Jakarta, Indonesia)
*Pondok Pesantren Pabelan (Central Java, Indonesia)
*Ertegün House, (Bodrum, Turkey)
*Turkish Historical Society (Ankara, Turkey)
*Mughal Sheraton Hotel (Agra, India)
*Conservation of Sidi Bou Saïd (Tunis, Tunisia)
*Rüstem Pasa Caravanserai (Edirne, Turkey)
*National Museum (Doha, Qatar)
*Ali Qapu, Chehel Sutun, and Hasht Behesht (Isfahan, Iran)
*Halawa House (Agamy, Egypt)
*Medical Centre (Mopti, Mali)
*Courtyard Houses (Agadir, Morocco)
*Water Towers (Kuwait City, Kuwait)
*Intercontinental Hotel and Conference Centre (Mecca, Saudi Arabia)
*Agricultural Training Centre (Nianing, Senegal)

econd (1981-1983)

The award ceremony took place at the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul.

Award recipients:
*Great Mosque (Niono, Mali)
*Šerefudin's White Mosque (Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
*Ramses Wissa Wassef Arts Centre (Giza, Egypt)
*Nail Çakirhan Residence (Akyaka Village, Muğla, Turkey)
*Hafsia Quarter I (Tunis, Tunisia)
*Tanjong Jara Beach Hotel and Rantau Abang Visitors' Centre (Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia)
*Résidence Andalous (Sousse, Tunisia)
*Hajj Terminal, King Abdulaziz International Airport (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
*Tomb of Shah Rukn-i-'Alam (Multan, Pakistan)
*Darb Qirmiz Quarter (Cairo, Egypt)
*Azem Palace (Damascus, Syria)

Third (1984-1986)

The brief prepared by the Steering Committee for this award cycle focused on the preservation and continuation of cultural heritage, community building and social housing, and excellence in contemporary architectural expression.

Six winners were chosen from among 213 entries. [cite web |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198706/the.changing.present.htm |title=The Changing Present, Loughran, G., Saudi Aramco World, Nov/Dec 1987: 28-37 |accessdate=2006-12-06] The conservation of Mostar Old Town and restoration of Al-Aqsa Mosque were examples of cultural heritage, the first theme, while the Yama Mosque and Bhong Mosque were noted for their innovation in translating traditional techniques and materials to meet contemporary requirements. The Social Security Complex and Dar Lamane Housing address the issues of community and social housing while remaining sensitive to local culture.

The award ceremony took place at El Badi Palace in Marrakesh, Morocco. During this cycle, the Chairman's Award was given to Rifat Chadirji.

Award recipients:
*Social Security Complex (Istanbul, Turkey)
*Dar Lamane Housing (Casablanca, Morocco)
*Conservation of Mostar Old Town (Bosnia and Herzegovina) [ [http://www.akdn.org/agency/akaa/thirdcycle/bosnia.html (AKTC)] [http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.tcl?site_id=699 (ArchNet)] ]
*Restoration of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Noble Sanctuary (Jerusalem)
*Yaama Mosque (Yaama, Tahoua, Niger)
*Bhong Mosque (Bhong, Rahim-Yar Khan, Pakistan)

Honourable mentions:
*Shushtar New Town (Shushtar, Iran)
*Kampung Kebalen Improvement (Surabaya, Indonesia)
*Ismaïliyya Development Projects (Ismaïlia, Egypt)
*Saïd Naum Mosque (Jakarta, Indonesia)
*Historic Sites Development (Istanbul, Turkey)

Fourth (1987-1989)

The fourth cycle of the award considered 241 project nominations. Of these, 32 were short-listed for technical review [cite web |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198906/better.by.design.htm |title=Better by Design, Loughran, G., Saudi Aramco World, Nov/Dec 1989: 28-33 |accessdate=2006-12-06] and the Master Jury selected 11 winners. Two themes were noted as areas of focus in this cycle: Revival of past vernacular traditions, and projects that reflect the efforts of individual patrons and of non-governmental organisations in improving society.

Projects such as the Great Omari Mosque and the Rehabilitation of Asilah seek to reconstruct and preserve heritage buildings for continued use, demonstrating the significance of these spaces within their communities. Meanwhile the Grameen Bank Housing Programme and Sidi el-Aloui Primary School apply architectural solutions to address current socioeonomic issues.

The award ceremony took place at the Citadel of Salah Ed-Din in Cairo.

Award recipients:
*Great Omari Mosque (Sidon, Lebanon)
*Rehabilitation of Asilah (Asilah, Morocco)
*Grameen Bank Housing Programme (various locations in Bangladesh)
*Citra Niaga Urban Development (Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia)
*Gürel Family Summer Residence (Çanakkale, Turkey)
*Hayy Assafarat Landscaping and al-Kindi Plaza (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
*Sidi el-Aloui Primary School (Tunis, Tunisia
*Corniche Mosque (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
*Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
*National Assembly Building (Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh)
*Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris, France)

Fifth (1990-1992)

The award ceremony took place at the Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Award recipients:
*Kairouan Conservation Programme (Kairouan, Tunisia)
*Palace Parks Programme (Istanbul, [Turkey)
*Cultural Park for Children (Cairo, Egypt)
*East Wahdat Upgrading Programme (Amman, Jordan)
*Kampung Kali Cho-de (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
*Stone Building System (Daraa Governorate, Syria)
*Demir Holiday Village (Bodrum, Turkey)
*Pan African Institute for Development (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso)
*Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (Ahmedabad, India)

ixth (1993-1995)

The award ceremony took place at the Kraton Surakarta in Surakarta, Indonesia.

Award recipients:
*Restoration of Bukhara Old City (Bukhara, Uzbekistan)
*Conservation of Old San'a' (San'a', Yemen)
*Hafsia Quarter II (Tunis, Tunisia)
*Khuda-ki-Basti Incremental Development Scheme (Hyderabad, Pakistan)
*Aranya Community Housing (Indore, India)
*Great Mosque and Redevelopment of the Old City Centre (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
*Menara Mesiniaga (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
*Kaédi Regional Hospital (Kaedi, Mauritania)
*Mosque of the Grand National Assembly (Ankara, Turkey)
*Alliance Franco-Sénégalaise (Kaolack, Senegal)
*Re-Forestation Programme of the Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey)
*Landscaping Integration of the Soekarno-Hatta Airport (Cengkareng, Indonesia)

eventh (1996-1998)

The Master Jury selected seven winning projects of the 424 presented. During this cycle, special emphasis was placed on projects that responded creatively to the emerging forces of globalization. Issues such as demographic pressure, environmental degradation, and the crisis of the nation-state, and the changes in lifestyle, cultural values, and relationships among social groups and between governments and people at large they prompted, were considered..

Of the winning projects, the rehabilitation of Hebron Old Town and Slum Networking of Indore City sought to reclaim community space in environments strained by social, physical and environmental degradation. The Lepers Hospital created a sustainable and dignified shelter for a marginalized segment of society. The remaining projects were recognized for their contribution in evolving an architectural vocabulary in response to contemporary social and environmental challenges. [cite book |editor=Cynthia C. Davidson (ed.) |title=Legacies for the Future: Contemporary Architecture in Islamic Societies |year=1999 |publisher=Thames and Hudson Ltd. |location=New York |id=ISBN 0-500-28087-8]

The award ceremony took place at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

Award recipients:
*Rehabilitation of Hebron Old Town
*Slum Networking of Indore (Indore, India)
*Lepers Hospital (Chopda Taluka, India)
*Salinger Residence (Selangor, Malaysia)
*Tuwaiq Palace (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
*Alhamra Arts Council (Lahore, Pakistan)
*Vidhan Bhavan (Bhopal, India) [ [http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.tcl?site_id=1759 (ArchNet)] ]

Eighth (1999-2001)

The Award Presentation Ceremony took place at the Citadel of Aleppo in Syria. During this cycle, the Chairman's Award was given to Geoffrey Bawa to honour and celebrate his lifetime achievements in and contribution to the field of architecture.

Award recipients
*New Life for Old Structures (various locations, Iran)
*Aït Iktel (Abadou, Morocco)
*Kahere Eila Poultry Farming School (Koliagbe, Guinea)
*Nubian Museum (Aswan, Egypt)
*SOS Children's Village (Aqaba, Jordan)
*Olbia Social Centre (Antalya, Turkey)
*Bagh-e-Ferdowsi (Tehran, Iran)
*Datai Hotel (Langkawi, Malaysia)

Ninth (2002-2004)

During the ninth cycle, 378 projects were nominated. Of these, 23 were site-reviewed, and the Master Jury selected seven award recipients. [cite web |url=http://www.caroun.com/Architecture/AgaKhan/z4-AgaKhan-2004.html |title=Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2004 - Architecture & Urbanism magazine, No. 78/79, Autumn/Winter 2005, Tehran |accessdate=2006-12-06] Notable among the recipients is the Sandbag Shelter Prototypes, a technique by which victims of natural disasters and war can build their own shelter using earth-filled sandbags and barbed wire. The resulting structures - made up of arches, domes and vaulted spaces - provide earthquake resistance, shelter from hurricanes and flood resistance, while being aesthetically pleasing.

Other winning projects include a primary school in Gando, Burkina Faso that combines high-caliber architectural design with local materials, techniques and community participation. The Bibliotheca Alexandria in Egypt and the Petronas Towers in Malaysia are examples of high-profile landmark buildings.

The award ceremony took place at the Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi, India.

Award recipients:
*Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Alexandria, Egypt)
*Primary School (Gando, Burkina Faso)
*Sandbag Shelter Prototypes (various locations)
*Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque (Asnaf, Yemen)
*Old City of Jerusalem Revitalisation Programme (Jerusalem)
*B2 House, Ayvacik, Turkey)
*Petronas Towers (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Tenth (2005-2007)

This cycle marked the 30th anniversary of the award. A total of 343 projects were presented for consideration, and 27 were reviewed on site by international experts.cite press release |title=Nine Projects Receive 2007 Aga Khan Award for Archicture |publisher=Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) |date=2007-09-04 |url=http://akdn.org/news/2007September4.htm |accessdate=2007-09-06 ]

The Award Presentation Ceremony was held at the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The award recipients were:
*Samir Kassir Square (Beirut, Lebanon
*Rehabilitation of the City of Shibam (Shibam, Yemen)
*Central Market (Koudougou, Burkina Faso)
*University of Technology Petronas (Bandar Seri Iskandar, Malaysia)
*Restoration of the Amiriya Complex (Rada, Yemen)
*Moulmein Rise Residential Tower (Singapore)
*Royal Netherlands Embassy (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
*Rehabilitation of the Walled City (Nicosia, Cyprus)
*School in Rudrapur (Dinajpur, Bangladesh)

References

ources

*cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/190282.stm |title=Middle East Delights of Muslim architecture - BBC News, October 10, 1998 |accessdate=2006-12-06
*cite web |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199906/a.counterpoint.of.cloth.and.stone.htm |title=A Counterpoint of Cloth and Stone, Clark, A., Saudi Aramco World, Nov/Dec 1999: 2-7 |accessdate=2006-12-06
*cite web |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199904/elegant.solutions.htm |title=Elegant Solutions, Swan, S., Saudi Aramco World, Jul/Aug 1999: 16-27 |accessdate=2006-12-06
*cite web |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200101/shaking.up.architecture.htm |title=Shaking Up Architecture, Lawrence, L. A., Saudi Aramco World, Jan/Feb 2001: 6-19 |accessdate=2006-12-06

ee also

*Aga Khan Trust for Culture
*Historic Cities Support Programme
*Aga Khan Development Network
*Islamic architecture
*List of architecture prizes

External links

*cite web | url=http://www.akdn.org/agency/aktc_akaa.html | title=Aga Khan Award for Architecture (website) | accessdate=2006-11-15
*cite web | url=http://archnet.org/library/sites/sites.tcl?keyword=Aga%20Khan%20Award%20for%20Architecture%20Winner | title=ArchNet Digital Library of Aga Khan Award for Architecture Winners | accessdate=2006-11-16
*cite web | url=http://www.akdn.org/agency/aktc.html | title=Aga Khan Trust for Culture (website) | accessdate=2006-11-15
*cite web | url=http://www.akdn.org/ | title=The Aga Khan Development Network | accessdate=2006-11-14

*cite news | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/03/01/HO189745.DTL |first=Zahid |last=Sardar |title=Aga Khan Award for Architecture Building cultural bridges |work=San Francisco Chronicle |publisher=Hearst Communications Inc. |date=2003-03-01 |accessdate=2007-01-28
*cite news | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/09/HOGPOBFVU243.DTL |first=Zahid |last=Sardar |title=Culture's winning ways: The Aga Khan Award for Architecture's latest triumphs shows Islam's best |work=San Francisco Chronicle |publisher=Hearst Communications Inc. |date=2005-03-09 |accessdate=2007-01-28
*cite news | url=http://www.architechmag.com/Articles/detailArchitech.asp?ArticleID=2200 |title=7 Projects Receive The 2004 Aga Khan Award for Architecture |work=ARCHI-TECH magazine |publisher=Stamats Business Media |date=November, 2004 |accessdate=2007-01-28