Jury Critic Award for Architecture of His MAJESTY
AGA KHAN
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture has a major exhibition during the 2014 UIA Congress in Durban, displaying the 5 winners as well as the 15 shortlisted projects of the 2013 award cycle,
Farrokh DerakhshaniDirector, Aga Khan Award for Architecture
The 25th International Union of Architects World Congress will be taking place in Durban next week, from 3 to 7 August: http://www.uia2014durban.org/
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture has a major exhibition during the Congress entitled:
"BUILDING FOR A BETTER LIFE"
“Architecture is Life” is the title of the most recent book on the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
It is an appropriate one: the Award, and its sister programmes within the Aga Khan Development
Network (AKDN), have been working to improve the life of people throughout the world for over a
century.
AKDN’s cultural projects are part and parcel of this broad objective. In 1977, the Aga Khan Award
for Architecture was launched (along with the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT), and is given every three years to projects that set new standards of excellence in architecture, planning practices, historic preservation and landscape architecture. The selection process emphasizes architecture that not only provides for people’s physical,
social and economic needs, but that also stimulates and responds to their cultural expectations.
Through its activities,, the Award has had a sustained influence in turning the world architectural debate towards these issues AKDN’s cultural projects also work to revitalise historic cities. Through the creation of parks, restoration and conservation projects, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and its sister agencies have been working to improve the quality of life in many African cities.
In Cairo, for example, the creation of al-Azhar Park by AKTC’s Historic Cities Programme has
provided a green lung for a city with one of the lowest proportions of green space per inhabitant
in the world. The transformation of the derelict Darassa site, a 30-hectare (74-acre) mound of rubble adjacent to the Historic City, required a monumental task of excavation, grading and replacement with appropriate fill. The US$ 30 million project, which has evolved well beyond the Park to include socio economic initiatives in the neighbouring Darb al-Ahmar district, now attracts nearly two million people per year.
In Zanzibar’s Stone Town, it rehabilitated two major public spaces: Forodhani Park and Kelele Square and rehabilitated eleven buildings in Stone Town – many of them on the point of collapse – as part of a programme to demonstrate the building and restoration techniques needed to preserve this World Heritage Site.
In 2004, the Programme began restoring the Great Mosque in Mopti, Mali. The project expanded to include sanitation, street paving, healthcare and other measures in the neighbouring Komoguel district. In 2006, AKTC extended its work to Timbuktu, where it has restored the Djingarey Ber mosque, and to Djenné, where it restored the Great Mosque. The Programme also worked with the government to create the National Park of Mali on a 103-hectare site in Bamako, the nation’s capital.
AKTC’s work is not limited to the developing world. In Toronto, for example, the Fumihiko Maki – designed Aga Khan Museum (due to open in autumn of 2014) shares a site with the Ismaili Centre Toronto, which was designed by Chares Correa, and the Aga Khan Park, which lies between them and was designed by Vladimir Djurovic. The point, in Toronto and elsewhere, is that a good built environment is critical to the quality of life. Good buildings not only shelter people, but they provide inspiration and hope. Good public spaces provide room for dialogue and invite the exchange of ideas. A proper home, His Highness the Aga Khan has said, is the bridge between poverty and a better life. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture would therefore argue that builders, municipalities, architects and clients – all those involved in constructing the built environment – have a responsibility to work towards fundamentally improving the lives of the people who live among their projects.
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture has a major exhibition during the Congress entitled:
"BUILDING FOR A BETTER LIFE"
“Architecture is Life” is the title of the most recent book on the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
It is an appropriate one: the Award, and its sister programmes within the Aga Khan Development
Network (AKDN), have been working to improve the life of people throughout the world for over a
century.
AKDN’s cultural projects are part and parcel of this broad objective. In 1977, the Aga Khan Award
for Architecture was launched (along with the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT), and is given every three years to projects that set new standards of excellence in architecture, planning practices, historic preservation and landscape architecture. The selection process emphasizes architecture that not only provides for people’s physical,
social and economic needs, but that also stimulates and responds to their cultural expectations.
Through its activities,, the Award has had a sustained influence in turning the world architectural debate towards these issues AKDN’s cultural projects also work to revitalise historic cities. Through the creation of parks, restoration and conservation projects, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and its sister agencies have been working to improve the quality of life in many African cities.
In Cairo, for example, the creation of al-Azhar Park by AKTC’s Historic Cities Programme has
provided a green lung for a city with one of the lowest proportions of green space per inhabitant
in the world. The transformation of the derelict Darassa site, a 30-hectare (74-acre) mound of rubble adjacent to the Historic City, required a monumental task of excavation, grading and replacement with appropriate fill. The US$ 30 million project, which has evolved well beyond the Park to include socio economic initiatives in the neighbouring Darb al-Ahmar district, now attracts nearly two million people per year.
In Zanzibar’s Stone Town, it rehabilitated two major public spaces: Forodhani Park and Kelele Square and rehabilitated eleven buildings in Stone Town – many of them on the point of collapse – as part of a programme to demonstrate the building and restoration techniques needed to preserve this World Heritage Site.
In 2004, the Programme began restoring the Great Mosque in Mopti, Mali. The project expanded to include sanitation, street paving, healthcare and other measures in the neighbouring Komoguel district. In 2006, AKTC extended its work to Timbuktu, where it has restored the Djingarey Ber mosque, and to Djenné, where it restored the Great Mosque. The Programme also worked with the government to create the National Park of Mali on a 103-hectare site in Bamako, the nation’s capital.
AKTC’s work is not limited to the developing world. In Toronto, for example, the Fumihiko Maki – designed Aga Khan Museum (due to open in autumn of 2014) shares a site with the Ismaili Centre Toronto, which was designed by Chares Correa, and the Aga Khan Park, which lies between them and was designed by Vladimir Djurovic. The point, in Toronto and elsewhere, is that a good built environment is critical to the quality of life. Good buildings not only shelter people, but they provide inspiration and hope. Good public spaces provide room for dialogue and invite the exchange of ideas. A proper home, His Highness the Aga Khan has said, is the bridge between poverty and a better life. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture would therefore argue that builders, municipalities, architects and clients – all those involved in constructing the built environment – have a responsibility to work towards fundamentally improving the lives of the people who live among their projects.
Congress Countdown uia2014durban.org
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The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is given every three years to projects that set new standards of excellence in architecture, planning practices, historic preservation and landscape architecture. Through its efforts, the Award seeks to identify...23m ago
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