Aga
Khan Award for Architecture
The Eleventh Award
Cycle, 2008 - 2010
The
Aga Khan Award for Architecture, established in 1977 by
His Highness the Aga Khan, recognises examples of architectural
excellence that encompass contemporary design, social housing,
community improvement and development, restoration, re-use,
and area conservation, as well as landscaping and environmental
issues.
The
current cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture will
run from 2008 to 2010.
News
Steering
Committee for Aga Khan Award’s Eleventh Cycle (2008
– 2010) Announced, 2 April 2008
Building
for Islam Wins a BBC "Best Documentary of the
Year": Building
for Islam, the BBC World series on the 2007 Aga Khan
Award recipients, was selected by viewers as one of the
top six BBC documentaries of 2007 in an on-line vote.
Aga
Khan Award for Architecture Ceremony held at Kuala Lumpur,
4 September 2007
Nine
projects Receive 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture
- 4 September 2007 (Press Release and Slide
show)
Full
Background Information and On-line Press Kit
Video
of the Recipients of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture
- 4 September 2007
Profiles
of 2007 Master Jury (PDF)
For
media enquiries regarding
the 2007 Aga Khan Award Recipients or the ceremony held
on 4 September 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, please
contact: akaa@akdn.org.
2007
Award monograph Intervention Architecture published
by I.B.
Tauris.
Archives
Aga
Khan Award for Architecture Seminar on Architectural Journalism
and Criticism in Kuwait, 6-7 December 2005 (press release
and photos)
Aga
Khan Award for Architecture Announces Project Eligibility
Criteria for the Tenth Cycle and Appoints New Steering
Committee, 28 November 2005
10th
Award Cycle Announced
2004
Awards Announced
How
to Acquire the 2004 Award Monograph
Introduction
Through
its efforts, the Award seeks to identify and encourage building
concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations
of societies in which Muslims have a significant presence.
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
and spiritual expectations. Particular attention is given
to building schemes that use local resources and appropriate
technology in an innovative way, and to projects likely
to inspire similar efforts elsewhere.
The
Award is organized on the basis of a three-year cycle and
is governed by a Steering Committee chaired by the Aga Khan.
A new Committee is constituted each cycle to establish the
current eligibility criteria for the projects, to provide
themati direction in response to the priorities and issues
that have emerged during the recent past, and to develop
plans for the cyclical and 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
the programmes of such activities as seminars and field
visits, the Award Presentation Ceremony Events, 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 an independent master
jury. The award has completed ten cycles of activity since
1977, and documentation has been compiled on over 7,500
building projects located throughout the world. To date,
100 projects have received the award. For more information,
please see Previous Award Cycles. The
Eleventh Award Cycle covers the period from 2008 to 2010.
Award
Procedures
Project Submission Procedures Open to Everyone
Procedures
for the identification of projects for consideration in
the Award have been revised to permit all individuals everywhere
to submit recommendations. The location and nature of eligible
projects have also been broadened.
The
Aga Khan Award for Architecture seeks out the broadest possible
range of architectural interventions: contemporary design
projects and those demonstrating the use of appropriate
technologies are considered, as are restoration and social
efforts. There are no fixed criteria as to the size, type,
nature, location or cost of projects to be considered for
the Award, but eligible projects must be designed for or
used by Muslim communities, in part or in whole, wherever
they are located.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligibility
criteria for the 11th Award Cycle focus on projects completed
during the last two cycles of the Award, covering the six-year
period from 2003 through 2008. Accordingly, eligible projects
must be completed and have been in use for at least one
full year between the period 1 January 2003 and 31 December
2008. Large and/or long-term projects that are not yet fully
completed – such as urban design, area conservation,
and community upgrading schemes, among others – are
also eligible so long as a tangible portion has been completed
and demonstrates the potential success of the long-term
project.”
The
Award embraces all types of building projects that affect
today’s environments, ranging from modest small-scale
interventions to major complexes and urban or regional design.
Recommendations for nomination may include initiatives for
housing, for community and neighbourhood projects, and for
those that focus on urban areas and issues. Projects may
also address infrastructure, transportation, industry, offices
and commercial facilities, and educational and health facilities,
to name but a few. The Award invites younger architects
and emerging talents to submit their works. Architects and
other project personnel may submit their own projects for
consideration in the Award.
In
addition, the Award is encouraging submissions under the
following three categories for the 2010 cycle, which are
currently under-represented among nominated projects:
- Rural
development
- Industry
and places of work
- Public
spaces, small and large
The
Award’s objective is to encourage architecture that
reflects the pluralism that has always characterised Muslim
communities. There are no fixed criteria for the type, nature,
location or cost of projects to be considered, although
eligible projects must be designed for or used by Muslim
communities, in part or in whole, wherever they are located.
To
ensure the continuing impartiality of the Award procedures,
no projects may be considered that are commissioned by His
Highness the Aga Khan, the Aga Khan Development Network,
or affiliated institutions and/or agencies, or those that
are undertaken by current members of the Award Steering
Committee, Master Jury, or Award staff, or by the Boards
or staff of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and Development
Network.
Submission
Procedures
Identification and Nomination
The
Award encourages and accepts recommendations for projects
to be considered from all possible sources. All interested
persons can submit projects for the Award by completing
a simple form that is available from the Award Office (akaa@akdn.org)
or by completing the on-line form available below:
These
PDF forms should be filled out and sent by email to akaa@akdn.org.
Should electronic means not be available, please fax the
form to:
(41.22)
909.72.92
The
form can also be posted to tthe following address:
The
Aga Khan Award for Architecture
P.O. Box 2049
1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
All
projects must meet the eligibility criteria established
for the current Award cycle. As noted above, architects
and others associated with projects are welcome to recommend
their own works.
A
parallel programme called “Nomination” is conducted
by the Award Office and draws on the suggestions provided
by a network of dedicated contacts that includes architects,
professionals, scholars and others who are familiar with
current architectural developments in Muslim societies.
Documentation
The
architects of projects enrolled through the nomination programme
receive an Award documentation package that describes the
standardized presentation requirements. In addition to submitting
photographs, slides and architectural drawings, architects
are asked to complete a detailed questionnaire pertaining
to use, cost, environmental and climatic factors, construction
materials, building schedule, structural integrity and ongoing
maintenance, and, more importantly, design concepts and
each project's significance within its own context.
Review
and Selection Procedures
Master Jury
The
review of projects and the selection of Award recipients
is the responsibility of an independent Master Jury specially
appointed for each Award cycle. Each jury is pluridisciplinary,
and brings together specialists in such fields as history,
engineering, philosophy, architectural conservation, and
contemporary arts, as well as practising architects, landscape
architects and urban planners.
For
the Eleventh Award Cycle, the Master Jury will hold two
meetings as part of its decision-making process. At its
first meeting, the Jury reviews the submissions enrolled
through the nomination programme. The Jurors examine the
documentation on each project and select approximately twenty-five
to thirty projects for On-Site Project Review by experts
selected by the Award.
On-Site Project
Review
The
Project Reviewers are architectural professionals specializing
in various disciplines, including housing, urban planning,
landscape design and restoration. Their task is to examine
on site each of the projects shortlisted by the Master Jury,
verifying project data and seeking additional information
such as user reactions. The Reviewers must consider a detailed
set of criteria in their written reports, and must also
respond to specific concerns and questions prepared by the
Master Jury for each project. To ensure maximum objectivity,
Reviewers report on projects located outside their native
countries.
Selection of Award
Recipients
At
the second week-long meeting of the Master Jury, the Project
Reviewers make personal presentations on the projects they
have reviewed. After evaluating the projects in closed sessions,
the Jurors select the Award recipients and determine the
apportionment of the US$ 500,000 prize fund. Since the success
of a winning project may be the product of efforts by diverse
individuals, groups and organizations, the Master Jury apportions
prizes among the contributors – architects, other design
and construction professionals, craftsmen, clients and institutions
– whom it considers most responsible for the success of
each project. The decisions of the Master Jury are final.
Announcement
of Awards
Ceremonies
to honour the winning projects and mark the close of each
triennial cycle are held in settings selected for their
importance to Islamic architecture: Shalimar Gardens in
Lahore (1980), Topkapi Palace in Istanbul (1983), Badi'
Palace in Marrakesh (1986), Saladin's Citadel in Cairo (1989),
Registan Square in Samarkand (1992), Karaton Surakarta in
Solo (1995), the Alhambra in Granada (1998), the Citadel
of Aleppo (2001), the Gardens of Emperor Humayun’s
Tomb in Delhi (2004), and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur
(2007). A seminar to present the awarded projects to a wider
public follows each ceremony and provides a forum for the
participants to debate issues of contemporary architecture.
A major monograph bringing together descriptions of the
winning projects, the Jury deliberations, and essays by
both Master Jury and Steering Committee members is published
on the occasion of the Award Ceremony..
Cyclical
Calendar
Identification
and Nomination of Projects Spring 2008 – Spring
2009
Submission of Documentation Summer 2008 – Summer
2009
Master Jury Meeting I Autumn 2009
On–Site Project Review January – April 2010
Master Jury Meeting II Summer 2010
Award Announcement Ceremony Autumn 2010
Chairman's
Award
The
Chairman's Award was established to honour accomplishments
that fall outside the scope of the Master Jury's mandate,
and has in the past been made in recognition of the lifetime
achievements of distinguished architects. The Chairman's
Award has been presented on three occasions: in 1980, to
the Egyptian architect and urban planner Hassan Fathy; in
1986, to Rifat Chadirji, an Iraqi architect and educator;
and in 2001, to the Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa.
For more information, please see previous recipients
of the Chairman's Award.
International
and Regional Seminars
To
reach out to a wider audience, the Award organizes international
and regional seminars during each cycle. International seminars
examine the trends and implications of architectural transformations
in the Islamic world, while regional seminars explore architecture
in Islamic cultures in a specific area. Designed to address
developments in the built environments of Muslims, they
bring together government officials, architects, academics,
planners, social scientists, designers and architectural
writers.
Since
the Award's inception, 22 seminars have been held in various
parts of the world, including Paris, Istanbul, Fez, Jakarta,
Amman, Beijing, Dakar, Sana'a, Kuala Lumpur, Cairo, Dhaka,
Granada, Malta, Zanzibar, Yogyakarta, Almaty, Baku, Beirut,
Moscow, Yazd, Tehran and Kuwait.
Archives
Conserving
the documentation of the building projects that have come
under consideration has been one of the goals of the Award,
and the materials gathered over each three-year Award cycle
form the major part of the library and visual collections
of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. The visual collections
consist of over 350,000 slides, prints and negatives, as
well as the special portfolios of Award projects. The library
consists of books, information on architects and firms,
reports, special case studies, and ongoing subscriptions
to architectural periodicals, along with newsletters, bulletins,
journals, chronicles and unpublished reports. The library
allows interested individuals access to the collections
by appointment, and responds to requests for information
from external sources.
Publications
The
Award publishes the proceedings of its international and
regional seminars as well as cyclical monographs based on
each Award cycle. Most Award publications are available
in English; some are also published in Arabic, Turkish,
French, and Chinese. Further information may be obtained
by contacting the Award Office or visiting the
publications page.
The most recent cyclical monograph, “Intervention
Architecture: Building for Change”, describes
the 2007 award-winning projects and contains essays by leading
thinkers and practitioners on the broader themes and issues
discussed during the 10th Award cycle. It is available for
purchase from the publishers, I.B. Tauris.
The previous cycle's monographs, “Architecture
and Polyphony : Building in the Islamic World Today”
(2004) and Modernity
and Community: Architecture in the Islamic World
(2001) are available from Thames & Hudson. The publisher
can be contacted by email
or by facsimile at (44.171) 845.5050. For information about
distribution in North America, please see the WWNorton
website.
Many Award publications are available at the ArchNet
Digital Library, an on-line resource focusing on architecture,
urban design, urban development, and related issues in the
Muslim world. The web site is a collaboration between the
Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the
Massachuetts Institute of Technology, but many other institutions
have contributed to building the database. For more information,
visit www.ArchNet.org
The
Award Logo
“Allah”
rendered in square Kufic script forms the basis of the symbol,
designed by Karl Schlamminger. to enquire about the usage
of the symbol, please contact akaa@akdn.org.
Related
Programmes
Aga
Khan Historic Cities Programme, which focuses on the
physical, social, and economic revitalisation of historic
sites in the Muslim world.
Aga Khan Program
for Islamic Architecture, which is dedicated to the
study of Islamic architecture, visual arts, conservation,
urban design and rehabilitation. It aims to improve the
teaching of Islamic art and architecture, promote excellence
in professional research, and enhance the understanding
of Islamic architecture and urbanism in light of contemporary
developmental issues.
ArchNet.org,
an on-line resource focusing on architecture, urban design,
urban development, and related issues in the Muslim world
(in cooperation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
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