BBC Video Aga Khan Award For Architure

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Aga Khan Architecture Award

Aga Khan Architecture Award
Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:42:55

An indoor public gathering space at the University of Technology Petronas

The architectures of the Muslim residence have been recognized for architectural excellence and have grabbed all Aga Khan Awards.

A diverse group of projects from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe have been honored with the prestigious Aga Khan Award. This year, nine projects were in places where Muslims live.

The independent jury for the 30th anniversary of the award program placed special value on meaningful collaborations and exchanges of ideas.

A school in Bangladesh, Netherlands Embassy in Ethiopia, Yemeni Restorations, Burkina Faso Market, The Nicosia Master Plan in Cyprus, University of Technology Petronas in Malaysia, Moulmein Rise Residential Tower in Singapore and Samir Kassir Square in Beirut are the winners of the award.

Traditional methods and materials suitable for the local climate and combination of the traditional methods with new techniques that lowers energy consumption are the reason jury lauded the School in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso Market and Moulmein Rise Residential Tower in Singapore.

Three restoration projects in Yemen were among the winners of this year’s award. The jury lauded the preservation of historic architecture for teaching culture to current and future generations.

The divided city of Nicosia, Cyprus won the award because the plan includes works projects in both parts of the city, and has used the shared space of a historic urban core to promote positive coexistence. The restored buildings have drawn new residents, tourists, economic activity, and private investment.

Performance-based building of the University of Technology Petronas in Malaysia is recognized by the jury too.

Embassy in Ethiopia, a cave-like office for the Netherlands seeks to preserve the topography of the site and to minimize disturbance to vegetation and wildlife. Protecting the indigenous tribes of Ethiopia made the design another winner to Aga Khan Award.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture was established by the Aga Khan in 1977 to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Islamic culture as expressed through architecture. The total triennial project budget is US$500,000.

NAT/RA

http://www.presstv.ir

BBC + TV Series + Building for Islam

BBC World will be showing a four-part series in September on the Aga Khan Award for Architecture entitled “Building for Islam”. See times below.

Episode 1:

Saturday 15th Sept at 1410 GMT
Repeated: Sat 15th at 2110, Sunday 16th at 0410 & 0910 and Monday 17^th at 0110 (Not Asia Pacific or South Asia) GMT

Episode 2:

Saturday 22nd Sept at 1410 GMT
Repeated: Sat 22nd at 2110, Sunday 23rd at 0410 & 0910 and Monday 24^th at 0110 (Not Asia Pacific or South Asia) GMT

Episode 3:

Saturday 29th Sept at 1410 GMT
Repeated: Sat 29th at 2110, Sunday 30th at 0410 & 0910 and Monday 1^st October at 0110 (Not Asia Pacific or South Asia) GMT

Episode 4:

Saturday 6 October at 1410 GMT Repeated: Sat 6 October at 2110, Sunday 7 October at 0410 & 0910 and
Monday 8th October at 0110 (Not Asia Pacific or South Asia) GMT

Aga Khan students awarded with pre-University course

Aga Khan students awarded with pre-University course

SARAH ACHEN KIBISI

OLD KAMPALAAga Khan High School has awarded their best students in International General Certificate of Secondary Education and International Baccalaureate diploma with a two-year pre-university course.Paul Barughare and Disha Parikh were the two most outstanding performers of 2007 in International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) with Nishala Bandali emerging top with 45 points in International Baccalaureate (IB). Announcing the results at the school last Wednesday, the head teacher Ms Margaret Radier said overall as a school, the average score of all the results was 30 out of 45 which is 75 per cent performance.“World average for the year is 29 meaning Aga Khan obtained one point above world average,” said Ms Radier. The Chief Executive Officer Aga Khan School, Ms Margaret Bell commended the students for being outstanding and urged the rest to follow the act. Ms Bell explained that Aga Khan high school has trained seven teachers in International Baccalaureate to teach and handle the program. “In some schools which have these programs, teachers leave the students to decide while here [at Aga Khan] we chase the students to meet deadlines,” said Ms Bell. It was the first class of IB at Aga Khan High school.

http://www.monitor.co.ug/business/career09052.php

Pictures : Aga Khan Award for Architecture in Kuala Lumpur

Reuters – Tue Sep 4, 3:13 PM ET

Prince Karim Aga Khan (L) delivers his address as Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi listens during the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture in Kuala Lumpur September 4, 2007. Nine projects split the $500,000 Aga Khan award, the world’s richest architecture prize awarded every three years and founded by philanthropist Aga Khan in 1977 to recognise and encourage designs that met “the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies”. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad (MALAYSIA)

Reuters – Tue Sep 4, 2:59 PM ET

Australian architect Richard Hassell (C) smiles after receiving the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for his design of Singapore’s Moulmein Rise Residential Tower, as Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (L) and Prince Karim Aga Khan clap during a photo call in Kuala Lumpur September 4, 2007. The 28-storey apartment tower was among nine projects that split the $500,000 Aga Khan award, the world’s richest architecture prize awarded every three years and founded by philanthropist Aga Khan in 1977 to recognise and encourage designs that met “the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies”. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad (MALAYSIA)

Reuters – Tue Sep 4, 2:59 PM ET

Singaporean architect Wong Mun Summ (C) smiles after receiving the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for designing Singapore’s Moulmein Rise Residential Tower, as Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (L) and Prince Karim Aga Khan clap in Kuala Lumpur September 4, 2007. The 28-storey apartment tower was among nine projects that split the $500,000 Aga Khan award, the world’s richest architecture prize awarded every three years and founded by philanthropist Prince Karim Aga Khan in 1977 to recognise and encourage designs that met “the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies”. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad (MALAYSIA)

 

 

 

Reuters – Tue Sep 4, 3:04 PM ET

Former Yemen’s Prime Minister Abdul Karim al-Eryani (C) smiles after receiving the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for his restoration project of the Amiriya Complex, as Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (L) and Prince Karim Aga Khan clap during a photo call in Kuala Lumpur September 4, 2007. The project to restore the historic quarters in Yemen was among nine projects that split the $500,000 Aga Khan award, the world’s richest architecture prize awarded every three years and founded by philanthropist Aga Khan in 1977 to recognise and encourage designs that met “the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies”. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad (MALAYSIA)

 

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  Reuters – Tue Sep 4, 2:55 PM ET

  Architect Norman Foster (L-R) of Britain smiles at Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Prince Karim Aga Khan in Kuala Lumpur, September 4, 2007

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  Reuters – Tue Sep 4, 12:19 PM ET

  Austrian architect Anna Heringer (C) smiles after receiving the Aga Khan award for her school project in the village of Rudrapur in northwest Bangladesh, as Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (L) and Prince Karim Aga Khan clap in Kuala Lumpur September 4, 2007. The school, built by hand from clay-mud and bamboo in four months by local craftsmen, pupils, parents and teachers under the direction of architects Heringer and Eike Roswag from Germany, was among nine projects that split the $500,000 Aga Khan award, the world’s richest architecture prize awarded every three years and founded by philanthropist Aga Khan in 1977 to recognise and encourage designs that met “the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies”. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad (MALAYSIA)

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  Reuters – Tue Sep 4, 12:19 PM ET

  German architect Eike Roswag

NINE PROJECTS RECEIVE 2007 AGA KHAN AWARD FOR ARCHITECTURE

Representatives of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot Communities of Nicosia who worked together for the rehabilitation of the Walled City of Nicosia receiving their 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. File size: 659 KB Photo credit: AKDN/Gary Otte

http://www.akdn.org/news/2007September4_video.htm click watch video

Pictures : Aga Khan Award for Architecture in Kuala Lumpur

Recipients pose for a group photograph with (foreground L-R) the Aga Khan, wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Jeanne Abdullah, and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the conclusion of the awards ceremony for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in Kuala Lumpur, 04 September 2007. Nine architectural projects in the Muslim world, ranging from a mud-brick marketplace to a modern university campus, were honoured by the Aga Khan 04 September in the world’s richest architectural awards. AFP PHOTO/TENGKU BAHAR (Photo credit should read TENGKU BAHAR/AFP/Getty Images)

(Foreground L-R) The Aga Khan, wife of M

(Foreground L-R) The Aga Khan, wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Jeanne Abdullah, and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi applaud award recipients at the conclusion of the awards ceremony for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in Kuala Lumpur, 04 September 2007. Nine architectural projects in the Muslim world, ranging from a mud-brick marketplace to a modern university campus, were honoured by the Aga Khan 04 September in the world’s richest architectural awards. AFP PHOTO/TENGKU BAHAR (Photo credit should read TENGKU BAHAR/AFP/Getty Images)

HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN IN KUALA LUMPER

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 4 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in a friendly chat with the Founder of the Aga Khan Development Network, Aga Khan at his office in the Prime Minister’s Department here today. There will be an Aga Khan Award for Achitecure ceremony today where Aga Khan will announce the nine recipients of the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.<wbr>mbdartz The Aga Khan Award for Achitecture was established in 1977 by Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Islamic culture as expressed through architecture. The award seeks to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs of aspirations of societies in which Muslims have a significant presence. — fotoBERNAMA COPYRIGHT RESERVED     PUTRAJAYA, Sept 4 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in a friendly chat with the Founder of the Aga Khan Development Network, Aga Khan at his office in the Prime Minister’s Department here today. There will be an Aga Khan Award for Achitecure ceremony today where Aga Khan will announce the nine recipients of the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. mbdartz The Aga Khan Award for Achitecture was established in 1977 by Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Islamic culture as expressed through architecture. The award seeks to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs of aspirations of societies in which Muslims have a significant presence. — fotoBERNAMA COPYRIGHT RESERVED

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 4 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ushers in the Founder of the Aga Khan Development Network, Aga Khan at his office in the Prime Minister’s Department here today. There will be an Aga Khan Award for Achitecure ceremony today where Aga Khan will announce the nine recipients of the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The Aga Khan Award for Achitecture was established in 1977 by Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Islamic culture as expressed through architecture. The award seeks to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs of aspirations of societies in which Muslims have a significant presence.mbdartz — fotoBERNAMA COPYRIGHT RESERVED SETEM KENANGAN AGA KHAN AWARD   KUALA LUMPUR, 30 Ogos — Wajah setem kenang-kenangan berimejkan menara berkembar Petronas dikeluarkan sempena penerimaan anugerah “The Aga Khan Award for Architecture” bagi tahun 2007. Pos Malaysia akan mengeluarkan setem berkenaan bersama Sampul Surat Hari Pertama pada 4 Sept ini. Pelancaran setem dan sampul surat khas itu akan disempurnakan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pada Majlis Penganugerahan “The Aga Khan Award for Architecture” di Dewan Fillharmonik Petronas. –fotoBERNAMAHAKCIP<wbr>TA TERPELI*mbHARA

Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2007 Award Presentation Ceremony

Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2007 Award Presentation Ceremony
Kuala Lumpur – 4 September 2007

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim
Assalamu-Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

Yang Amat Berhormat Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
and Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah

Honourable Ministers

Excellencies

Distinguished Guests

What a great pleasure it is for me to greet you today, as we present the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. This is an event we await with great anticipation as it comes around on the calendar every three years. It is the culmination of a wonderful process of discussion, research, exploration, and deliberation – one that has involved, through the years, nearly 8000 nominated projects and tens of thousands of participants, in some 88 countries. I think of the Award not as an event but as a process – and my thanks go out to all of you who have been a part of it.

This is a very good time and a very good place to hold this culminating ceremony.

To begin with, we join our Malaysian friends in celebrating the 50 th anniversary just a few days ago of the Malaysian Merdeka. Anniversary occasions are valuable opportunities to reflect on the past and to plan for the future. The Malaysian people have had good reason this past week to look back with pride, and forward with hope. I am particularly pleased that we can welcome and congratulate the Prime Minister and his wife at this special moment in their nation’s history.

I often reflect back on that period in the late 1950’s, when so many developing countries were suddenly gaining their independence. Those were the very first years of my Imamat – which, as you may know, has also marked its 50 th anniversary this summer. I recall both how excited and how sobered we were as we thought about the enormous challenges which then faced these newly independent nations – including Malaysia – as they worked to develop effective new institutions which would give meaning to their freedom.

I also recall how our emotions since that time have oscillated between hope and frustration as the story of development has unfolded. But more and more, in many places, the story has become one of promise and progress. This is particularly true, of course, here in Malaysia. And it is most especially evident as we look out on the face of this city.

I doubt that even the most imaginative among us could have envisionedfifty years ago what Kuala Lumpur would look like today. Surely the transformation of the built environment in this city is among the distinctive and exciting urban transformations in our lifetimes. More than that, the dramatic remaking of this city, so powerfully evidenced in the architectural realm, is all the more compelling because it expresses a profound transformation in the social and economic realms as well.

So again I would say that this is a good and appropriate place to gather this week – and a very appropriate time to be meeting.

Our common purpose today is to honour excellence in the field of architecture, as we have defined it for the purpose of the Award – represented by the nine projects which the Master Jury has selected as the 2007 awardees. It is with deep sincerity and appreciation that I extend my warmest congratulations to all of you.

The imperative that we “honour excellence” could be misleading, however, if we define the architectural enterprise too narrowly. What we spotlight through this award is an all-encompassing sweep of human endeavour, shaping an infinite variety of human spaces

The spaces we had in mind in establishing this Award were broadly defined, encompassing places both public and private, enclosed and open, urban and rural, residential and commercial, cultural and industrial, intimate and grand, religious and secular.

And the categories of people we had in mind also were broadly inclusive. We recognize with enormous respect those who initially dream about inspiring combinations of shape and scale, pattern and colour, texture and volume, line and light. But we also honour those who express those dreams in tangible designs, or through inspired on-site articulations, as well as those who finance these projects, and those whose skills as managers and builders convert abstract ideas into physical realities.

In short, our definition of the words “Architects” and “Architecture” is very comprehensive.

As has been mentioned, this Award itself is marking one of those round-numbered anniversaries tonight – the 30 th year since it was created, the tenth completion of its triennial cycle.

A central concept when this all began 30 years ago was the power of Architecture to connect the past with the present and the future. It was my strong impression then that Architecture had largely abandoned the indigenous past – especially in Muslim societies and in the developing world.

Perhaps it was a natural tendency – the thought that if we wanted to speed up the modernization process, we should clear our minds, and even our landscapes, of what some saw as the dead hand of the past. But, in doing so, we often cut ourselves off from great well-springs of inspiration, power and moral authority.

This is one of the reasons our Award Ceremonies have normally been held in historically significant settings – reminders of just how rich our Islamic heritage has been.

Our venues were NOT meant to imply however that our goal was simply to reproduce the past. In fact, the projects we have honoured through the years – over one hundred of them – have invariably rejected simplistic, copy-machine approaches. The fact that we hold these current ceremonies in a contemporary setting – one which has itself been a recipient of our Award, symbolizes our faith that Architecture can not only link us to the past, but also propel us, creatively, into the future.

The past is not something to stand on, but rather to build on. If ignoring the past was a problem on one side, then the opposite danger was an exaggerated submission to the past, so that some creations and creators became prisoners of dogma or nostalgia.

There is a danger, in every area of life, everywhere in the world, that people will respond to the hastening pace of change with an irrational fear of modernism, and will want to embrace uncritically that which has gone before. The Islamic world has sometimes been vulnerable to this temptation – and the rich potential for a new “Islamic modernism” has sometimes been under-estimated.

The Aga Khan Award was designed, in part, to address this situation, encouraging those who saw the past as a necessary prelude to the future – and who saw the future as a fulfilling extension of the past. And, by and large through the years, this objective has been accomplished.

In my view, a healthy life, for an individual or a community, means finding a way to relate the values of the past, the realities of the present, and the opportunities of the future. The built environment can play a central role in helping us to achieve that balance.

One other area in which Architecture can play a connecting role is through the bridging of man and nature, between the natural and the built environments. For Islam particularly, this bridging objective is a religious imperative. The Quran commands us to be good stewards of Allah’s natural creation – even as we employ His gifts of time and talent to shape our surroundings. Neither environmental protection nor economic development can be long sustained unless both objectives are prioritized. They are part of a Common Agenda.

Finally, I might observe what you also know very well: the fact that architecture also connects people. I think of people of different ethnic, religious and political backgrounds, with different skills and temperaments, from different classes and social sectors – all of whom can come to understand one another better by experiencing one another’s architecture.

At its best, architecture is an inherently pluralistic enterprise – one that honours diversity – including diversity within and among Islamic communities. At its best, architecture will help people to come together across old divides rather than re-enforcing those divides and isolating one group from another.

Finally, as we present this Award for the tenth time, we must ask ourselves what we have learnt from the past three decades, and what should be our sights for the future.

While we cannot present an in-depth analysis right now, I think we can begin by acknowledging that, more or less everywhere in the Ummah, Muslims and others are asking themselves the right questions and are developing positive answers about their built environment: Are we building for the future in a culturally empathetic way? Do we now own and are we marshalling the necessary creative resources – ranging from new schools of architecture to new data bases, through which the architectural community can share its questions and answers, its problems and its successes? This in itself is a magnificent change from 1977, when such simple but essential questions were generally not being asked, or had only negative answers.

Looking to the future, we are faced with the challenge of change on a more massive scale than ever before in the history of Islam. As we look ahead, we can predict a continuing, relentless urbanisation in countries which are now largely rural. In some areas of the Ummah physical development is occurring at a near industrial scale. We can also see new international partnerships linking development institutions from the industrialised world with those of the Ummah. And, happily, we can now welcome the steady emergence of new, highly talented generations of Muslims and non-Muslims who appreciate the heritage of world-class buildings and spaces which characterized the Ummah for so many centuries – and who understand the power of Islamic cultural well-springs to inspire continuing accomplishment.

The talents and insights of these new generations of young creative people will be an enormously valuable resource in the years ahead. It is essential that the decision makers of the Ummah and of their development partners should trust and embrace these new generations of architectural professionals. It is my deep conviction that if this is done, while errors may be made, the outcomes will surely include a sense of authenticity, inspiration, heritage and creativity which will restore to many areas of the Ummah a sense of the architectural greatness of its past. If that happens, then the impact on the physical environment of world civilizations, well beyond the frontiers of the Ummah, will also be profound.

I believe that the awards we present today will facilitate that process – and amplify its impact.

We are proud that you who gather here are among the strong supporters of this award. We salute you for that support, even as we thank you for your participation in this great anniversary event – in this distinctive and forward-looking city.

Thank You.

Aga Khan Foundation ‘Awareness’ fundraiser dinner in Chicago

This is from IndiaPost.com:
http://indiapost.com/article/communitypost/897/

India Post News Service

CHICAGO: “We in India believe that if rain comes before a good cause, it is God’s blessing” said Ashok Kumar Attri, the Indian Consul General, addressing a large gathering of Chicago community’s elites who had flocked to be present at an Awareness dinner fundraiser arranged by Aga Khan Foundation USA last week in Skokie, an Illinois suburb.

The event was organized to generate funds for the $12 billion Foundation’s welfare activities in Indian sub-continent and Africa. The Consul General related his own personal experience with AKF humanitarian activities in Nairobi and said that his own daughter was born in AKF hospital and had her education in AKF School. FIA president Iftekhar Shareef hailed AKF welfare activities in India. He said while in Delhi near Hazrat Nizamabad dargah he had witnessed how the AKF took care of underprivileged, running school and hospital for them.Earlier, Aziz Ajani Chairman AKF Midwest welcomed the guests and briefly spoke about AKF activities in USA. A video presentation showed AKF hospitals, schools in Mumbai.

The keynote address was to have been delivered by Dr Zulfikar Esmail, Chairman Premier Bank and former AKF USA chairman. However, as he could not make it due flight delay, Iqbal Noorali addressed the gathering on his behalf. He spoke about AKF activities for health, education for underprivileged, and its mission of rural development.

“The AKF is working for global poverty eradication”, he said. It is a non-denomination network primarily working to improve the living conditions of the poor based on Islamic principles. He noted that his community was among the first in the world to encourage women to get education and make learning a core of their ethics. “Our activities encompass all phases of life including health, education and rural development and we have done a remarkable job.

We work with over 60 private and governmental agencies worldwide and are in partnership with people,” Dr Noorani said.An auction was arranged to generate funds. Air India donated two tickets for India from USA. Dr Mehboob Kapadia won the tickets by giving highest bid. Former Indian Cricket Captain Mohammed Azharuddin joined the podium for fundraising.

A bat signed by Azhar was also auctioned and won by Iftekhar Shareef. Babu Patel announced AKF annual donation for four consecutive years. Niranjan Shah also donated generously for AKF humanitarian mission. An entertainment program was presented by Saaz & Awaz Orchestra. Mafat Patel gave vote of thanks on behalf of organizers.

The Aga Khan Foundation is a non-denominational, international development agency established in 1967 to develop and promote creative solutions to problems that impede social development, primarily in Asia and East Africa. Created as a private, non-profit foundation under Swiss law, it has branches and independent affiliates in 15 countries.

It is a modern vehicle for traditional philanthropy in the Ismaili Muslim community under the leadership of the Aga Khan.

http://indiapost.com/article/communitypost/897/