ArchNet

Archnet (www.archnet.org) is the world’s largest online databank of international architecture. It was developed at the MIT School of Architecture and Planning in co-operation with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. It provides users with resources on architecture, urban design and development in the Muslim world to all users free of charge.

History and Conceptualization

Archnet as relaunched in 2013 is an initiative of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT (AKDC @ MIT). The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). Through various programmes, partnerships, and initiatives, the AKTC seeks to improve the built environment in Asia and Africa where there is a significant Muslim presence. ArchNet complements the work of the Trust by making its resources digitally accessible to individuals worldwide.

Archnet was conceptualized in 1998 during a series of discussions between His Highness the Aga Khan, the President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Charles Vest, and the Dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning, William Mitchell. The foundations of ArchNet were predicated on remarks made by the Aga Khan in Istanbul in 1983, about his desire to make available the extensive dossiers resulting from the nominations for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) for the purpose of “[assisting] those institutions where the professionals of the future are trained.”