The 2004 Award Steering Committee

His Highness the Aga Khan, Chairman

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt – Architecture and Polyphony:
Building in the Islamic World Today

Akram Abu Hamdan At no time in recent history have architecture,

Charles Correa
architects: Snøhetta Hamza Consortium (Snøhetta urban planning, rehabilitation and reconstruction

Building in the Islamic World Today

Architecture and Polyphony:
Abdou Filali-Ansary been as important to the Islamic world as they
Jacques Herzog are today. With great opportunities to engender
Glenn Lowry
Mohsen Mostafavi
AS, Norway, Craig Dykers, Christoph Kapeller and positive change and build better places for
everyone, architects are responding to local
Babar Mumtaz Khan challenges with understanding and innovation,
Peter Rowe
Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, principal architects; Hamza with global outlook and vernacular and innovative
forms. These multifaceted achievements include
restoration, landscape design, infrastructure
The 2004 Award Master Jury

Ghada Amer
Associates, Egypt). Primary School, Gando, and urban planning, and new buildings.

Bringing to international attention the work

Hanif Kara
Rahul Mehrotra
Farshid Moussavi
Burkina Faso – architect: Diébédo Francis Kéré, Burkina of architects, artisans, designers, planners
and visionaries who have produced significant
projects for Muslim societies since 1977,
Modjtaba Sadria

Faso. Sandbag Shelter Prototypes, Iran,

the triennial Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Reinhard Schulze
celebrates outstanding contributions to
Elías Torres Tur
architectural design, local construction and
Billie Tsien
the revivification of historic cities. In this,
Jafar Tukan
Mexico, Canada, India, Thailand, Siberia, Brazil, Chile the ninth Award cycle, an independent Jury
comprising architects, engineers, artists,
Recipients of the 2004 Award historians, philosophers and urban-planners

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt

and US – architects: Cal-Earth Institute, US (Nader has selected seven projects to reflect the rich
diversity of Muslim architecture today.
Gando Primary School, Burkina Faso
Sandbag Shelter Prototypes
Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque, Yemen Khalili, concept and design; Iliona Outram, project From Snøhetta’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina in
Egypt to a primary school in Burkina Faso, from
Old City Revitalization Programme, Jerusalem a prototype construction system using sandbags
B2 House, Turkey
Petronas Towers, Malaysia manager). Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque, to a modern house in Turkey and a mosque
restoration in Yemen, from the revitalization of
Jerusalem’s Old City to Cesar Pelli's Petronas

Other titles of interest

near Asnaf, Yemen – conservators: Marylène Towers in Kuala Lumpur, there is a great degree
of ingenuity, care and excellence demonstrated
in all the awarded projects. Each work is shown in
Legacies for the Future:
Contemporary Architecture in Islamic Societies Barret, France, with Abdullah al-Hadrami, Yemen. detailed drawings, concise building descriptions
and outstanding photographs that convey each
project’s true spirit. Texts by Billie Tsien, Reinhard
Edited by Cynthia C. Davidson
With 253 illustrations, 103 in colour

Modernity and Community:

Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization Schulze, Hanif Kara, Elías Torres Tur, Modjtaba
Sadria, Babar Khan Mumtaz and Suha Özkan
provide insights and multiple perspectives to the
Architecture in the Islamic World
Foreword by Charles Correa
Introduction by Kenneth Frampton
Programme (OCJRP), Jerusalem – conservation: challenges and achievements of the premiated
buildings.

With 280 illustrations, mostly in colour

OCJRP Technical Office, Jerusalem. B2 House,
Text by David Robson
With 296 illustrations, 82 in colour

An Architecture for People:

The Complete Works of Hassan Fathy
James Steele
Büykhüsun, Ayvacık, Turkey – architect: Han Tümertekin,
With 213 illustrations, 100 in colour

The Mosque and the Modern World:

Turkey. Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia –
Architects, Patrons and Designs Since the 1950s
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Renata Holod and Hasan-Uddin Khan
With 446 illustrations, 156 in colour architects: Cesar Pelli & Associates, US (Cesar Pelli,
design principal, Fred Clarke, collaborating design The Ninth Award Cycle
If you would like to receive details of our new and
forthcoming titles, please send your name and
address to

Thames & Hudson

principal and Jon Pickard, design team leader).
181A High Holborn ISBN 0-500-28533-0
London WC1V 7QX
www.thamesandhudson.com
On the cover: Bibliotheca Alexandrina
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (photo Hana Alamuddin)
Printed in Singapore 9 780500 285336
The 2004 Award Steering Committee

His Highness the Aga Khan, Chairman

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt – Architecture and Polyphony:
Building in the Islamic World Today

Akram Abu Hamdan At no time in recent history have architecture,

Charles Correa
architects: Snøhetta Hamza Consortium (Snøhetta urban planning, rehabilitation and reconstruction

Building in the Islamic World Today

Architecture and Polyphony:
Abdou Filali-Ansary been as important to the Islamic world as they
Jacques Herzog are today. With great opportunities to engender
Glenn Lowry
Mohsen Mostafavi
AS, Norway, Craig Dykers, Christoph Kapeller and positive change and build better places for
everyone, architects are responding to local
Babar Mumtaz Khan challenges with understanding and innovation,
Peter Rowe
Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, principal architects; Hamza with global outlook and vernacular and innovative
forms. These multifaceted achievements include
restoration, landscape design, infrastructure
The 2004 Award Master Jury

Ghada Amer
Associates, Egypt). Primary School, Gando, and urban planning, and new buildings.

Bringing to international attention the work

Hanif Kara
Rahul Mehrotra
Farshid Moussavi
Burkina Faso – architect: Diébédo Francis Kéré, Burkina of architects, artisans, designers, planners
and visionaries who have produced significant
projects for Muslim societies since 1977,
Modjtaba Sadria

Faso. Sandbag Shelter Prototypes, Iran,

the triennial Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Reinhard Schulze
celebrates outstanding contributions to
Elías Torres Tur
architectural design, local construction and
Billie Tsien
the revivification of historic cities. In this,
Jafar Tukan
Mexico, Canada, India, Thailand, Siberia, Brazil, Chile the ninth Award cycle, an independent Jury
comprising architects, engineers, artists,
Recipients of the 2004 Award historians, philosophers and urban-planners

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt

and US – architects: Cal-Earth Institute, US (Nader has selected seven projects to reflect the rich
diversity of Muslim architecture today.
Gando Primary School, Burkina Faso
Sandbag Shelter Prototypes
Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque, Yemen Khalili, concept and design; Iliona Outram, project From Snøhetta’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina in
Egypt to a primary school in Burkina Faso, from
Old City Revitalization Programme, Jerusalem a prototype construction system using sandbags
B2 House, Turkey
Petronas Towers, Malaysia manager). Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque, to a modern house in Turkey and a mosque
restoration in Yemen, from the revitalization of
Jerusalem’s Old City to Cesar Pelli's Petronas

Other titles of interest

near Asnaf, Yemen – conservators: Marylène Towers in Kuala Lumpur, there is a great degree
of ingenuity, care and excellence demonstrated
in all the awarded projects. Each work is shown in
Legacies for the Future:
Contemporary Architecture in Islamic Societies Barret, France, with Abdullah al-Hadrami, Yemen. detailed drawings, concise building descriptions
and outstanding photographs that convey each
project’s true spirit. Texts by Billie Tsien, Reinhard
Edited by Cynthia C. Davidson
With 253 illustrations, 103 in colour

Modernity and Community:

Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization Schulze, Hanif Kara, Elías Torres Tur, Modjtaba
Sadria, Babar Khan Mumtaz and Suha Özkan
provide insights and multiple perspectives to the
Architecture in the Islamic World
Foreword by Charles Correa
Introduction by Kenneth Frampton
Programme (OCJRP), Jerusalem – conservation: challenges and achievements of the premiated
buildings.

With 280 illustrations, mostly in colour

OCJRP Technical Office, Jerusalem. B2 House,
Text by David Robson
With 296 illustrations, 82 in colour

An Architecture for People:

The Complete Works of Hassan Fathy
James Steele
Büykhüsun, Ayvacık, Turkey – architect: Han Tümertekin,
With 213 illustrations, 100 in colour

The Mosque and the Modern World:

Turkey. Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia –
Architects, Patrons and Designs Since the 1950s
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Renata Holod and Hasan-Uddin Khan
With 446 illustrations, 156 in colour architects: Cesar Pelli & Associates, US (Cesar Pelli,
design principal, Fred Clarke, collaborating design The Ninth Award Cycle
If you would like to receive details of our new and
forthcoming titles, please send your name and
address to

Thames & Hudson

principal and Jon Pickard, design team leader).
181A High Holborn ISBN 0-500-28533-0
London WC1V 7QX
www.thamesandhudson.com
On the cover: Bibliotheca Alexandrina
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (photo Hana Alamuddin)
Printed in Singapore 9 780500 285336
TJ521-8-2004 P001-101 150L CTP 9/10/04 8:33 PM Page 1

Cyan Magenta Yellow Black

Architecture and Polyphony:

Building in the Islamic World Today

TRC226-10-2004 IMUK HUC0186 Aga Khan Award For Architecture (CTP) W:215mmXH:278mm 150L 140 Profijt White W/F Magenta

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture

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1st 13 13

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Contents

05 The  Aga Khan Award for Architecture

08 Introduction to the Statement of the Award Master Jury

Farshid Moussavi

10 Statement of the Award Master Jury

12 Recipients of the  Aga Khan Award for Architecture

14 Bibliotheca Alexandrina●
Alexandria, Egypt

32 Gando Primary School●

Gando, Burkina Faso

50 Sandbag Shelter Prototypes●

Various locations

66 Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque●

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Asnaf,Yemen

84 Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization Programme●

Old City, Jerusalem

102 B House●
Ayvacık,Turkey

120 Petronas Towers●

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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140 The Grammar of Architecture

Reinhard Schulze

142 Ten Thoughts During Ten Days as a Jury Member

Billie Tsien

144 Cults of Collaboration

Hanif Kara

146 Thoughts About Architecture and the  Awards

Elías Torres Tur

148 Wall-less Gate

Modjtaba Sadria

151 Architecture without Building

Babar Khan Mumtaz

157 A Breakthrough
Suha Özkan

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168  Award Steering Committee

170  Award Master Jury

174  Award Project Reviewers

176 Award Secretariat

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Acknowledgements

This monograph was coordinated by Prince Hussain

Aga Khan, Farrokh Derakhshani and Jack Kennedy on
behalf of the Steering Committee of the 2004 Aga Khan
Award for Architecture.

All texts were edited by Philippa Baker. Project texts

are based on reports prepared by the 2004 Award
On-Site Project Reviewers and edited by Philippa
Baker with assistance from Christine Davis, Sarah
Polden and Kirsty Seymour-Ure.

Design and layout of the book were undertaken by

Irma Boom with Sonja Haller.
TJ521-8-2004 IMUK HUC0186 Aga Khan Award For Architecture (CTP) W:215mmXH:278mm 150L 140 Profijt White W/F Magenta

Any copy of this book issued by the publisher as a

paperback is sold subject to the condition that it shall
not by way of trade or otherwise be lent, resold, hired
out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s
prior consent in any form of binding or cover other
than that in which it is published and without a similar
condition including these words being imposed on a
subsequent purchaser.

First published in the United Kingdom in 2004 by

Thames & Hudson Ltd, 181A High Holborn,
London WC1V 7QX
www.thamesandhudson.com

© 2004Thames & Hudson Ltd, London, and

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Geneva.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording
or any other information storage and retrieval system,
without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.

ISBN 0-500-28533-0

Designed by Irma Boom Office, Amsterdam

Printed and bound in Singapore by CS Graphics

Inside cover: Collages from the Jury Meetings

by Ghada Amer

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture • Architecture and Polyphony 04

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The  Aga Khan Award for Architecture

The year  marks the completion of the ninth triennial cycle of the
Aga Khan Award for Architecture, established in  by His Highness the
Aga Khan. During the twenty-seven years since it was founded, the Award has
responded to the constant changes that have taken place in Muslim societies
throughout the world.The results of this cycle of the Award reveal a renewed
sense of confidence and hope in the contributions that Muslims today make
to architecture and society throughout the world, even while retaining their
cultural specificity and identity.

The Award Steering Committee

This cycle of the Award has been characterized by a commitment to pluralism
and tolerance, with a focus on recognizing architectural achievements that
demonstrate the highest international standards of excellence in building.
The Award Steering Committee, chaired by the Aga Khan, worked intensely
throughout the current cycle, beginning with a review and revision of the
eligibility requirements projects should meet in order to be considered.These
requirements were then communicated to over a thousand nominators who
recommend projects to the Award office.They include an emphasis on innovative
types of architecture emerging throughout the Muslim world – projects that may
be large-scale or modest in scope and that demonstrate new directions for
architecture, planning and landscaping in both urban and rural contexts. The
Steering Committee acknowledged that such projects do not fit easily into any
single category, but embrace a variety of programmes and building types. The

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Committee also placed importance on projects by young architects and on the
categories of infrastructure, landscaping, community development and public
urban spaces. In particular, the Committee asked nominators to give special
attention to projects that respond to the growing housing crisis in many Muslim
societies. New types of project – productive territories, active landscapes or land-
reclamation projects – were also recommended, and the Steering Committee
expressed specific interest in locality and contemporary conditions.

To be eligible for the Ninth Award Cycle, projects must have been completed
during the twelve-year period from  to  and in use for at least one
full year between the period  January  and  December . No projects
may be considered that are commissioned by His Highness the Aga Khan or
undertaken by current members of the Award Steering Committee, Master
Jury or Award staff, or by the Board or staff of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

The nomination process yielded a total of  eligible projects, located in

forty-four countries, and these formed the basis of the first week-long meeting
of the  Master Jury during January .The Master Jury – an independent
and autonomous group appointed by the Steering Committee – comprised
nine men and women from throughout the world, including practising architects,
structural engineers, artists, historians, philosophers and experts in urban
planning and restoration.

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Issues and criteria

In order to explain the objectives and procedures of the Award, the Steering
Committee met with the members of the Jury before the latter’s review of
projects and subsequent deliberations. In a written note to the Jury Members,
the Steering Committee indicated its belief that all of the finalist projects
should meet a number of ‘threshold criteria’, contributing to established ways
of doing things or extending boundaries in the field, making intelligent use of
available resources and materials and responding sensitively to the environment,
and showing social and ethical responsibility with respect to individual and
community self-determination.

The Steering Committee also identified a number of issues that emerged in

the course of discussions during the Ninth Award Cycle as important factors in
current architectural practice in the Islamic world.These were: the symbolization
of power and authority (dealing with issues of power relations); the articulation of
public and private spaces; issues of cultural identity and cultural representation;
sensitivity to plurality; and constructive aspirations for individuals and societies.

The issues put forward by the Steering Committee were intended to stimulate
initial conversation among the Jury Members. Reconfirming the Master Jury’s
independent and autonomous mandate, the Committee noted that it was the
Jury Members’ responsibility to determine which, if any, of the criteria and
suggested issues were pertinent to their deliberations.The Steering Committee
noted that it would be unlikely for any individual project to meet all of the
threshold criteria and deal with all of the issues proposed, but expressed hope
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that the projects selected for Awards by the Master Jury would be recognizable
by their thoughtful approach to one or more of the criteria.

To avoid inadvertently affecting the Jury’s decision-making process by the

imposition of classifications such as building type or location, the Steering
Committee requested that the  nominated projects be presented in
alphabetical order by name of architect or architectural firm.

The  Award Master Jury

As a result of their first meeting, the nine Master Jury members selected
twenty-three projects for further study as part of the Award’s On-Site Project
Review Programme. All of the twenty-three shortlisted projects were visited
on site between February and May  by experts appointed by the Award.
These Project Reviewers prepared written reports and at the second Master
Jury meeting, in June , made half-hour presentations on each project
and discussed particular points of interest raised by the Jury. Deliberations
continued in private sessions over the following four days and resulted in
the Jury’s selection of seven projects to share the  Aga Khan Award
for Architecture.The Jury’s decisions were unanimous.

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Architecture and Polyphony: Building in the Islamic World Today

This book was designed by Irma Boom. All texts were edited by Philippa Baker
with the assistance of Prince Hussain Aga Khan. Features on the seven winning
projects include descriptions and illustrations of each project, with texts based
on the reports by the On-Site Reviewers.The written Statement of the Award
Master Jury is integral to understanding the collective significance of the seven
projects, and an Introduction to the Statement by the Chair of the Jury, Professor
Farshid Moussavi, describes the nature and challenges of the Jury discussions
and deliberations in a more personal fashion. Many of the Jury Members have
contributed essays to this volume, developing their professional or personal views
about architecture and its condition in Muslim societies today. Reflecting the
breadth and diversity of the Award process, the two philosophers on the Jury
– professors Modjtaba Sadria and Reinhard Schulze – have contributed writings
that situate the role of architecture in the wider realm of contemporary society.
Artist Ghada Amer, also a member of the Jury, has prepared a visual interpretation
of the eleven days of Jury meetings during January and June .The volume
concludes with an essay, ‘Architecture without Building’, by Steering Committee
member Babar Khan Mumtaz, while ‘A Breakthrough’, by Dr Suha Özkan,
Secretary General of the Award, situates the current winning projects within
the larger perspective of the nine completed Award cycles.

The Aga Khan Development Network

His Highness the Aga Khan, forty-ninth hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili
Muslims, is the Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, a group
of agencies working in health, education, culture and rural and economic

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development, primarily in Asia and Africa.The Aga Khan Trust for Culture,
of which the Aga Khan Award for Architecture is a part, undertakes the
Network’s cultural programmes.

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Introduction to the Statement of the Award Master Jury

Farshid Moussavi, Chair of the Jury

It is an honour to represent the Master Jury and I thank the Steering

Committee on behalf of the Jury for giving us this opportunity to
reflect on and learn from architectural processes and interventions
in the Muslim world and to contribute through the Award towards
the enhancement of the environment. The composition of the Master
Jury is a microcosm of conditions in Muslim societies as well as the
world at large – a vortex of people, cultures, ages, expectations,
architectural heritage, economics. Architecture, we believe, needs
to develop a variety of tools to respond to this plural, multifaceted
condition.The composition of the Jury was determined by the Steering
Committee.The Jury therefore recognizes the conditions the Steering
Committee has tried to create in bringing the Jury Members together.
But of course this also means that the Steering Committee is
responsible for the outcome!
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Selecting the winning projects was an exhausting experience but also

very interesting and we even managed to enjoy it.The two philosophers
in the group were geographically placed in the room in such a way
as to sandwich and shape the rest of us, who represent more intuitive,
creative and artistic approaches.They were constantly trying to broaden
the field in which architecture operates beyond the mere act of building
and technical perfection to include issues such as politics, identity,
cross-cultural exchange, pluralism and public investment.The designers,
architects, engineers and artists on the Jury were superexcited by this
power that the philosophers were bestowing on architecture. It felt as
if architecture could still play a central role in our societies and that
everything is possible – that our role need not be reduced to the mere
act of building but might also include facilitating larger processes that
are latent in this complex and rich context.

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But we did not submit entirely to this broader view, knowing that
one of the powerful ways in which architecture can improve the
environment is in the way it transfers and crystallizes these processes
into form. And at the same time, if we are committed to innovation,
we must look at projects at every level of detail. Innovation rarely
happens in a vacuum; it happens only intermittently, in response to
acute conditions and the consolidation of problems that arise out of
various cultures. So innovation may be necessary at the ‘macro’ scale
or at the ‘micro’ scale of delivering an architectural solution.

We were also interested in recognizing architectural processes as well

as architectural ideas that symbolize the Muslim world. After all, we all
know that ideas make up only ten per cent of an architectural venture.
Architects are more like sailors who are constantly against a sea of
odds, such as project managers who want to ‘value engineer’ the scheme,
budgets that are never big enough, politicians who are single-minded,
public consultations that subject a scheme to selfish perspectives, time…

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So for us as a group, the architect’s skill in guiding this process is as
important as his or her original ideas.

One of the ways in which we think the Award should extend is to be

not only the mechanism to acknowledge outstanding results but also an
initiator – a platform for seeds of ideas that show the potential to trigger
improvement and enhancement of the environment in Muslim societies.

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Statement of the Award Master Jury

The Jury met for the first time in January  and started by reviewing
 projects that had been nominated for the Ninth Cycle of the Aga Khan
Award for Architecture. After vigorous and concentrated discussions, the Jury
shortlisted twenty-three projects that were proposed for On-Site Project Review.
During the second meeting, in June , the Reviewers presented to the Jury
their detailed reports and, after discussions, the Jury selected seven projects
to receive the  Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

From the outset, the Jury agreed that they would need to seek out a com-
prehensive approach in order to discover, understand and explain the challenges
of architecture in the Muslim world as it confronts modernity in all its diversity.
Four areas of social meaning came to the fore, and the Jury expressed these
as a series of questions.

The first question raises the issue of how the complexity of history and
of historical memory can be expressed in architecture. Because restoration
deals with history in architectural terms, it tends, pragmatically, not simply
to freeze the past as it may have existed at a given moment. Instead, restoration
increasingly responds to the needs of present-day groups and individuals,
who often use historic buildings for new purposes. By accommodating
historical meaning and contemporary needs, a building retains social
meaning rather than becoming simply an object of tourism.
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Secondly, the Jury considered the question of how private initiatives are
integrated into the emerging public sphere.The Jury believes that the develop-
ment of a pluralist public realm is one of the most important issues facing many
Muslim countries.Today, more and more private initiatives in the public realm
empower societies and address their needs, be it in the fields of education,
sanitation or other social requirements. Architecture plays an important role
in manifesting these endeavours, and the Jury particularly appreciated a
balanced relationship between the social content of an initiative and its
architectural representation.

The winning projects also address the question of how to express individuality
in complex social settings. In modernity, architecture expresses individuality,
permitting a poetical interpretation of the self.The Jury recognized the growing
awareness and appreciation of individuality in the Muslim world. On the one
hand, this individuality counters the idea that Muslim societies emphasize
collective identities; on the other, it reveals the plurality of Muslim traditions.

The fourth question the Jury considered was the issue of how power and
authority in the global domains of technology, culture and economics might
be addressed through architecture.The Jury paid special attention to the
responsibility of architecture in the Muslim world and to projects that show
understanding of the worldwide exchange of technological, cultural and
economic knowledge in local contexts.The translation of global identities

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into architecture – which can occur in the technology used in buildings or in

the potential functions of buildings – was considered by the Jury to be of great
importance for many parts of the Muslim world.

The Jury also analysed how these four issues have been transferred to architecture.
It is common sense that the way structure and design are used in a project should
always be adequate to the issue addressed. Adequacy, however, does not mean
simply assigning a form to a problem and updating traditional architectural
solutions. It means adopting a critical perspective on the problem and addressing
it by means of architectural techniques.The Jury recognized this by giving
importance to projects that raise the standards of excellence.

Finally, the Jury focused on the social, cultural and environmental impact of
the projects, analysing the balance between intention and realization, meaning
and material, and functionality and use.The integration of projects within the
environment and the criticism of tradition were also factors in assessing projects.

Architecture in the Muslim world partakes of all the features of modernity

in architecture. However, it often also tries to incorporate specific Islamic
meanings, and it is only in such deliberate instances that architecture can be
labelled ‘Islamic’.When ‘Islamic’ traditions are followed instinctively, the
result is simply architecture in a Muslim cultural context.This means that there
is a difference between architecture in the Muslim world and what is defined
in discourse as ‘Islamic architecture’.The plurality of architecture in the
Muslim world is evident at many levels: in varied discourses on architecture;

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in architecture that deals with restoration in ways that re-establish the generic
pluralism of Muslim culture; and in the multiplicity of forms produced by a
variety of social, cultural and economic environments. The Jury was particularly
aware of the complexity of the plurality of the Muslim world and was critical of
those projects that tried to establish a cultural normativity that could threaten
that plurality.

The Jury believes that all seven projects selected for the  Aga Khan Award
for Architecture meet with the foregoing criteria.

Ghada Amer
Hanif Kara
Rahul Mehrotra
Farshid Moussavi
Modjtaba Sadria
Reinhard Schulze
Elías Torres Tur
Billie Tsien
Jafar Tukan

Geneva, June 

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84–101
Old City of Jerusalem
Revitalization Programme
Jerusalem

102–119
B2 House
Ayvacik,Turkey
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32– 49
Gando Primary School
Gando, Burkina Faso

66 – 83
Restoration of
Al-Abbas Mosque
Asnaf, Yemen

14– 31
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Alexandria, Egypt

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Recipients of the 2004 Aga Khan Award for Architecture

120–137
PetronasTowers
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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50 – 65
Sandbag Shelter Prototypes
Various locations

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Alexandria, Egypt
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The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a revival of the legendary ancient library built

in classical Greek times.The rebuilding of the library has returned Alexandria
to its former status as a centre for learning and exchange and provided the
city with a landmark building.The new library also serves as the world’s window
on Egypt, Egypt’s window on the world and a library for the new digital age.

The symbolism of the library’s simple tilted disc form has a strong and
universally recognizable resonance, as well as allowing for the creation of
an impressive space without overpowering the visitor or the city behind it.
Internally the library is large in size but always human in scale, clear in
organization but flexible in use, grand in conception but beautifully detailed.

The spirit of international cooperation in which the library was conceived,

funded, designed and implemented has been maintained in its management
to create an institution that is truly global in its outlook. At the same time,
the building is technically outstanding – its substructure comprising the
largest circular diaphragm wall in the world.The rich programmes that it
houses, from specialist libraries to museums and various focused research
centres, promise to make it a centre of scholarship for the region.
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Bibliotheca Alexandrina

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This building has received an Award because it shows an innovative

approach to the design and placement of a large, symbolic form on
one of the most important waterfronts in the world. From its inception
through an international competition to its design and construction
by many international companies, and in its current financial manage-
ment, the project provides a model for other such projects in bringing
together the international community and encouraging cooperation
and commitment from society as a whole.

While the building is groundbreaking in architectural and technological

terms, it also responds sensitively to a wide spectrum of issues, including
politics, religion, culture and history.The bold ‘tilted disc’ forms an icon
while delivering a highly formal and monumental building.The technical
challenges of constructing such a large development close to the water’s
edge and within an urban setting have been embraced and dealt with
through the use of advanced technologies.The form also provides a clear
organization and functions well for the rich variety of programmes it

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houses, while acting as a catalyst for improvements throughout the city.
Finally, the project celebrates learning and brings knowledge to societies
across all cultures, playing a crucial role in the progress of civilization.

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The ancient library of Alexandria In rebuilding the library, the main The form also has strong symbolic The main reading area is a single
was once the most famous library aim was to return Alexandria to the significance: the circle is found in open space with eight terraces,
in the world. Built by Ptolemy I Soter glory it had enjoyed in ancient times, all cultures, relating to the heavenly each accommodating a different
(‘Saviour’) (ca 366–ca 283 BC), a creating an institution that would bodies through which humans first subject section, starting from the
Macedonian general in the army of become famous throughout the understood the passage of time in roots of knowledge (philosophy,
Alexander the Great, it was the first region for the quality of its services relation to the movement of the sun, history, religion, geography) and
universal library and at its peak is and the wealth of its resources.The moon and stars. As it passes into ending with the latest technologies.
said to have held 700,000 scrolls scheme was required to provide a the ground, the building suggests Because the new structure crosses
in various languages. It was here main reading room for 2,000 readers, the past and, as it rises from the so many ages and cultures, the
that the OldTestament was first ●
six specialist libraries, three earth, it looks towards the future, architects aimed to make its form
translated into Greek and that ●
museums, seven research while the ground itself represents universal. However, in reference to
Euclid wrote his Elements. centres, three permanent galleries, the present.The tilted disc also Egypt’s Islamic heritage, they also
space for temporary exhibitions, a creates an iconic presence on the sought to create a space that, like
planetarium, a public plaza, offices, otherwise homogenous skyline of religious Islamic architecture, is
a cafeteria and all the necessary the coastal road and the structure conducive to meditative thinking
facilities and services required is easily visible from across the while accommodating large groups
for such a complex. bay. Its exterior wall is clad with four of people.The terraces break down
thousand granite blocks carved with the scale of the reading area for the
letters from the alphabets of the individuals working in their own
●
world. The panels were quarried spaces, but also overlook the
by splitting the rock to create a wavy whole expanse of the room. ●
texture and the designs were traced
Today Alexandria, stretching 70 by computer but carved by hand.
kilometres along the Mediterranean
coast, is Egypt’s main port, forming
a large industrial and commercial
centre and an important summer
resort. In 1974, the University of
Alexandria began a campaign for
the rebuilding of the ancient library,
●
choosing the current site, which
is believed to be close to the original The project acknowledges the
location. Egypt’s President Mubarak presence of the sea by setting
took up the project at a national level The project comprises two main the public square along the coastal
in 1988, and an international com- parts: the library and the planetarium. road.The planetarium, with seating
petition, organized by the Egyptian These are linked at basement level, for ninety-nine people, consists
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government and the International The project is located in the ancient ●

beneath a public plaza, to an of a suspended sphere that forms
Union of Architects, was won by royal quarter of the original Greek existing conference centre, while the main focus of the plaza.The
the Norwegian company Snøhetta city, now part of the town centre. a pedestrian bridge spans the plaza plaza is also planted with twelve
in 1989. Detailed archaeological To the north is the coast road and between the university and the olive trees, symbolizing peace,
excavations of the site were carried to the south a street where some coastal road.The library building while a pool surrounding the library
out before construction began of the university’s faculty buildings is clearly organized, with the eastern on three sides connects ground and
in 1995, and the building opened are located, with further buildings sector of the disc housing the main sky in its reflection and serves to
in October 2002. to the east and west. It was important reading area, and the western further delineate the building’s form.
that the building should respond to segment comprising the entrance,
the scale of the surrounding fabric administrative area, specialized
and, to this end, the library was libraries and museums, as well
designed as a tilting disc rising as other facilities and services. A
from the ground, with four levels segment cut out of one edge of the
below ground and seven above. circle, facing the plaza, is glazed
The scale of the building is thus to allow light into the building.
minimized at close quarters, so it
does not overwhelm the visitor.

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The substructure of the library Computer technology was used The library has also prompted
is the most innovative part of the in designing a number of elements improvements throughout the city,
project.The half submersion of the of the building, including its form, such as renovating roads, building
building 18 metres below ground on which is toroidal rather than bridges and upgrading hotels.
a site close to the sea raised serious cylindrical. One of the most The legal infrastructure and high
structural problems. It circular successful features of the building profile of the project, its emphasis
diaphragm wall is considered the is its use of natural light, drawn in on employing and training young
largest in the world, with a diameter through glazed roof panels.The people, and its sound financial
of 160 metres and a height of 35 orientation of the roof panels was footing all ensure the future standing
metres. The varying temperature carefully studied on computer at the of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and
differentials along the wall’s length design stage to introduce maximum hence its long-term influence and
presented further complications, levels of natural light without direct impact on the social and cultural
and the design was analyzed using sunlight. Glare is reduced through life of the city.
computer modelling to resolve glass shades over the windows. ●
this issue.The wall has horizontal
reinforcements but no expansion
joints, minimizing the risk of water
penetration.The uplift forces from
the groundwater and the eccentric
loading on the foundations – the
north side of the library bears only
one floor whereas the south side
carries the load of all eleven floors
and the books – meant that the risk Most of the library’s users are
of the building tilting was great. Another key innovation in the students from the University of
Hence the foundations are unique project is the universality of its Alexandria and local schools. ●
in that they were designed as tension conception. An international They are proud of their library,
piles with a heavy raft foundation on competition was organized to seeing it as a modern, up-to-the-
the south side and as compression secure the best design. In 1990, minute project that connects them
piles to take the weight on the north the Declaration of Aswan called to the contemporary world.The
side.The superstructure, however, for international support for the building is admired for its simplicity
is a fairly standard system of a project and it was funded by and strength of form, for its main
concrete frame and infill panels, donations from the Arab world reading area, for the quality of light
with columns cast in situ and pre- and twenty-seven other countries. and high standard of construction,
cast capitals and beams.The After an initial design phase, and for the coordination of the
structures of the planetarium architects Snøhetta formed a complex work and the high

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●
and bridge are of steel. consortium with the Egyptian standards of detailing. Various
engineering specialists Hamza conferences held in the complex
Associates, with whom they have received regional and inter-
developed the project and national attention, raising the profile
supervised the work.Throughout of the whole city.The library is seen
construction, foreign and local as a progressive landmark for the
consultants worked closely country as a whole, reinstating
together, a commitment that is Egypt’s position as an open,
reflected in the quality of detailing modern centre of cultural exchange.
in the building and that has raised
standards in Egypt’s construction
industry. Finally, the library is
organized as an independent entity,
with a council of patrons headed by
the president of Egypt and including
various heads of state and eminent
international figures. Under this
arrangement, the library is
financially independent and
has a high international profile.

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Bibliotheca Alexandrina Snøhetta Hamza Consortium is a joint venture

Port Said Street, El-Shatby, of Snøhetta AS, a Norwegian firm, and Hamza
Alexandria, Egypt Associates, an Egyptian firm, specially estab-
lished for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Snøhetta
Client AS, is an architectural, landscaping and interior
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt (H.E. President architecture agency, founded in 1989. Snøhetta
Hosni Mubarak, Chair, Council of Patrons; H.E. co-founders Craig Dykers (b. 1961, Germany),
Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, Chair, Board ofTrustees; Christoph Kapeller (b. 1956, Austria) and
Ismaïl Serageldin, Director; Mohsen Zahran, KjetilTrædalThorsen (b. 1958, Norway) won
Project Director, General Organization for the international competition for the Library of
the Alexandria Library, 1995–2001). Alexandria in 1989 and saw the project through
to completion. Since then, they have realized
Sponsors a number of major public buildings in Norway
Government of Egypt; Ministry of Education, and throughout the world, including the
Egypt; University of Alexandria, Egypt; Lillehammer Olympic Museum (1993), Karmøy
United Nations Educational, Scientific, Fishing Museum (1998) and Sandvika Culture
and Cultural Organization, France. Centre (2003), all in Norway, and the Institute
for Neurobiology for the Mediterranean (INMED)
Architects in Marseilles (2003). Hamza Associates is one of
Snøhetta Hamza Consortium, Egypt: Craig Egypt’s leading consultancies, a multi-disciplinary
Dykers, Christoph Kapeller and KjetilTrædal engineering firm established in 1979 by Mamdouh
Thorsen, Principal Architects, Snøhetta Hamza, with over 460 major projects in Egypt,
AS, Norway; Mohamed Sharkass, Head of Africa and the Middle East, including ports
Architecture, Hamza Associates, Egypt. and marine facilities, energy and power plants,
irrigation and hydraulic structures, transpor-
Engineers tation facilities, public buildings, tourist and
Hamza Associates, Egypt: Mamdouh Hamza, sports facilities, urban, regional and rural
Chairman and geotechnical engineer; planning projects, water-supply and sanitation
Mashhour Ghunaim and Ahmed Rashed, facilities, and numerous rehabilitation,
structural engineers; Ibrahim Helal, electrical upgrading and environmental schemes.
engineer; Ali Omar, mechanical engineer;
Mohsen Abdou, plumbing and fire-fighting Websites
engineer;Tarek Yassine, site engineer. Bibliotheca Alexandrina
www.bibalex.org
Consultants Snøhetta AS
Jorunn Sannes, Norway, fine arts for stone wall; www.snoarc.no
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Schumann Smith, UK, management cost and Hamza Associates

specifications; Lichtdesign, Germany, custom www.hamza.org
lighting design; Multiconsult, Norway, acoustics;
Warrington Fire Research, UK, fire and life safety; elevation
Stewart Helms, UK, security.

Contractors
RadioTrevi, Italy; Arab Contractors, Egypt;
Balfour Beatty, UK.

Competition September 1989

Commission February 1994
Design May 1994–February 1996 elevation
Construction May 1995–July 2001
Official inauguration October 2002

Site Area 45,000m2

Built area 85,405m2

Cost US$218,000,000

section

section

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park

mediterranean sea

corniche

east
harbour water

gardens, sculptural elements

library
plaza paving

major vegetation
residential
conference
building
centre

university

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level 3 -0.90 m level 5 +7.00 m

level 7 +15.30 m level 10 +27.75 m

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Gando, Burkina Faso

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Gando Primary School

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This school in the south of Burkina Faso is the result of one man’s mission
to improve conditions in his village. Not only did he design the school and
raise the funds to build it; he also secured government support to train people
in building with local materials, and drew on a strong tradition of community
solidarity to engage all of the villagers in the construction of this school for their
children.The school successfully combines the modern architectural language
learned by the architect in his studies abroad with traditional techniques and
materials to create a building that is both elegant and appropriate to its context.
The main building material is local earth blocks, while a light metal roof
structure was devised that was easy to execute, requiring only simple tools.
Comfort is ensured by low-cost passive cooling techniques – cross-ventilation,
orientation and an overhanging roof.The community has been empowered by
its involvement with the project, learning skills that can now be applied elsewhere
as well as gaining a school that has attracted children from outside the village
and provided an example for other such projects in the surrounding area.

teachers’ housing

traditional house
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new school building

well
vegetable garden

sports field

existing school

sanitary facilities

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This project has received an Award for its elegant architectonic clarity,
achieved with the most humble of means and materials, and for its
transformative value. Located in a remote settlement of Burkina Faso,
the school is the result of a vision that was first articulated by the architect
and then embraced by his community.The first person from his village
with access to higher education, while studying architecture in Berlin
the architect became determined to design and build the school.
Securing funding for materials from supporters in Germany, he
mobilized the men, women and children of the village to erect the
building.The result is a structure of grace, warmth and sophistication,
in sympathy with the local climate and culture.The practical and the
poetic are fused.The primary school in Gando inspires pride and
instils hope in its community, laying the foundations for the
advancement of a people.

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Gando, with a population of 3,000, Diébédo Francis Kéré was the first In order to achieve sustainability, the Climatic considerations largely
lies on the southern plains of person from Gando to study abroad. project was based on the principles determined the building’s form and
Burkina Faso, some 200 kilometres He was convinced that education of designing for climatic comfort materials, but its spaces also have
from Ouagadougou, the capital. Set was the cornerstone of his people’s with low-cost construction, making symbolic significance: the school
in an expanse of scrubby savannah advancement. As an architecture the most of local materials and the is raised from the ground like the
with patches of agricultural land, student in Berlin, he took upon potential of the local community, traditional granaries, while the
it is a typical village of the region, himself the cause of ensuring that and adapting technology from the covered areas between the class-
comprising about forty round his village would not be deprived industrialized world in a simple way. rooms evoke the traditional zandi.
compounds that contain numerous of a school, determining that a Underlying the project was a strong The walls are articulated with
one-room structures, built of sun- new school should be designed didactic component: it was designed pilasters for further structural
dried mud blocks – banco – and in sympathy with the local climate, as an exemplar that would raise soundness and to provide solar
arranged around a central area. ● resources and materials.● awareness in the local community protection from the east and the
The compound structures are of the merits of traditional materials, west. Shutters running the length
typically covered with flat mud roofs updated with simple techniques that of the walls provide ample natural
or pitched tin roofs, while some are would need few new skills. light and ventilation. Climatic
thatched, as is the case with the comfort is also ensured by the
granaries, which are always raised overhanging roof, which shades
above ground to escape damp and the façades, by the raising of the
pests.The main entrances to the corrugated metal roof on a steel
compounds are marked by arbours truss, allowing cooling air to flow
– zandi – or large trees, known as freely between the roof and the
‘palaver trees’, where the men ceiling, and through the use of
of the village gather to talk. Local financing was out of the earth blocks for the walls, which
question: neither the community absorb heat, moderating room
as a whole nor any of its residents temperature. Details such as the
had the necessary means.Therefore, The school building includes three location and scale of blackboards
while in Germany, Kéré and a group volumes, each containing a class- and desks and the rounded edges
of friends set up a fund-raising room measuring 7 x 9 metres.The of the pillars show concern for
association, Schulbausteine für classrooms are arranged in a linear the safety of children.
Gando (Bricks for the Gando fashion and separated by covered
School).The idea of building a ●
outdoor areas that can be used Earth for the blocks came from
school in the middle of Africa met for teaching and play.The structure the village itself and was cast in
with a positive response. Having comprises traditional load-bearing hand presses on site by villagers
In 1990, as part of governmental secured finance through the walls made from stabilized and trained through LOCOMAT.
development measures, Gando association, Kéré obtained, in compressed earth blocks. Concrete Stabilized compressed earth was
was provided with a primary school – Burkina Faso, the support of beams run across the width of also used for the hexagonal paving
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a modest building of concrete blocks LOCOMAT, a government agency the structure, and steel bars lying tiles. In the classrooms, the floors
roofed with corrugated metal engaged in the promotion of local across these support a ceiling also are of rammed earth stabilized
sheeting. In spite of the program- building materials, to train brick- of compressed earth blocks.The with cement. ● Use of industrial
matic success of the initiative, the makers in the technique of working whole is protected by a single roof, materials was kept to a minimum:
building’s low quality, combined with compressed stabilized earth. comprising a space frame of steel the foundations are of stone and
with lack of government funding Construction began in October 2000, trusses covered by corrugated poured concrete, and reinforced
for its maintenance, soon brought carried out largely by the village’s metal sheeting. concrete was used only for the
it to an advanced state of disrepair, men, women and children. After beams that support the ceilings.
threatening its survival.● the school was completed in July
2001, construction of buildings for
resident teachers began along
similar principles.

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Structural use of wood was rejected The six houses for teachers and The final form of the new school The way the community organized
because there is no local tradition their families are disposed in a wide creates a striking but appropriate itself has set an example for two
of building in wood and hence little arc that marks the southern limits presence within the landscape. neighbouring villages, which have
expertise in carpentry, and because ●
of the school site. Barrel vaults The combination of a modern built their own schools as a coopera-
native hardwood is scarce and of stabilized earth brick were used architectural language with tive effort.The local authorities have
vulnerable to termites. Steel was for roofs, introducing a new typology traditional materials, and of thick also recognized the project’s worth:
therefore used for shutters and doors, to the region, but one that makes use brick walls with a floating, almost not only have they provided and paid
utilizing a technology with which of local resources and is climatically ethereal, trussed roof, has produced for the teaching staff, but they have
local craftsmen are familiar.This efficient.The choice of siting and a building that is comfortable to use also endeavoured to employ the
exigency also suggested the use the curvilinear site plan work well and sustainable, but also elegant in young people trained here in the
of steel for the roof, while the roof in the ensemble and evoke the form. Apart from the training staff town’s public projects, using the
form was dictated by other practical contour of the compounds nearby. from LOCOMAT and the black- same techniques.The school was
considerations: it was not possible smiths, all the people involved originally intended to serve only
to transport large elements to the in the construction and project the children of Gando, but use by
site from afar, nor economically management, including the children from neighbouring villages
viable to use such lifting machinery architect, were native to the village. is increasing and, while the school
as cranes. Instead, the architect This group of 150 people, mostly currently houses 150 pupils, it is
devised a process whereby common young men but also women and possible that additional class-
construction steel bars were cut to children, proved to be capable of rooms will be added in the future.
predetermined lengths, bent in the executing structures that were of Communal spirit is shown in the
middle to form an inverted V, and relative complexity and alien to their ●
acceptance of these children, who
welded in long modules that could building methods, such as the metal reside with various families through-
easily be lifted to the top of the Ancillary services have been built trusses of the school building or out Gando.Teachers also find that
●
building and tied to the transverse between the school and the teachers’ the barrel vaults in the teachers’ children are more attentive at the
beams. Steel bars running length- ●
houses, including a toilet block, houses.The skills learned here Gando school than they are in other
ways were welded to these modules made in concrete and provided by can be applied to further initiatives schools. Last, but not least, the
in order to tie them together, and the Danish Agency for Develop- in the village, and might also help project has had a positive effect
corrugated metal sheeting laid ment Assistance (DANIDA), and secure a future in the construction on the community’s confidence and
on top. All that was necessary was ●
a kitchen, which served as the trade elsewhere. earned respect from its neighbours.
to teach people how to use a hand- training prototype for the vaults
saw and a small welding machine. used in the housing complex.
Water was originally carried from
a source 7 kilometres away, but a
new well, partially sponsored by
DANIDA, has simplified their task
enormously.A vegetable garden

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has been set out and trees and shrubs
planted alongside the school.

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Gando Primary School Diébédo Francis Kéré (b. 1965, Burkina Faso)
Gando, Burkina Faso is a member of a family that has represented
village traditions for several centuries. After
Client receiving training and working as a carpenter
The community of Gando Village, Burkina Faso. in his country’s capital, Ouagadougou, he won
a scholarship from the German government
Sponsor in 1985 and studied in Germany to become a
Schulbausteine für Gando e.V. – Bricks development technician. He then studied
for the Gando School, Germany. architecture under the tutorship of Professor
Peter Herrle, and graduated from BerlinTechnical
Architect University in May 2004. During his studies, he
Diébédo Francis Kéré, Burkina Faso. established in Germany Schulbausteine für
Gando, a not-for-profit association, to raise
Site Coordination funds for the Gando Primary School. He has
Wénéyda Kéré, Burkina Faso. written numerous articles in German on archi-
tecture and development issues in Africa.
Craftsmen Gando Primary School is his first built project.
Sanfo Saidou (‘Baba’) and Oussmane Moné, He is now teaching as an assistant at Berlin
master masons; Minoungou Saidou, welder Technical University and continues to present
(all from Burkina Faso). his experience at international seminars
and conferences.
Consultant
Issa Moné, technical officer, LOCOMAT, Website
Burkina Faso, training in brick production. Schulbausteine für Gando e.V
www.fuergando.de
Commission 1998
Design 1999–2000
Construction October 2000–July 2001
Occupation October 2001

Site area 30,000m2

Built area 526m2

Cost CFA Francs 22,750,000

(US$29,830)
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section

1 roof
2 suspended banco ceiling 1
3 concrete beams
4 load-bearing banco walls 3
5 banco pilasters 2
6 steel frames and shutters
6
7 stone and concrete ramp
5
8 concrete foundation
9 banco shuttering
4 10 11
10 clay and stone infill
11 rammed earth floor 7 9 13 12 14
12 stone edging 8
13 banco floor tiles
14 drain section

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plan

elevation

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elevation

elevation elevation

response to climate

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India
Iran
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Brazil
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Chile
Mexico

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Siberia

Sandbag Shelter Prototypes

Canada

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United States

Thailand

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The global need for housing includes  million refugees and displaced persons
– victims of natural disasters and wars. Iranian architect Nader Khalili believes
that this need can be addressed only by using the potential of earth construction.
After extensive research into vernacular earth building methods in Iran followed
by detailed prototyping, he has developed the sandbag or ‘superadobe’ system.
The concept allows people to build their own shelter simply by packing whatever
earth they find in their location into sandbags, which are then stacked into dome
forms, held together by barbed wire.The shelters are structurally strong – able
to resist earthquakes, fires, floods and hurricanes.They are extremely quick, easy
and cheap to build.They can be made into permanent structures by rendering
them with external plaster and adding any necessary ancillary spaces.They
are sustainable in terms of energy, using only sun, shade and gravity.They are
adaptable in terms of size, material and configuration, and the system can also
be used to build roads and other infrastructure.

These shelters focus on the economic empowerment of people by enabling

them to participate in the creation of their own homes and communities.The
result is sustainable developments that integrate traditional building materials
with modern materials and technology, providing comfortable living spaces
acceptable to modern safety standards.
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These shelters serve as a prototype for temporary housing using

extremely inexpensive means to provide safe homes that can be built
quickly and have the high insulation values necessary in arid climates.
Their curved form was devised in response to seismic conditions,
ingeniously using sand or earth as raw materials, since their flexibility
allows the construction of single- and double-curvature compression
shells that can withstand lateral seismic forces.

The prototype is a symbiosis of tradition and technology. It employs

vernacular forms, integrating load-bearing and tensile structures,
but provides a remarkable degree of strength and durability for this
type of construction, which is traditionally weak and fragile, through
a composite system of sandbags and barbed wire. Created by packing
local earth into bags, which are then stacked vertically, the structures
are not external systems applied to a territory, but instead grow out of
their context, recycling available resources for the provision of housing.
The sustainability of this approach is further strengthened because

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the construction of the sandbag shelters does not require external
intervention but can be implemented by the occupants themselves
with minimal training.The system is also highly flexible: the scale
of structures and arrangement of clusters can be varied and applied
to different ecosystems to produce settlements that are suitable for
different numbers of individuals or groups with differing social
needs. Due to their strength, the shelters can also be made into
permanent housing, transforming the outcome of natural disasters
into new opportunities.

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Architect Nader Khalili started Using this technology, several design Khalili found inspiration for the tech- The system employs the timeless
his career as a modernist and prototypes of domes and vaults were nology and design of the structures forms of arches, domes and vaults ●
achieved success building con- built and tested, including emergency in the principles of Sufi philosophy to create single and double-curvature
ventional high-rises. But in 1975 he shelters for refugees and the home- and Iranian architecture: the unity of shell structures that are both strong
closed his offices in Los Angeles less, a sustainable small house the elements of earth, water, air and and aesthetically pleasing. While
andTehran and set out alone by called ‘Eco-Dome’, and a convention- fire; harnessing sustainable energy these load-bearing or compression
motorcycle into the deserts of his ally planned four-bedroom home ● – sun, shade, gravity; geometry and forms refer to the ancient mudbrick
native Iran, convinced that the only using a three-vault design concept. symmetry; and the unity of tension architecture of the Middle East,
way the world’s poor could ever The system is particularly suitable and compression. Each shelter the use of barbed wire as a tensile
afford homes was to build with for providing temporary shelter comprises one major domed space ●
element alludes to the portable
earth and fire. He dedicated his time because it is cheap and allows build- with some ancillary spaces for tensile structures of nomadic
to researching traditional vernacular ings to be quickly erected by hand cooking and sanitary services. cultures.The result is an extremely
mud construction in Iran and began by the occupants themselves with The system is extremely flexible. safe structure.The addition of
to work on ideas for using earth as a a minimum of training. The earthen materials of clay and barbed wire to the compression
modern building material. As well as sand with straw and water that have structures creates earthquake
developing a concept for a ‘Ceramic been used to make traditional sun- resistance; the aerodynamic
House’ constructed from sun-dried dried mudbricks for millennia are form resists hurricanes; the use of
mud and then fired, Khalili also not always available, nor do those sandbags aids flood resistance; and
developed ‘Superadobe’ – a structure most in need of a home have the the earth itself provides fireproofing.
made from sandbags secured with time to make blocks, dry them and
barbed wire. The basic construction store them. By filling bags directly
technique involves filling sandbags from the land and reinforcing them
with earth and laying them in courses with barbed wire, occupants can
●
in a circular plan. The circular use almost any earth and the speed
courses are corbelled near the top of building is much faster.The
to form a dome. Barbed wire is laid structures can be temporary or can
between courses to prevent the sand- be made permanent by adding a layer
bags from shifting and to provide of mud daub or other finishing. ●
earthquake resistance. Hence the Incremental additions such as ovens
materials of war – sandbags and and animal shelters can also be made
barbed wire – are used for peaceful to provide a more permanent status,
ends, integrating traditional earth and the accommodation can be
architecture with contemporary global tailored to individual needs.The
safety requirements. technology can also be used for
both buildings and infrastructure
such as roads, kerbs, retaining
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walls and landscaping elements.

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The earth used to fill the sandbags Since 1982, Nader Khalili has The prototypes have not only Throughout the period of proto-
is taken from the site where shelters developed and tested the Super- received California building permits type building and testing, Khalili’s
are required and comprises at least adobe prototype in California. He but have also met the requirements educational philosophy has continued
90 per cent of the filling material, has lectured widely on the concept, of the United Nations High Commis- to develop. A distance-teaching
although stabilizers such as cement, and presented his ideas at NASA’s sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for programme is being tested for the
lime and asphalt emulsion may be first Lunar Habitat Symposium in emergency housing. Both the UNHCR live broadcast of hands-on instruc-
added.The barbed wire is four-point, 1984, where he proposed construc- and the United Nations Development tion directly from Cal-Earth. Many
two-strand, galvanized barbed wire tion with lunar soil. In 1991 he Programme have chosen to apply individuals have been trained at Cal-
and is recyclable. Materials research founded the California Institute the system, which they used in 1995 Earth to build with these techniques
has shown that the majority of of Earth Art and Architecture (Cal- ●
to provide temporary shelters and are carrying this knowledge to
existing bags made of natural or Earth), a non-profit research and for a flood of refugees coming those in need in many countries of
synthetic material can be used. educational organization that covers into Iran from Iraq. the world, from Mongolia to Mexico,
The ideal is a synthetic, ultraviolet- everything from construction on the India to the United States, and
resistant, degradable material. moon and on Mars to housing design Iran, Brazil, Siberia, Chile and
In a temporary building, the bags and development for the world’s South Africa.
are allowed to degrade and the homeless for the United Nations.
building returns to earth. Cal-Earth focuses on researching,●
developing and teaching the tech-
nologies of Superadobe. The intense
desert environment of California,
with summer temperatures regularly
exceeding 40ºC and harsh winters
with snow and freezing temperatures,
flash floods, high winds, and the
most dangerous seismic zone in
the United States, has provided
an ideal testing ground.
Because the structures use
local resources – on-site earth
and human hands – they are entirely
sustainable. Men and women, old
and young, can build using a can
to pour earth.● Barbed wire and
sandbags are supplied locally, and
the stabilizer is also usually locally
sourced.The shelters are also

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sustainable and efficient in energy
terms: the wind and the sun provide
passive cooling and heating and the
sandbags provide thick walls that
resist changes in temperature.

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Sandbag Shelter Prototypes

Various locations

Architect air vent

closet
Cal-Earth Institute, US: Nader Khalili, concept bed, niche
and design; Iliona Outram, Project Manager.

living room
Consultants
P. J. Vittore Ltd, US, and C. W. Howe Associates, seating
entrance
US, structural engineers. dining skylight
counter
Sponsors and clients
National Endowment for the Arts, US; Southern
California Institute of Architecture (Sci Arc),
US; theTedTurner Foundation, US; United Nations seating bathroom
kitchen
Development Programme (UNDP), US and
Switzerland; United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), Iran offices; the Bureau solar solar
for Alien and Foreign Immigrant Affairs (BAFIA), oven panels
Iran; Laura Huxley’s Our Ultimate Investment
Foundation, US; the Rex Foundation, US; Kit
Tremaine, US; the Leventis Foundation, Cyprus; floor plan
the Flora Family Foundation, US.

Prototypes built to date

Hamid Irani and Iraqi refugees at Baninajar
Camp, Iran; Eric Hansen, Mexico; Djalal and
Shahla Sherafat, Canada; Michelle Queyroy
and orphans at the MEG Foundation, India; Dada
Krpasundarananda, India,Thailand and Siberia;
Mara Cranic, Baja, Mexico; Virginia Sanchis,
Brazil; Patricio Calderon, Chile; Jim Guerra
and Mexican farmworkers, US; Don Graber,
Craig Cranic, Giovanni Panza and Yacqui
People of Sarmiento, Mexico.
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Timetable
Sandbag Shelters (Superadobe):
first development, 1992.

living room
Nader Khalili (b. 1937, Iran) trained as an architect
in Iran,Turkey and the United States. From 1970
to 1975, he practised architecture in Iran, and has
entrance
since dedicated himself to research into building
with earth. He has served as a consultant to the
United Nations (UNIDO) and a contributor to section 1
NASA. In 1991, Mr Khalili founded the California
Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (Cal-
Earth) in Hesperia, US, and he teaches
architectural research at Sci Arc. He has
received awards from organizations such as
the California chapter of the American Institute
of Architects, for ‘Excellence inTechnology’;
the United Nations and HUD (US Department
of Housing and Urban Development), for ‘Shelter
for the Homeless’; and the American Society of
Civil Engineers (Aerospace Division), for his
work in lunar-base-building technology. He is
the author of five published books, including two
translations of the work of the thirteenth-century
Sufi poet, Jalal-e-Din Mohammad Rumi.

Website
Cal-Earth
www.calearth.org
living room

air vent

section 2

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Asnaf, Yemen
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Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque

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Al-Abbas Mosque is a testimony to the living traditions and architectural

achievements of one of the world’s earliest civilizations. Built over  years
ago, the mosque is situated on the remains of a pre-Islamic shrine or temple
on a site honoured as a sacred place since ancient times. Its cubic form also
has ancient precedents, including the Kaaba in Mecca.

The mosque is noted for its exceptionally fine ceiling, carved, gilded and
painted in masterful style.The local population, proud members of a tribal
society, continues to revere the mosque and the site today still holds special
significance for them.Tribesmen often gather here for the quiet discussion of
matters important to them, or the peaceful resolution of conflicts or differences.
Villagers living in this remote area use the mosque for prayers, and local women
visit the tomb of the holy figure after whom the mosque is named.

By the mid-s, deterioration of some of the timber elements of the painted

ceiling had become advanced and portions were beginning to fall off.The ceiling
was dismantled and transported to the National Museum in Yemen’s capital,
Sana’a. Local outcry at this removal initiated the restoration of the mosque itself
and reinstallation of the original ceiling.

The project represents a fine example of international and local collaboration

to achieve the highest standards of conservation and to enable the training
of Yemeni experts, who are now continuing the use of these techniques. More
importantly, it represents the determination and success of a local community
in reclaiming this important example of architectural heritage as an integral,
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essential part of their contemporary lives.

Asnaf

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This scheme has been chosen to receive an Award because it applies

exemplary conservation standards and engages local pride in safe-
guarding this culturally significant monument for future generations.

The project represents the establishment of a successful and sustainable

partnership between local and external expertise for the conservation
process. Although the restoration spanned approximately ten years
during exceptional political conditions, the consistency, dedication
and commitment of both the external and local stakeholders ensured
that the fabric of the building was not compromised in any way. In
fact, the process has raised the benchmark for restoration in the
region, reviving traditional practices in tandem with modern scientific
approaches to conservation.These range from the use of traditional
mortars and plasters to complex structural repairs and the conservation
of the delicate decorative ceiling paintings.

The project also demonstrates sensitivity in dealing with the building

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as a living fabric.The restoration has extended the significance and
usefulness of this historic mosque for the benefit of the larger social,
cultural and physical landscape in which it is situated.

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Set in the highlands of Yemen, By the 1980s, the ceiling was

40 kilometres from Sana’a, Al- suffering from rot and warping
Abbas Mosque dates from the and the number of worshippers at
turbulent last days before the the mosque was beginning to fall.
overthrow of the Sulayhid Dynasty, In 1985, the Yemeni Government’s
who ruled Yemen from 1046 to 1137. General Organization forAntiquities,
An inscription in the interior dates Museums and Manuscripts asked
the building to Dhu al-Hijjah 519 the French Centre for Yemeni Studies
(December 1125– January 1126 in in Sana’a to help preserve the ceiling.
the Gregorian calendar) and names But the mosque’s most important In order for the repair to take place,
the founder as Sultan Musa bin architectural feature is its elaborate the ceiling was dismantled ● with
Muhammed al-Fitti. Another ●
coffered ceiling, which is in funding from UNESCO and removed
inscription names the builder or complete contrast to the building’s to the National Museum at Sana’a,
architect as Muhammed ibn Abul- modest exterior. Most of it has where a workshop was established.
Fath ibn Arhab. But the mosque is survived intact since its construction, In 1987 the French Centre asked
in fact named after a little-known providing an excellent example of archaeologist and conservator
figure called ‘Abbas’, a holy man the artistic style that flourished Marylène Barret to carry out the
who is believed to be buried there. in Yemen in the early twelfth century restoration of the ceiling, which
The presence of ancient relics and an important reference for art took three years. The Gulf War in 1990 and the out-
dating to the second century AD historians.The ceiling’s twenty-two break of civil war in Yemen in 1994
also suggests that a sacred building caissons are covered with intricate brought the project to a halt. During
existed on the site in pre-Islamic decoration carved, gilded and this time, fierce opposition to the
times.The mosque is not only used painted in tempera on a wooden removal of the mosque’s ceiling was
for prayer by local villagers but also ●
support. The eighty different voiced by members of the Helwan
functions as a meeting place where geometric and floral motifs that tribes, who insisted the ceiling be
problems between tribes can be appear on the ceiling are traditional returned to its original location.
resolved, while local women leave to the area, but also show Sassanid, Before the ceiling could be returned
votive offerings at the tomb of Abbas. Fatimid and Ghaznavid influences. to the mosque, however, it was clear
The number of steps in each caisson that major repairs would have to be
increases towards the mihrab, and made to the roof, which had a hole
the caisson directly in front of the in it, and the decision was taken to
mihrab has seven steps, signifying restore the fabric of the building itself.
the seven layers of heaven. In Marylène Barret was also asked to
addition, there is an inscribed frieze undertake this work and she called
around the mihrab and a triple-band in Yemeni architect Abdullah Al-
frieze around the top of the walls Hadrami to work with her.These two
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that continues the decorative experts assembled a team of French

scheme of the ceiling. and Yemeni archaeologists and the
From its isolated position on the For the slow, painstaking process best local craftsmen, who worked
●
side of a 2,350-metre-high hill of cleaning the decorated roof panels, together to complete the restoration
in this volcanic region, the mosque a mixture of solvents was applied project in 1996.
looks over surrounding mountains ●
with cotton swabs, before fixing
and valleys and several small the decoration with a diltuted resin.
villages, the closest being Asnaf, The importance of preserving the
2 kilometres away. Like the buildings history of the ceiling was respected.
of these local villages, the lower If the original paint had been washed
parts of the mosque’s walls are ●
off an area, it was left as it was.
made of stone, with mud bricks at If a new board was used, it was either
the upper levels. Almost square in left without any ornamentation or
plan, the mosque has a flat roof, decorated only on one or two ends
making it cubic in shape. Inside are with watercolour, leaving the middle
●
six columns, four in stone dating part unpainted. Some parts of the
from pre-Islamic times and two in decoration were left untouched so
brick.Three of the columns have that the difference between ‘before’
antique capitals.The columns divide and ‘after’ could be seen, and the
the interior into four rows, leading new watercolour decorations were
towards the mihrab wall. waterproofed chemically. When a
new board was used to replace a
carved, painted and gilded horizontal
element, it was not carved but painted
to create a trompe-l’oeil effect.
Cracked pieces of wood were
reinforced from the back, using
old timber wherever possible.

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The principal goal was to restore An attic space 1.2 metres high
the building with a minimum of inter- between the ceiling and the roof ●
vention.To achieve this, traditional would have enabled construction
materials and techniques – many of the original coffered ceiling. Six
still in use today – were employed brick piers supported the roof within
wherever possible. No speculative this space but these were disin-
elements were inserted: all new tegrating and so were rebuilt. The
elements can be traced back to original roof was then reconstructed,
original examples in both their with a layer of thin branches laid
form and their location. across beams, covered with a thick After the completion of the roof, one
layer of earth and then a final layer thousand separate pieces of ceiling
●
of qudad. The single rainwater were carefully assembled like a
outlet on the original roof was puzzle and numbered in the museum.
considered insufficient because They were then transported to the
of the risks that water penetration mosque, one row at a time, and fixed
poses in preservation, so three to an ingenious new supporting
additional drains were created. structure of U-shaped box beams
Several of the original merlons on that is entirely hidden now that
the roof were missing, but from six the restored panels are in place. ●
surviving merlons it was possible
Brickwork that had previously to tell the exact shape and location
been repaired incorrectly was of the originals, so that replacements,
pulled down and the walls bonded made from brick like the surviving
with new bricks made in the same examples, could be placed correctly.
way as the originals. Door and
window openings that had been
●
blocked were opened up, bringing
light into the interior. On the west
wall, a window frieze with pre-Islamic
motifs was revealed inside the door Since the restoration, the building’s
arch during the cleaning work. On original elegance and decoration
the mihrab wall, only a small amount have come alive, increasing the
of plaster was replaced; the rest was interest of the local residents,
conserved or repaired. On the other who are proud of their mosque
walls, most surfaces were renewed and are especially happy to see the
with mud plaster, covered by a top beautiful ceiling back in place.The

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coat of gypsum rubbed with mustard restoration of the mosque is also of
oil to create a patina.The floor was great significance for the history of
covered with qudad – a traditional architecture: Al-Abbas Mosque is
mortar composed of lime and an important historical record that
volcanic aggregate that is polished reflects artistic, social, cultural and
with a smooth stone and daubed economic values in this part of the
with animal fat. Electricity was world dating from the early twelfth
installed and, as fragments of century back to pre-Islamic times.
alabaster lamps had been found To preserve such a building is an
during the repair of the floor, important way of inspiring future
the mosque is now lit by three generations to understand their
traditional lamps of this type, with own culture and claim possession
electric bulbs. An ablution tank to of it. In addition, the restoration
the west of the building was also principles employed in Al-Abbas
restored and a new stone pavement Mosque may well serve as a guide
built around the mosque to aid for further projects concerned with
water drainage. the preservation of cultural property,
and the project may stimulate
further research, particularly
in relation to a number of ruins
surrounding the mosque site.The
restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque
is a testament to the cooperation
of the local and foreign experts
who brought the project to fruition.

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Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque The French Centre for Yemeni Studies (Centre
Asnaf Village, Khawlan region, Yemen Français d’Études Yémenites – CFEY) initiates,
coordinates and supports the work of French,
Client Yemeni and foreign teams in the fields of social
Government of Yemen, General Organization sciences and archaeology in Yemen and
for Antiquities, Museums and Manuscripts, neighbouring countries (Oman, Saudi Arabia
Yemen: Yussuf Abdallah, Director; Qadi Ismail and Eritrea). Established in 1982, the centre is
Al-Akwa, former Director; French Centre for administered by the General Directorate of
Yemeni Studies, Yemen: Jean Lambert, Director; Cultural, Scientific andTechnical Relations of
Frank Mermier and Rémy Audouin, former the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which
directors. also funds its activities. Marylène Barret (b. 1954, cross section
France) was trained as an archaeologist at the
Sponsors Sorbonne and at the École du Louvre in Paris.
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Specializing in the restoration of wall paintings,
Cultural Organization, France; French Ministry she has worked in France and Italy as well as
of Foreign Affairs, General Directorate of Syria, Jordan, Morocco,Tunisia and Pakistan,
Cultural, Scientific andTechnical Relations, in addition to her continuing work in Yemen.
Archaeology Department, France: Philippe Abdallah Al-Hadrami (b. 1957, Yemen) is an
Georgeais, Director; Jean-Claude Jacq and architect and specialist in conservation who
Philippe Guillemin, former directors. graduated from the New York Institute of
Technology. He has been a contributor to
Conservators most major conservation projects in Yemen
Marylène Barret, France, conservator and since 1990 as the Director General of the
coordinator, with assistance from Abdullah Department ofTechnical Cooperation at the
Al-Hadrami, Yemen, for architectural and General Organization for Protection of Historic
masonary restoration. Cities of Yemen. He received an Aga Khan Award
in 1995 for his contribution to the conservation of
Restorers the Old City of Sana’a.
Ceiling and woodwork: François de Bazelaire,
France, and Benoit Cruypennick, France, wood Website
restorers; Gilbert Delcroix, France, advisor; French Centre for Yemeni Studies plan of mosque
Camilia An’am, Abeer Radwan, Khalida Hassan, www.univ-aix.fr/cefas/
Adel Said, Rashad al Kubati, and Mohamed al
Noman, archaeologists (all from Yemen);
Samia Noman, Yemen, archivist.
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Masonary
Mohamed Satar, master builder; Ahmed al
Arasi, qudad work; Ahmet alTairi and Mohamed
al Namrani, gypsum work; Ali al Imad, master
mason; Mohammed al Siry, master carpenter
(all from Yemen).

Master craftsman and caretaker

Ahmed Al-Shadhabi, Yemen.

Commission 1986
Design 1987–May 1992
Construction December 1995–March 1996
Occupation May 1996

Site area 1200m2

Built area 110m2

Cost US$400,000

site plan of mosque, ablution tank and ruins

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plans and sections of caissons

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floral and geometric motifs

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Old City, Jerusalem

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Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization Programme

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Jerusalem has an extraordinarily long and varied history, but the urban fabric
of the old city is threatened by overcrowding, lack of maintenance and poor
services.The Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization Programme aims to rehabilitate
the city, to preserve its heritage and to create a better quality of life for its
inhabitants. It is a comprehensive project aimed at every aspect of human life,
with several components, including restoration, training, education and raising
public awareness. All these components are tied together to achieve an integrated
and enduring revitalization.The restoration work is undertaken in compliance
with internationally accepted principles, using traditional methods and materials.
The body of completed works to date includes over  projects, all undertaken
in close collaboration with local institutions, international organizations and
funding agencies.

The programme has created decent living conditions through the restoration
of traditional dwellings. It has provided social, cultural and recreational services
for the community. It has created a network of national and international
organizations involved in conservation of built heritage. And the workings
of the programme will allow for the wider dissemination of information
and experience to interested professionals and the public. All this has been
achieved through safeguarding the cultural property of a World Heritage city.
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The programme has received an Award for its comprehensive approach

towards sustaining the life of a community in its natural setting – a life
threatened by the deterioration of its physical, social and economic
conditions.

The project is successful in addressing several issues, including

the restoration and rehabilitation of housing, as well as the adaptive
reuse of historic buildings and monuments for new functions.The
programme is notable for the training it provides in conservation for
architects, engineers, contractors and craftspeople, and for its intention
to establish an information centre and a database for the old city,
including documentation, surveys, research and studies. Finally, the
project has created a community outreach programme to raise public
awareness of the value of historic buildings and to encourage public
participation in the process of rehabilitation and restoration.

This effort is conducted under severe constraints, restoring the

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old city as a living, vibrant and beautiful environment.The process
is meticulously conducted by a team of professionals motivated by
their love of the place and its people.This is a project about dignity
and self-esteem.

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Jerusalem has been continuously To address these issues the Welfare The programme also follows
inhabited since the fourth millennium Association – a Geneva-based non- international standards in using
BC. It has come under Persian, governmental organization set up only original traditional building
Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Fatimid, in 1983 to support Palestinians in materials and methods: the rubble-
Mamluk, Ottoman and British rule and all development areas – set up a stone vaults and walls are plastered
is of key importance for the Jewish, technical office in Jerusalem in ●
with lime, and original old stone
Christian and Islamic faiths.The 1995.The office is composed of floors are maintained and reapplied
old city – surrounded by walls built professionals from different fields: – methods that are climatically
by the Ottoman Sultan Süleyman architecture, engineering, planning, appropriate and well-known locally.
the Magnificent in the sixteenth economics and history. Its main aim A number of factors are considered No new openings are allowed nor
century – is divided into Arab, is to implement a comprehensive in identifying projects for rehabili- any additions that might affect
Jewish and Christian quarters and programme for the rehabilitation tation, including the physical and original walls, floors, ceilings or
over 90 per cent of the 31,000 people of the old city, comprising a number structural condition of the buildings, roofs. As much as possible, the
living there are Palestinian.The of complementary components: their historical and architectural restorers refrain from using cement.
urban fabric has, however, suffered a revitalization plan; emergency significance, legal ownership and
from neglect, inappropriate use restoration; total restoration; social, economic and political factors.
and inadequate services, with many training in conservation; and a Buildings are selected for either
people living in dilapidated buildings community outreach programme. emergency or total restoration. ●
in unsanitary conditions.This Emergency restoration is normally
situation was exacerbated in 1995 The Old City Revitalization Plan a quick and limited intervention
when natives of Jerusalem who were forms the basis of the programme’s to solve particularly urgent problems
living outside the city were required work. A broad survey was carried that pose immediate health or safety
by Israeli law to reside in the city out to identify the buildings most in risks, such as structural instability
in order to keep their Jerusalem danger and make proposals for their or water leakage. However, the
identification papers.This resulted rehabilitation.The aim is not the programme often tries to implement
in a sudden increase in the popu- immediate restoration of a con- additional improvements while
lation of the old city and chronic tiguous quarter but interventions dealing with such problems.The
overcrowding; living conditions throughout the old city.The buildings budget for such interventions varies
became almost impossible. might be houses – either single depending on the nature of the work,
buildings of two or three storeys from US$4,500 to US$60,000.
housing one or two families, or
traditional residential complexes
(hosh) of several units surrounding
●
a courtyard and housing up to In restoring houses, the programme
ten families.The programme also recognizes the vernacular character
focuses on major public or religious of the structures and adopts a
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buildings – mosques, churches, pragmatic approach that is sensitive

●
madrasas (schools), hostels – to the needs of the users and allows
some of which retain their original them flexibility, rather than imposing
The situation forced residents function, while others are adapted a new way of life. Each family is
to extreme measures, including to a new use.The programme is A greater number of buildings provided with a separate kitchen,
flattening roofs by removing vaults concerned with the preservation of require total restoration. In each bathroom and toilet, as well as basic
and domes in order to expand the whole of the old city, not just the of these, structural problems are services such as heating for water,
●
vertically, often using materials Arab quarter, and projects have been resolved and new finishes and a sink and a counter in the kitchen,
that are incompatible with the undertaken in the Christian quarter. fittings are installed. Inappropriate where the walls and floor are tiled.
original architecture. In many additions are removed and replaced, The electricity, water and sewage
cases kitchen and toilet facilities if necessary, with lightweight new systems are updated or installed,
were shared by a number of families structures using modern materials. as appropriate.The designers and
and water, drainage and sewage In accordance with international builders also show great ingenuity
connections were often badly conservation standards, such in improvising elements that are
installed, resulting in leakage ●
additions are reversible. Areas unavailable or unaffordable, such
and contributing to health that cannot be removed are masked as light fixtures and railings.The
and environmental problems. by rough plaster with a wash the cost of total restoration projects is
colour of stone. much higher than emergency ones,
ranging between US$65,000 and
US$2,715,000.

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One of the biggest problems the The other areas of the programme By the end of 2003, eighty-two
team faces is that beneficiaries complement the restoration work residential projects and twenty-
continue to use buildings during to ensure the sustainability of the six public and fifty-five commercial
the restoration work or need to return improvements.The restoration work buildings had been restored through
to them as soon as possible. Finding has created an important new market the programme, providing decent
alternative accommodation is very for architectural firms and con- living conditions for residents,
difficult and costly, particularly for tractors and the training programme creating new spaces for the commu-
residents.Therefore, the team tries aims to establish standards and nity and ensuring the preservation of
to organize and manage the various guidelines in the field of restoration the rich historic fabric of the old city.
tasks to allow for continuing use of to be followed by all those involved. In addition to the eighteen staff of A spirit of friendly interaction with
buildings. Another major issue is the Training for architects, engineers, the technical office, those working the inhabitants has been maintained
provision of kitchens and bathrooms contractors and craftspeople is on the programme include a large through continuous dialogue with
for each family in buildings where provided through short courses, number of visiting experts and those affected, and the beneficiaries
there is no room to spare. In such internships and fellowships to ●
consultants from a range of are happy with the improvements.
cases the services are often con- study abroad. professions, based in Palestine The reaction of local institutions
structed in a courtyard, as at the or abroad.The labour force and is positive and many groups have
Hosh Helou, where a large, multi- contractors are Palestinians from expressed their readiness to assist.
levelled courtyard was arranged, Jerusalem or nearby.They often The programme has created jobs
providing a shared open space have problems entering the city for professionals and labourers,
for the families that live there. Below because of the political situation boosting the economy of the old city,
the courtyard of the Hosh Gheith and this sometimes stops work on and has also trained large numbers
a previously unknown space dating the projects. While the technical of people, including builders and
from the Crusader period was office is responsible for imple- craftspeople.The success of the
discovered, restored and utilized. menting the overall programme, programme has been ensured
it works in close cooperation with through a cooperative spirit, which
A community outreach programme other organizations for both the is visible in its internal management,
raises public awareness of the value restoration work and the training its relationship to its clients and its
of historic buildings and encourages programme, such as the United interaction with other agencies,
public participation in the rehabili- Nations Educational, Scientific and both local and international. In
tation process. As well as creating Cultural Organization (UNESCO) difficult political circumstances,
a sense of community, the outreach and the International Centre for the programme is well organized
programme organizes publications, the Study of the Preservation and and strives for the highest inter-
meetings, workshops and lectures Restoration of Cultural Property national standards. Its objectives
for schools, religious organizations, (ICCROM). Funding has been pro- are implemented not only with
The duration of the projects residents and users. vided by the Welfare Association, the professionalism but also with
varies from about three months for Arab Fund for Economic and Social dedication and zeal. With its

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a small house to many years for non- Two further components of the Development, the Islamic Develop- carefully planned and integrated
residential projects such as the area programme are also proposed. ment Bank, the Arab Fund and the components, the Old City of
called Burj al Laqlaq, which was Firstly, an information centre Ford Foundation among others. Jerusalem Revitalization
begun in 1996 and is still ongoing. will provide documentation Programme is an example for
Providing one of the very few large and publications relating to the all similar endeavours, and one
open spaces in the walled old city, programme’s work, and a data that generates hope.
Burj al Laqlaq is a community bank of conservation professionals
project dedicated to children. It has and organizations. Secondly, the
a playground, a football field, which Jerusalem Institute for the
can be used for other purposes, and Preservation of Architectural
a nursery. A temporary tent is also Heritage in Palestine will offer
planned for youth camps. Dar al courses for training and capacity
Aytam also focuses on young building, and is intended to raise
people.This historical orphanage, standards of conservation in
which comprises five monumental Palestine by strengthening
buildings from the Mamluk and contacts with similar organizations.
Ottoman periods – including a soup
kitchen and bakery established by
the wife of Sultan Süleyman – is
being upgraded incrementally as an
educational institution. Work on
buildings of such historic and
architectural value is carried out
slowly and sensitively and decisions
are made with great care.

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Old City of Jerusalem The Welfare Association is a private, non-

Revitalization Programme (OCJRP) profit foundation established in 1983 in Geneva,
Old City, Jerusalem Switzerland, to support sustainable development
in Palestinian societies.The association is better
Project principals known by its Arabic name,Ta'awoun, which means
Welfare Association, Switzerland: Hisham cooperation. As part of its efforts, the Welfare
Qaddumi, Jordan, Chairman of theTechnical Association established a special technical unit
Committee of the OCJRP; Ismael El-Zabri, in 1995 dedicated to the revitalization of the old
Jordan, Director General; ShadiaTouqan, city of Jerusalem through rehabilitation of
Jerusalem, Director of the OCJRPTechnical housing and related services, preservation of
Office. cultural, historical and religious monuments and
improvement of living standards for residents of
Partners the old city.The technical team of the OlCJRP is
Department of Islamic Waqf, Jerusalem; Division composed of eight architects and engineers and
of Cultural Heritage, United Nations Educational, ten support staff led by ShadiaTouqan (b. 1947,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization, France. Nablus), an architect and urban planner with over
thirty years of experience in the field of architec-
Sponsors ture and urban conservation.
Arab Fund for Economic and Social Develop-
ment, Kuwait; Islamic Development Bank, Website
Saudi Arabia; the Ford Foundation, US. Welfare Association
www.welfareassociation.org
Project team
Ehab Zuheaka, Deputy Director; Khalid Halabi,
Supervision Unit Manager; Amal Abu Al-Hawa,
Samer Rantisi, Sahar Ghazal, Bashar Husseini,
Faten Lafi, Bahi Abdel Hadi, Marah El-Aloui and
Nisreen Karsou, architects; Khaled Muhanna,
Lana El-Khushashi and Suhad Al-Bakri, civil
engineers; Hazem Quneibi and Wafa Elder,
administration; Arda Batarseh, information
manager; Yousef Natche, architectural historian;
Anita Vitullo, editor (all based in Jerusalem).

Consultants
Instituto Veneto per i Beni Culturali, Italy,
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2002–present; Riwaq Centre for Architectural

Conservation, Ramallah: Suad Al-Amiri,
Director, 1998–2000; Centre for Conservation and OCJRP projects
Preservation of Islamic Architectural Heritage,
Egypt: Saleh Lamei Mostafa, Director, 1997–98.
4
Bab al Sahera
Commission July 1994
50 25 0 50 100 150

Design 1995–ongoing meters

Construction 1995–ongoing 3
Occupation Since 1996 Bab al Amud

Site area 871,000m2 old city 5

Bab al Asbat
Cost US$12,382,000 (1996–2003)
2
Al Bab alJadid

1
Bab al Khalil

6
Bab al Maghariba

7 Implemented Projects (1996-2003)

Bab al Nabi Da'ud Ongoing or Proposed Projects

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stylistic periods current use physical condition

4 4 4

3 3 3

5 5 5

2 2 2

1 1 1

6 6 6
Raman Residential Very Good
Byzantine Religious Good
Umayyad Commercial Satisfactory
Abbasid Public Bad
7 Fatimid 7 Closed 7 No Data
Crusader Archeological Site
Ayyubid No Data
Mamluk
Early Ottoman
Late Ottoman
British Mandate
1948-1967
Post 1967
No Data

structural condition additions building heights

4 4 4

3 3 3

5 5 5

2 2 2

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1 1 1

6 6 6
Very Good Horizontal
Good Vertical One Story/Level
Satisfactory Horizontal Vertical Two Stories/Levels
Bad No Additions OR Three Stories/Levels
7 7 7 Four Stories/Levels
No Data No Data
Five Stories/Levels
No Data

floors ceilings roofs

4 4 4

3 3 3

5 5 5

2 2 2

1 1 1

6 6 6
Stone Tiles Cross Vaulted Level
Carpet Tiles Barrel Vaulted Pitched
Ceramic Tiles Domed Domed
Cement Tiles Level No Data
7 7 7
Cement Level with iron
Mud supports (I Section)
No Data Wood
No Data

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Ayvacık,Turkey
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 B2 House
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Two Turkish brothers, Selman and Suha Bilal, wanted to build a house on
Turkey’s north Aegean coast as a place to spend weekends in a spot where
they could find beauty, tranquillity and seclusion without travelling long
distances from their homes in Istanbul.They approached Turkish architect
HanTümertekin, who conceived the idea of creating a refuge for these two
widely travelled urbanite ‘nomads’, as he describes them, whose relationship
to place is transitory and who seek privacy in the openness of spectacular
landscapes.The pure rectangular mass of the house sits on an open terraced
site, unmistakably modern and separate from the traditional houses of the
surrounding village, but respecting and allying itself with those houses through
its use of traditional local materials and techniques.These are combined with
contemporary architectural elements with utter simplicity.The materials and
structure are expressed openly and left unadorned to create a house of resonant
austerity.The house opens itself to its surroundings and encourages its users
not only to observe the landscape but also to immerse themselves in nature
through the use of semi-external and external parts of the accommodation.
It is a place where a basic shelter becomes a space for the celebration and
contemplation of nature.
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B2 House

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This house has been chosen to receive an Award because it embodies

a sense of perfection and well-being. It represents a progressive approach
in acknowledging the history of its place, the surrounding houses and
landscape, to form a new and unique creation that is, at the same time,
an integral part of its community.The house stands apart – beautifully
shaped and elegantly dressed – but in the future additional houses may
embrace and adopt it, fully integrating it into a wider landscape.

B conveys a maximum amount of dignity, achieved with a minimum

of means. It celebrates the act of contemplation, looking towards the
distant horizon with openness and clarity. It incorporates a wealth of
architectural knowledge but at the same time expresses the individuality
of the architect’s aspirations.

When filled with life and activity, the house becomes a place of special
significance and reference in the community, embracing all those
whom it welcomes as visitors or passers-by.When empty, it continues

TJ521-8-2004 IMUK HUC0186 Aga Khan Award For Architecture (CTP) W:215mmXH:278mm 150L 140 Profijt White W/F Magenta
to command the respect it so much deserves.

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B2 House is located on the edges The architect’s response to the ●

The external stair not only The structure of the house is fairly
●
of Büykhüsun, a small village near sloping topography of the triangular makes maximum use of the inner simple and was designed with local
Ayvacik in an area of great historical site, which drops 7 metres from spaces of the house and eliminates technology in mind.The idea was to
and archaeological interest that is north to south, is also based on the any element that might distract from achieve a rigid, monolithic structural
relatively underdeveloped. Its cluster local practice of terracing.The site their purity, but also integrates box that is able to resist seismic
of stone houses ranges down the is divided into two flat plateaus with nature with one of the typical forces, since the area is subject
rocky mountainside, housing a tightly a difference of 1.3 metres between domestic features of the house: to earthquakes.The east and west
knit community of around 450 people them, creating a long rectangular to live there it is necessary to use façades comprise a tripartite
who work mainly in agriculture.The ●
terrace, on which the house this exterior stair, which is the sole composition consisting of two
houses are simple rectangular is placed, and a triangular terrace link between the floors. If the main 1.2-metre-wide concrete structural
masses constructed entirely of the to the back of the house, which is premise of building this house members that frame a 3.6-metre-
local granite and volcanic stone, laid used as a garden.This means that, was to immerse its users in nature, wide stone wall.This is continued
in interlocking layers. Located just like the local houses, B2 House features such as this ensure that on the roof, although the stones
outside the south-east boundary is embedded in the slope of the their relationship with nature is there are not fixed.The result is a
of the village, B2 House takes its mountainside. However, in contrast active and reciprocal, not based continuous uninterrupted surface
cue from the orientation of the trad- to the local building typology, with solely on the detached process that wraps around and defines the
itional houses, with windows placed houses grouped around small walled of gazing at the landscape. mass, appearing to be a single
on the south façade, looking out over gardens to ensure an element of folded plane.
spectacular panoramic views of privacy, there are no garden walls
valleys, mountains and the sea, while around B2 House. As a result, the As well as referring to the local
a northern façade, lower in height, site is absorbed by the surrounding houses, the use of stone on the
turns its back on the prevailing landscape but, at the same time, the side walls forms a richly textured
north-easterly wind. house is set apart, appearing almost element, framed by more modern
as a sculpture on a pedestal. elements.The use of man-made
structures to frame a natural
material is an important recurring
theme throughout the building:
The purity of the main spaces and the house frames the landscape, ●
an integration with nature are also the concrete structure frames the
maintained by semi-external spaces stone walls and, in the folding panels
set within a 1.2-metre-deep utility that shade the southern façade,
wall that aligns the north façade aluminium frames reed.
and is sealed off from the living area
by two frosted-glass sliding doors.
It was important for the owners Here, accessed through reed-panel
to contain the scale of the house doors that cover the two main
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in order to limit construction costs openings to the house, are bath-

while achieving a simple, practical rooms, a laundry area, storage, a
structure that would not demand ●
kitchenette and a fireplace that
much maintenance.The programme opens onto an outdoor living room
is therefore basic – anything outside sheltered beneath the stair deck –
the realm of necessity is omitted – an arrangement that serves to
and the house is fairly small.The emphasize further the importance
ground floor is dominated by a large of outdoor spaces as integral parts
living room and the upper floor by of the house.
two bedrooms.The connection
between the two floors is through
an external stair of wood and steel,
which rests on the upper terrace, 3
metres from the house, with a deck
that bridges to the main structure.

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One of the architect’s concerns The final appearance of B2 House The owners’ key concern in
was to provide a design that could is a direct expression of its structure constructing B2 House was to
be easily constructed by local and materials and of its construction be close to nature, and the house
builders.The architect devised a process. Nothing is concealed. Each is intended to be used as a space
framework that the local builders material is allowed to express itself for contemplating the surroundings.
could implement without much clearly. Every component is left bare They are extremely fond of the house
guidance, minimizing the number and unsheathed – a feature described and its location and feel that it is
of site visits and ensuring a high by the architect as ‘honesty’.This conducive to the well-being of its
quality of execution. For example, also has the practical virtue of users: ‘Even if we spend one day
work that required heavy super- making the house extremely easy to in the house it is sufficient to feel
vision, such as building the concrete maintain: only the reed panels must totally rejuvenated.’ During the The treatment of boundaries
structure, was separated from work be replaced annually. But where the initial design stages they were generates a vast non-private
that required less, such as the stone materials used in the project are concerned that the villagers might territory that seeps through the
work. As a result, despite its modern generally raw, refinement emerges not like the aesthetic of the house, spatial structure of the house,
appearance, the house was mainly with their layout and relationship but the design was approved by expanding its limits towards the
built with local technology and in a scheme of calculated rusticity the village muhtar (administrator) horizon. The spaces gain a sublime
materials. Only the glazing system that is at the same time in no way before construction. Upon its presence that transforms the
used on the southern façade and nostalgic.The flooring of the house completion the owners were relieved sense of a dwelling into that of a
for the sliding doors was brought is the only instance in which one to find that the house was admired ●
monument. The house functions
from Istanbul and installed by material is used to cover another. by the local community, although it as an apparatus for perceiving
the manufacturer. While the ground floor is of terrazzo is regarded as an object of curiosity nature with truly mesmerizing
poured in situ, the upper level is and is known as ‘the Japanese effects, constantly shifting the
finished with wood.These materials house’.The social balance of user from domestic activity to
relate to the immediate exterior of Büykhüsun has not been disturbed a state of pure contemplation in
each level: the terrazzo is conceived by the owners of B2 house, since the a suspended timeless zone. Its
as a refined version of the garden, local community is quite accepting capacity to transport its users
where large, flat pebbles were used of newcomers. Indeed, there are between different realms extends
as ground cover for the terraces; the twenty holiday houses in the village to its image: the pure mass on a
wood is an extension of the external belonging to outsiders, whose pedestal is conceived with the silent
stair and wooden deck. presence is regarded as a positive grandeur and noble simplicity of
influence on the economy and land a monument, while its scale and
In its materials the house value of the village. humble materials take it back to
attempts to bridge the architectural the realm of the vernacular.
gap between the village and itself
through the visual continuity of
●
textures, colours and scale.

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The result is an ambivalent
relationship between house
and village, the house’s clear
autonomy being counteracted
by the dialogue it establishes
with its built surroundings.
With a reduced architectural
language employing humble
materials and rudimentary forms,
remarkable spatial conditions are
achieved in B2 House.The architect
has managed to draw uncommon
energies from common forms by
virtue of siting, organization and
●
thematic consistency. The context
of the project becomes a point of
reference, subject to editing and
reduction, and the house examines
traditional architectural notions
about property, privacy, domesticity,
identity and space, with ground-
breaking results.

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B2 House
Büykhüsun Village, Ayvacık, Turkey

Clients
Selman and Suha Bilal

Architect
HanTümertekin, designer; Eylem Erdinç,
Project Architect; Hakan Sengün, Hayriye Sözen
and Ahmet Önder, assistant architects (all based
in Istanbul).

Consultant
Gülsün Parlar,Turkey, structural engineer.

Contractor
Ziya Ildiz,Turkey, Project Coordinator

Craftsman
Enver Akan,Turkey, master builder. ground floor

Commission 1999
Design March 1999–October 1999
Construction November 1999–April 2001
Occupation June 2001

Site area 600m2

Built area 150m2

Cost US$140,000

HanTümertekin (b. 1958,Turkey) graduated

from IstanbulTechnical University in 1982.
After working two years in the office of Ahmet
Gülgönen and then at the Atelier d’Architecture
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Bernstein-Champetier-Vidal in Paris, he
established the HanTümertekin-Resit Soley
Partnership in Istanbul. In 1986, he opened his
own practice under the name of MimarlarTasarim
Danımanlık Ltd and has designed and built a
number of residential and public buildings in first floor
Turkey. He has twice been awardedTurkey’s
National Architecture Award, in 1998 and 2000,
and received theTepe Centre Architectural
Award in 2000 for two of his projects. He has
been visiting professor at various schools of
architecture inTurkey.

section

front elevation

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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

PetronasTowers

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The Petronas Towers are the centrepiece of the mixed-use Kuala Lumpur City
Centre complex, set in the heart of the commercial district of the city. Rising
 metres, the towers were certified the world’s tallest buildings by the Council
of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat in .They are connected by a sky bridge
at the forty-first and forty-second floors to facilitate inter-tower communication
and circulation, while a multi-storey shopping and entertainment galleria connects
the office towers at their bases.The complex also includes the Petroleum Discovery
Centre, an art gallery, an -seat concert hall and a multimedia conference
centre.The complex is at the forefront of technology, with intelligent systems
controlling everything from telecommunications to fire safety. But at the same
time, the buildings respond sensitively to their setting, with a form derived
from an Islamic pattern, and extensive use of local materials.

The towers have become a popular example of contemporary architecture

in Malaysia.Their elegant form makes them the country’s most significant urban
landmark – a dominant feature on the skyline of Kuala Lumpur and a national
symbol of modern Malaysia that affirms the country’s position on the world map.

PetronasTowers
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Dewan Filharmonik Petronas

Suria KLCC

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This project has received an Award because it represents a new direction

in skyscraper design, featuring advanced technology while symbolizing
local and national aspirations.The project embodies several innovations,
ranging from the use of unusually high-strength concrete to facilitate
a soft-tube structural system, to an inventive vertical transportation
concept and the integration of cutting-edge energy conservation systems.
The success of this project lies in the manner in which it incorporates
these technological innovations while generating a slender form that
responds poetically to the broader landscape.The simple geometrical
pattern that generates the plan not only uses space efficiently to maximize
exposure to natural light, but also creates a rich spatial expression.
The building has become an icon that expresses the sophistication
of contemporary Malaysian society and builds on the country’s rich
traditions to shape a world city.

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KLCC Park

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For the last few decades Kuala An international competition to The structure supporting each Excavations at the early stages
Lumpur has been growing at a select a master plan for the new of the towers comprises a ring of of construction revealed that the
tremendous rate and has under- KLCC was organized in 1990.The sixteen cylindrical columns of high- bedrock beneath the towers sloped
gone many changes. In early 1981 concept of the winning plan by US strength reinforced concrete, ● steeply and was not strong enough
the Malaysian Government decided firm Klages, Carter, Vail & Partners placed on the inner corners of the to bear the weight of the buildings.
to move the SelangorTurf Club and was an integrated mixed-use star-shaped plan to form a ‘soft Consequently, it was decided to
horse-racing track from the heart development – a city within a city tube’, with the columns linked by move the towers about 60 metres to
of the city to the periphery and – where people could work, live, arched ring beams, also made of the south-east, where the buildings
to redevelop the site to meet the shop and visit. In 1991 a second structural concrete.The columns would sit on a concrete mat anchored
demands of urban and economic international competition was held are nearly 2.4 metres in diameter to soil, not bedrock, by concrete
growth.The site occupies 40 for the design of the office tower at the base of the building, but taper friction piles.The foundation system
hectares of land in the city’s newly complex and was won by Cesar Pelli as they rise through the floors, as of the towers consists of a 4.5-metre-
emerging business district – the & Associates. Work started on site well as sloping towards the centre of thick piled raft supported on friction
‘GoldenTriangle’.The economic in 1993, and the towers were opened the towers, enhancing the building’s piles varying in depth from 40 metres
boom years of the late 1970s and in 1997.The official inauguration of svelte profile. At the centre of each to 105 metres.
1980s made this area very attractive the complex took place in 1999. tower is a square core, which
for developers and speculators, contains elevators, mechanical
and saw a proliferation of high-rise shafts and other services, with
commercial buildings in a variety beams extending out to the per-
of styles and materials, built in imeter columns.The use of high-
an ad hoc manner with no central strength concrete meant that core
master plan.The decision to develop and column elements could be of
the racecourse site as a mixed- economical size, increasing rentable
use complex, the Kuala Lumpur space.The core measures approxi-
City Centre (KLCC), offered an mately 23 by 23 metres and occupies
opportunity to create an urban 23 per cent of the floor plan – a The towers are connected at the
centre with a strong and distinctive relatively low ratio in comparison forty-first and forty-second levels,
●
identity and to reinforce Kuala to other skyscrapers. Concrete 170 metres above street level, by a
Lumpur‘s emerging status as an construction also requires relatively ●
sky bridge, enabling inter-
international city in the twenty- simple equipment and is appropriate communication between the
first century.The KLCC was also to the skills of the local workforce, towers.The interchange also acts
intended to be a national symbol, and concrete aids wind resistance as a focal point for shared facilities
reflecting the country’s natural because of its inherent stiffness such as the surau (prayer room)
beauty and tropical greenery, as well and damping properties. and executive dining rooms.The
its vibrant and rich cultural heritage. structural design of the sky bridge
The project design was inspired is complex because it has to
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by the minarets, stalactites and accommodate differing movements

dome forms that are found in from each tower.The solution is
Kuala Lumpur’s heterogeneous an inverted V-shaped two-hinged
architecture, expressing the multi- arch that supports the bridge
cultural nature of Malaysian society. in the centre, the struts ending
It is based on the concept of two in spherical bearings that can
interlocking squares that form an accommodate all movement.The
eight-pointed star – a traditional resulting shape defines a symbolic
Islamic motif.This was modified gateway into the new city centre.
by placing eight semicircles in
the angles of the corners to create
more floor space, so that the final
floor plan has eight protruding
●
points and eight lobes. Each
tower rises eighty-eight storeys
and provides 218,000 square metres
of floor space, including an additional
circular ‘bustle’ or annexe forty-
four storeys high.The towers taper
at six intervals, with the walls of
the upper levels sloping inwards.
Both towers are topped by a conical
spire and a 73.5-metre-high pinnacle,
giving the buildings an elegant and
distinctive silhouette.

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At ground level the exterior The PetronasTowers complex is

façades feature arcades and very actively used.The columnless,
canopies, evoking the ‘five-foot way’ open-plan offices in the towers
of shophouses – the most ubiquitous provide flexible, state-of-the-art
building type in Malaysian cities. facilities for businesses, while the
Shophouses are generally two public areas have given the area a
storeys high, combining retail space centre with a sense of place. Many
on the lower floor and living space visitors come to the complex simply
above, with a veranda on the ground because it is an attractive spot,
The towers are also joined at floor at least 5 feet (1.5 metres) wide, and it has become the most highly
●
their base and in this shared creating covered routes to shelter frequented and fashionable visiting
area can be found an entrance lobby, pedestrians from the tropical sun place in Kuala Lumpur.The complex
featuring a variety of Malaysian and rain, while also providing a combines modern technology
motifs and materials integrated into space for shopkeepers to display with a sense of cultural identity
a modern design. Also set between their wares. On the towers them- and a sensitive responsiveness
the towers is the Dewan Filharmonik selves, a curtain-wall system to its setting to create a powerful
Petronas, housing the Malaysian comprising a total of 33,000 panels icon that symbolizes the country’s
Philharmonic Orchestra.The concert is punctuated by stainless steel progress. It has also introduced
●
hall combines flexible and ‘bullnose’ and ‘teardrop’ sunscreen Throughout the complex, advanced new architectural standards
up-to-date systems for acoustics brackets that join together to give communication systems and to Malaysia in terms of design,
and set arrangement with an the appearance of a continuous automatic controls reduce energy construction and technology.
intensively crafted and intricate silver ribbon around the building. ● consumption and promote ease Most of all, the PetronasTowers
space that brings together modern The use of tinted laminated glass of use. One such system controls embody an innovative and creative
and traditional materials. helps to reduce heat gain from the vertical transportation, which is balance between modern global
sunlight as well as ultraviolet trans- provided by double-deck lifts● technology and local culture,
mission. As well as cutting the heat capable of carrying twenty-six making an important statement for
and glare entering the building, people per deck.These make better the people of the region.
these walls reflect the play of light use of the core space and require
and shadow, expressing the lush less room for hoisting, increasing
tropical environment. the efficiency of passenger trans-
portation.The integrated energy-
conservation concept of the towers
is based on an innovative ‘cool-
recovery’ system, which uses heat
from exhaust air to power the
cooling of outside air as it enters

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the building.The system reduces
the amount of energy required
to air condition the building by 50
per cent. Other high-technology
intelligent systems manage
building control, building security,
telecommunications, fire alarms
Also at the foot of the towers is and the safety plan.
a six-level, crescent-shaped retail
●
and entertainment complex, Suria
KLCC. In Malay ‘suria’ means sun,
and here the sun is represented
symbolically in the design of a
cupola in the central atrium, which
draws natural light into the complex
while also providing ventilation.
From the atrium, two ‘streets’,
lined with over 300 shops, cafés and
restaurants, extend along opposite
axes.These streets are naturally
lit by a linear skylight and lead to
circular hubs at each end of the mall.
In addition, the complex includes an
art gallery, a specialized library and
an interactive science discovery
centre, as well as a four-storey under-
ground car park for 5,400 cars.

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Petronas Towers Established in 1977, Cesar Pelli & Associates

Kuala Lumpur City Centre, Malaysia is an architectural practice based in New Haven,
Connecticut, US.The firm has worked with
Client corporate, government and private clients to
Kuala Lumpur City Centre Holdings Sdn Bhd. design major public spaces, museums, airports,
laboratories, performing arts centres, academic
Architect buildings, hotels, office and residential towers
Cesar Pelli & Associates, US: Cesar Pelli, and mixed-use projects.The Design Principal,
Design Principal; Fred Clarke, Collaborating Cesar Pelli (b. 1926, Argentina), served as Dean
Design Principal; Jon Pickard, DesignTeam of the School of Architecture at Yale University
Leader; Larry Ng, Project Manager; KLCC from 1977 to 1984, where he continues to lecture.
Behrard Architectural Division, Malaysia, Mr Pelli has written extensively on architectural
architects of record; Adamson Associates, issues and his work is widely published and
Canda, associate architects; Balmori exhibited, with seven books and several issues
Associates, US, and NR Associates, of professional journals dedicated to his designs
Malaysia, landscape design. and theories. He has received ten honorary
degrees, over a hundred awards for design
Engineers excellence and is a Fellow of the American
Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers, US, and Institute of Architects, and a member of the
Ranhill Bersekutu Sdn Bhd, Malaysia, structural American Academy of Arts and Letters, the
engineers; Flack + Kurtz, US, and KTATenaga National Academy of Design, the International
Sdn Bhd, Malaysia, MEP engineers. Academy of Architecture, and the Academie
d’Architecture de France. Mr Pelli was awarded
Consultants the American Institute of Architects (AIA)
STUDIOS, US, interior design; Walker Group, Gold Medal in 1995 in recognition of his lifetime
CNI, US, retail; Howard Brandston & Partners, achievements and outstanding contributions.
US, lighting; Israel Berger & Associates, US,
curtain wall; Shen, Milsom & Wilke, Inc, US Websites
acoustics; Katz Drago Company, Inc, Canada, Cesar Pelli & Associates
vertical transportation; Lerch Bates & www.cesar-pelli.com
Associates, US, exterior maintenance;Techcord Kuala Lumpur City Centre
Consulting Group, Canda, security; Emery www.klcc.com.my
Vincent, Australia, graphics; Rolf Jensen &
Associates, US, life safety; Wilbur Smith
Associates, Singapore, traffic; Central Parking
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Systems, US, parking; Ove Arup and Partners,

UK, and Arup Jururunding, Malaysia, site and
civil engineering; Rowan Williams Davies and
Irwin RWDI, Canada, wind-tunnel testing.

Contractors
Tower 1 – Mayjus Joint Venture: MMC Engineering
& Construction Co. Ltd, Malaysia; Ho Hup
Construction Sdn Bhd, Malaysia; Hazama
Corporation, Malaysia; JA Jones Construction
Co Ltd, US; Mitsubishi Corporation, Japan.
Tower 2 – SKJ Joint Venture: Samsung
Engineering & Construction Co Ltd, North Korea;
Kuk Dong Engineering & Construction Co Ltd,
Malaysia; Syarikat Jasatera Sdn Bhd, Malaysia;
Dragages and Bachy-Soletanche, Singapore;
First Nationwide Engineering Sdn Bhd, Malaysia.

Commission December 1991

Design January 1992–June 1994
Construction April 1993–August 1999
Occupation January 1997–August 1999

Site area, KLCC 40.5 hectares

Site area, Petronas 5.8 hectares
and retail

Built area 218,000m2 each tower

994,000m2 total Petronas
complex

Cost US$800,000,000

west elevation north elevation east elevation

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south elevation

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2004 Award Steering Committee and Master Jury

Seated, left to right: Reinhard Schulze, Ghada Amer, ElíasTorresTur, BillieTsien, Prince Hussain Aga Khan,
His Highness the Aga Khan, Farshid Moussavi, Hanif Kara, JafarTukan, Rahul Mehrotra, Modjtaba Sadria.
Standing, left to right: Suha Özkan, Jacques Herzog, Charles Correa, Babar Khan Mumtaz, Mohsen Mostafavi,
Akram Abu Hamdan, Glenn Lowry, Abdou Filali-Ansary, Farrokh Derakhshani. 138

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The Grammar of Architecture

Reinhard Schulze

Architecture has always relied upon the knowledge of

specialists and professionals who have learned the art
of building; it has never become a mental concept whereby
people build according to a cultural tradition that is ‘innate’.
Consequently, ‘Islamic architecture’, for example, is not a
concept per se: it derives from those professionals who
have constantly reinvented building traditions as Islamic.
The same, of course, is true for all other cultural traditions.

As language, architecture is a means of interpretation

that is based on universals and specifics.The sound ‘b’,
for example, is universal – there is hardly any language in
the world that does not contain the sound ‘b’. Perhaps some
people will articulate ‘b’ in a phonetically different way, but
anyone will be able to recognize when a speaker is producing
a word by using the phoneme ‘b’.There are, of course, sounds
specific to certain languages: the Arabic phoneme ‘dad’
served as a characterization of Arabic speakers as ‘speakers
Architecture is art in form, or form in art, or the art of the dad’. In general, however, specifics derive from the
of forming, or the performing of art in form. Being art, arrangement of the sounds typical of certain languages and
architecture deals with aesthetic meaning in specific form. from the grammar that arranges words as syntagmata. In
architecture, there are also universals: materials, functions
Architecture is culture. As culture, architecture is part (such as shelter) and even forms (if a building is to give
of a semiotic repertoire that gives meaning to the world shelter, then it must be closed and have a roof). But the
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and to the materials used in building. In a way, architecture specifics are much more visible. As we are accustomed
makes culture of the material world: a stone takes on to accepting these universals as standard, our eyes focus
meaning when it is enclosed in a wall, as does concrete – on the specific forms: the arrangement of the materials,
the result of a chemical procedure – when it is moulded the proportions, the style, and so on.
into significant form. In other words, architecture deals
with the material world in the same way that human beings As already noted, architecture and language both serve
use linguistic signs such as sounds and words to produce as a means of interpretation.This interpretation may relate
a phrase by which they interpret the world around them. to the world in which a building is located, or it may relate
to the material used. If an architect wants to give meaning
But parallels between language and architecture are to a certain material and employs it in an original way, then
limited. On the one hand, both employ a set of conventions we may say that architecture becomes art.The building itself
that are used in expressions. Language, however, is not free may be an expression of the architect’s ambition to deal with
in assembling its repertoire of signs: it has to observe the material and, at the same time, an interpretation of a
grammar, which renders expressions comprehensible. specific meaning that is not dependent on the material used.
Human beings are not the sovereigns of grammar; they are
subject to grammar, which is historical or, as some believe, When we look at a building, we may ask about its ‘artistic’
an innate mental concept. expression or meaning. If we accept the analogy between
language and architecture, then every building may be read
Though architecture is subject to conventions in the sense or understood as a phrase or a paragraph or even as a whole
that it relies upon materials that are accepted as part of book, with building schemes based on a given architectural
the building process – stone, brick, concrete, glass, wood, grammar. To read architecture means to reconstruct the
component parts, and so on – it does not employ a fixed (hidden?) meaning that informed the building.
grammar. Over the course of history, however, building
schemes have been affected by traditions or conventions, But it is difficult to read the meaning if a building is based
which may be considered a substitute for grammar. As a on a grammar and a vocabulary that have first to be learned.
result, we might come across building traditions that are In the modern age, however, cultural specifics have become
called ‘Chinese’ or ‘Muslim’ or ‘Christian’.These traditions paradigmatic for globally accepted universals. In my
are defined not only in buildings that represent the specific view, this is the most striking effect of modernity: today,
meaning of a given culture (a mosque, a temple or a church), buildings based on a local vernacular do not necessarily
but also in buildings whose inhabitants or architects were express culturally different meanings but clothe universals
attached to those cultures in the broadest, most general way. in tradition.

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‘Islamic architecture’ is architectural modernity using

cultural repertoires that are conventionally associated
with Islamic traditions. After most Islamic traditions merged
with modernity during the course of the nineteenth century,
anyone composing large architectural forms in the Muslim
world followed the history of modernity. But, being part
of modernity, architecture in the Muslim world accepted
the disassociation of Islamic traditions from general building
patterns. Consequently, we have two diverging processes.
First, Islam has become a concept that intentionally gives
meaning to a building – that is, a building becomes ‘Islamic’.
For this, Islam has to be defined on an architectural level.
What are the attributes required to make a global public
recognize a building as Islamic?This concept of an ‘Islamic
grammar’ of architecture is modern; it differs strongly from
the architectural concepts used in building a mosque in a
Muslim environment in pre-modern times. Second, buildings
use attributes of modernity without referring to an Islamic
repertoire. A family home in Abu Dhabi, for example, can
hardly be read in terms of a specific cultural tradition. If But, since the eighteenth century, this evolutionary process
architects want a building to be associated with a specific has been replaced by the creation of abstract styles spliced

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cultural environment, they simply include some cultural to traditions. With the establishment after the 1850s of art
‘marks’, mostly derived from Orientalism.These accessories as a concept through which to criticize tradition, architects
do not change the modern identity of a building at all. began to invent new traditions.Typically, they were not able
to rely upon memory, but had to create written (drawn)
There is a third alternative process. Modernity has tended schemes of building prototypes, which might have been
to re-evaluate and reify tradition. Architecture is susceptible based on their reading of classical buildings such as
to reification. Modernity has incorporated traditions as temples, and so on. By the incorporation of art into archi-
ethnic repertoires that it seeks to ascribe to various peoples. tecture, architecture was transformed into a profession
Orientalism is only one example of several discursive and a ‘free’ art of building. Freed from tradition, architecture
procedures that have sought to embody and revive specific started to define its own cultural code – one that played with
ethnic values in architectural form. It has often been stated invented traditions and modern inventions.Thus, modernity
that this process is important in order to accommodate has created a new global vocabulary of architecture that
modern architectural ambitions within local conditions. includes various interpretations of vernaculars.
It should be observed, however, that most of these local
conditions are not a historical continuation of pre-modern This process had already begun in the eighteenth century.
traditions but inventions of the last 200 years. Ottoman master builders of theTulip Period (1718–30)
accepted European Baroque styles as global vocabularies
Traditionally architecture is conservative and relies mostly and incorporated selected ‘Islamic’ traditions into this global
on experience and positive examples. In the Middle Ages, pattern to render a building ‘Islamic’.The process reached
for instance, the memory of architects was much more its first peak in the second half of the nineteenth century,
important than written or drawn representations of buildings, when not only architectural details but also building types,
because a new building could be considered as a repetition structures and organizational frameworks were globalized.
of an earlier successful one. But since no building site is
like any other, any new building had to accommodate Architecture in the Muslim world of today is part of a
different conditions and featured slight changes that made global history of modernity. It shares the challenges and
it specific. If a third building was built, the master builder experiences and the strengths and weaknesses of modernity.
then had available two examples to serve as a model. He Some parts of the Muslim world show a greater affinity with
had to decide which model to use, and in turn adapt his own European modernity; others are closer to US modernity. But
building to local conditions.Thus, he had to select, copy and notwithstanding this internal pluralism, the global history of
accommodate – in other words, to change the initial model. modern architecture is an integral part of the Muslim world’s
architectural history.

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Ten Thoughts During Ten Days

as a Jury Member
Billie Tsien

1. As the only American on the Award Master Jury

during the reign of George W. Bush, I felt apprehensive as
I flew to Geneva for the first meetings during January 2004.
I was worried that I was a representative of a policy and a
regime with which I deeply disagreed. My primary reason
for coming was to try to gain greater knowledge of Muslim
cultures, which are usually presented as monolithic.

2. The discussions were illuminating, frustrating,

inspiring and hilarious – sometimes simultaneously. We
were architects, artists, philosophers and sociologists 8. Surprisingly, it i
and we each took turns wearing the others’ hats.

3. The Award carries with it the criterion of social

responsibility, which is one that does not generally apply
to architecture awards. I felt like a patient sitting in the chair
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at an optometrist’s office. A large apparatus is lowered in

front of my face as I stare ahead at letters and different sets
of lenses are placed in front of my eyes. Which set is better –
the first or the second? Which lens is the controlling one?
There was a new lens set in front of my judgemental eyes.
How do I see clearly with this new lens in place?

4. In Geneva everything closes down at 7.00pm.

5. The primary school● in Burkina Faso was a very important project

for me. It was a project that looked wonderful with all sets of lenses
dropped in front of my eyes. Difficult circumstances gave birth to
invention.The bent bars used in place of conventional steel or wood
let the roof levitate above the building like a giant wing. It is a school
built by villagers from a design by an architect who is the son of the
village chief. It is a building of beauty and economy. It is unlikely that
I would ever have seen this project (or indeed most of the others) if I
had not been part the Jury and for this, and much more, I am grateful
to the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
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6. We struggled because there were two issues that we

wanted to highlight through the Award process. We hope that
future submissions will produce architecture of excellence
that reflects these issues. Firstly, public infrastructure; and
secondly, projects that address the position of women, either
through their programme briefs or through the recognition
of women as architects and clients.

7. A visit to the house that Le Corbusier designed

for his mother in Vevey confirmed the ability of an ecstatic
yet sensible simplicity to amaze, inspire and bring joy.

y, it is possible to smoke cigars at the dinner table in restaurants in Switzerland.

9. I feel proud of our process and of our choice of projects.

Each one stands on its own as a significant piece of
architecture or restoration. Each one has recognized
and directly addressed a need or illustrated a principle.

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10. My sense of the world has changed. I leave this experience
as a member of the Jury with optimism and hope.To build
is always work.To try to make a building into architecture is
a struggle.To choose to engage in this struggle is an act of
affirmation and optimism. It implies a belief in a shared future
and a belief that the future can be made better. What better
focus can there be for our lives here together on earth?

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Cults of Collaboration It is true that the rise of computer and information technology
Hanif Kara today has ushered in something of a new mini-wave of this
craft-based approach, but less design work is being done,
and constructors the world over are doing too much of the
work and too many of the drawings on behalf of architects
and engineers. It is this erosion, particularly of the main
currency of design – the skill of drawing – that sets a very
dangerous precedent, both for the professions it will affect
and for the wider world as a whole, because buildings will
be of a lesser quality.

So, who in the process chain is best placed to try and

ameliorate this problem, through knowledge about the
ways that materials will perform, for example? Who can
act as the bridge between somebody dreaming about a
scheme and somebody making it? I believe that this role
can be fulfilled by the engineer, who, like all bridges, can be
used in both directions to provide entry ways and passages.

The second specific area faced at that crossroads by the

field of engineering concerns the essence of the relationship
between engineers and architects.This too is facing erosion
because, as architects do less drawing work and do not talk
enough to engineers, schemes of dubious quality will emerge.
The engineer is facing a number of growing gaps – such as
that between the developed and underdeveloped worlds –
that have come about as a result of globalization. For me, at
The projects selected in this cycle of the Aga Khan Award one level, it is a myth that globalization offers endless choice
for Architecture show perfectly the very best that building and opportunity: the construction industry seems to be
projects across the Islamic world can offer in terms of dominated by a few large contractors who form alliances
aesthetics, skill, teamwork and creativity. What is more, with materials groups.This reduces client choice and does
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most of these projects have responded to their sites, to nothing to progress architecture of note. If the materials or
differing scales and to issues like sustainability in a wholly system of building are predetermined or too influenced by
admirable way, while maintaining design excellence. relationships, then the building will suffer.The engineer, with
his or her understanding of materials and the construction
But there is a problem. By choosing exemplary projects, process, is well placed to stand up to this danger.
any award system also shines a light on the many more
schemes in both the Islamic and wider world where such
standards are falling short. We need to ask why and to
ponder what the engineering profession that I belong to
can offer to the mix in a bid to raise quality across the board.

Both of these points – the reasons for failure and the quest
for solutions – arise because engineering today, viewed at
least from one perspective, is at a crossroads on a number
of issues.The first of these concerns the importance of
design, which I believe is being eroded, primarily because
of the way society has gone through sudden irreversible
changes. As societies undergo rapid change – and the
Industrial Revolution is a good example of this – there is a
tendency for them to ‘professionalize’.The massive, rapid
advances made in materials over the twenty-five years that
the Award has been running are another example, with an
estimate of a staggering 60,000 different kinds of materials
now available. But during that Industrial Revolutionary spurt,
within industry in the Western world, architecture and
engineering both found themselves veering into an ‘over-
professionalized’ mode, with the result that a greater faith
was placed in technology. What fell by the wayside during
this process was a craft-based approach to design – there
was a drift away from the ‘makers’, and professionalism
became the more important issue.

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If we get it right and make sure that we are all pluralistic,

shunning the cult of the individual but embracing a cult of
change, then this century should see a renaissance in the
way we produce buildings. But along the way some other
things need to change.The engineer needs an improved
image and should be closer to the public at large – often
he or she is seen simply as the one unimaginatively making
architects’ designs stand up, or as the scientist building
the tallest or biggest structure. Mostly this problem has
stemmed from the profession’s seeming inability to project
a good image of itself, and its resistance to a radical over-
haul of institutions of architecture and engineering inherited
from previous eras. Education can come to the rescue here.
The Aga Khan Award is making progress on the educational
front by disseminating information about design across the
globe. But in the past there have been leaders such as the
Swiss engineer Heinz Isler, who sold his own particular
agenda on self-supporting shells all around the world. Less
and less of this inspirational teaching is happening, partly
again, in my view, because of the downsides of globalization,
where most things can be downloaded from the Internet.

In the end, then, a better sense of collaboration and team-

work is the key to finding success in the buildings we create,
and it is a principle that has a notable advocate from history.
Frank Lloyd Wright, the master designer, gave priority to
engineering. As an engineer as well as an architect (he left
engineering school three months short of his degree), Wright
saw no essential conflict between engineering and design.
In fact, he believed the opposite: that new aesthetics are the
inescapable consequence of new engineering techniques.

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It is not all doom and gloom, however. I have touched already
on how the use of information technology is giving rise to The engineer – with a few exceptions – operates in a
a new wave of craft culture and mass-customization.The supportive role for the architect. But the two roles need
advancement of information technology as the primary tool to be blurred enough so that when they combine – one might
for urbanists, architects and engineers is opening a new and call it ‘engitecture’ – a better product is the result, and both
more intimate relationship between them. Architecture now disciplines together forge a new path, which is necessary
has more science to it, while engineering has more art to it. for the survival and prosperity of both architecture and
In the field of architecture, engineering design is happily engineering.The projects premiated in this cycle of the
becoming an intrinsic part of a new generation of form and Aga Khan Award are a testament that this is already
organization. Architects will now design using an image happening – but also that it is not happening quite enough.
of a simulated stress pattern, for example; as little as three
decades ago, they would not have even seen such an image.
Similarly, in the past an architect would not know why an
engineer said something would not work – today he or she
has access to that information. The relationship between
architects and designers is now transparent because the
types of barrier that used to exist between the two have
been broken down. Furthermore, an architect does not now
need to tell the engineer why he or she is choosing a certain
orientation or aesthetic for a building because the engineer
is beginning to understand more and more about what archi-
tects do. Each profession questions the other more, and
collaborates better by doing so.

So, on one level it should be easy for engineers and archi-

tects to become closer, for the good of every project.This
is the ideal relationship – where the naturally divergent
thoughts of the architect are married to the convergent ones
of the engineer, and each discipline begins to use and learn
elements of the other, to the advantage of both.This collab-
oration is already becoming the ethic of new designers.

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Thoughts About Architecture

and the 2004 Awards
Elías Torres Tur

‘Three conditions architecture must accomplish:

Utilitas (utility), Firmitas (durability, permanence,
resistance) and Venustas (beauty).’
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (fl. 46-30 BC), De Architectura, book 1, chapter 3, section 2

‘Don’t underestimate the power

of ugliness, for it is the doorway
to stupidity, which, in turn, is the
doorway to evil…Everything tends
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to begin with aesthetics; hence,

ugliness appears first, followed
by stupidity.’
Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, ‘La forja de un plumífero’,
Man conceives architecture as a permanent protecting veil
against his own frailness and transience, a means to survive Archipiélago 31, 1997
with dignity in his natural habitat. Architecture provides a
way of being in the world and helps us build universal values,
both spiritual and symbolic.Therefore, it contains an ethical
commitment that should be conveyed by aesthetics.

Each work of architecture is the result of an experimental

process of acquaintance with and transformation of our
environment by means of a specific response to particular A Swiss retreat
and existing social needs. An architect must build and design Many hours in front of Lac Léman and Mont Blanc. Many hours
with responsibility, generosity, a sense of justice and balance sitting, listening to ourselves and to each other. (If we spoke
(avoiding the unnecessary); with flexibility and independence, it was by turns, raising a finger to request permission from
taking chances and challenging the unknown and with the the president, although sometimes, someone – too often me
desire to change and improve. – could not hold back and outrageously broke the established
order to say something.) We looked like a class where every-
An architect must have the sensibility necessary to under- one was a pupil and a professor at the same time. After ten
stand places and their cultures, to interpret the different days non-stop (with the exception of an unexpected trip to
options he encounters and to be familiar with the disciplines Le Corbusier’s mama’s little house) of necessary conflicts to
of architecture. He must strive for inspiration to achieve reach a final agreement, of help from the outstanding staff of
those indispensable and unforeseeable moments of emotion, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, of making new friends,
of light and understanding. And he should always apply of learning and trying to have a good time, I found I had
a slight bit of irony so as never to take himself too seriously, gained 2.5 kilograms when I returned to Barcelona (the
and be able to wink at the tragic side of life. Geneva hotel’s scales were elegantly out of order).

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‘Architecture:The art of designing and building buildings.’

Royal Academy Dictionary of the Spanish Language

On the Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque●

Women and men in every culture have always fought
‘The first function of art to improve their image, their presence, to look younger, to
please others with facelifts, make-up, prostheses, slimming,
is to surprise, to break the clothes, hairdressers. Old age is now regarded as a state of
decrepitude, neglect and marginalization, when instead we
habits of perception and to should accept the presence of our elders and their memories,
make the old new.’ their experience, their wisdom, as a living bridge to our past
and our origins. Without them we cannot know our childhood.
Cesar Aira, quoted by Enrique Vila-Matas, El Pais, We are all contemporary.Their conditions of living and health
28 June 2003 must be improved (and we, in turn, will improve), not with
unnecessary body-lifts and make-up that turns them into
caricatures (cockatoos) or rejuvenated mummies, but with
appropriate dress, corrected teeth, hearing aids, pacemakers,
heating and cooling systems at home, protection and social
care.This is the responsibility of everyone, every society
and every institution. If life is to retain its meaning, the old
and the new must coexist and exchange their customs and
their knowledge.
On Bibliotheca Alexandrina●
A library stocks treasures of thought in every possible form On B2 House●

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for the enjoyment of citizens, experts, students or idle visitors. A house is both a stage of individuality and the door to a
Its presence in a city must be felt: one must filter the other, community. It is also a social right.The history of architecture
from inside space to outside space (and vice versa). A library can be understood through individual houses. In them there
is a source of intellectual exchange (not compulsory but is always something experimental, hedonistic (sometimes
unavoidable). It is a symbolic temple of memory, or a room nouveau riche, at other times modest), provocative, pastiche-
where we can recognize and find the stuff of which our memory like, ridiculous; and, most of the time, discreet, anodyne or
is made. (It is essential to have a good fire protection system.) imitative. In formal proposals for isolated houses, which are
often small and do not have demanding programmes, there
On Gando Primary School● is a constant exchange of ideas with the other visual arts.
Education, knowledge, is the seed of independence and If an architect can design a house, he or she will be able
liberty, of civilization. It is the weapon with which power success-fully to design a hospital, a school, an auditorium,
can be challenged – a weapon for respect, coexistence, a factory or a swimming pool – which are all different types
for understanding the world and feeling solidarity with each of houses or shelters.
other. A school is the temple, the house where we identify
collective knowledge, the permanent and the new. A school On PetronasTowers●
is where we become aware of our individuality within some- Skyscrapers are not indispensable. If they do not turn the
thing universal. A school is also a teacher and some pupils, surrounding city into a desert, there is nothing wrong with
anywhere, in any space. But teaching and learning will be them. (In midtown Manhattan, the quality of the streets and
enhanced by this space’s dignity. Good architecture will public spaces is independent of the height of the buildings.)
be one more lesson. A large group of skyscrapers can attain a magical character,
while an isolated one, unprotected, is much more hazardous.
On Sandbag Shelter Prototypes● Just like any other singular building, the skyscraper should
Research can be undertaken to take the edge off poverty, be thoroughly justified before it is built because its presence
misery and neglect, to help people survive, and to counter- will inevitably be overwhelming.Therefore, its architecture
act natural and human disasters provoked by ambition, must be excellent. Skyscrapers are symbols, like minarets
disdain, power and fanaticism, among other epidemics. or belfries; they are trademarks of corporations (and their
Many grains of sand can help build resistance against the profitability); sometimes they are fanciful bibelots. What
unfair or the unexpected – a way of doing justice. A prototype a craze to build the highest building! It’s like the 100-metre
can be the seed of a universal solution, and the more it is race. It can be done, of course, but it will always be topped by
inexpensive – as all significant research should be – the a lightning rod just to reach some clouds. Why not the longest
more it will be welcome. buildings (horizonscrapers), or the shortest (landscrapers)?

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Wall-less Gate
Modjtaba Sadria

Opening
We are narrators Having studied attentively close to 400 projects submitted
for this cycle of the Aga Khan Award, listening carefully

of sweet and happy tales to the evaluation criteria of architect members of the
Master Jury, making a great effort to bear in mind what was
presented to us as the accumulated experience of many
Tales of the cycles of the Award, I have not become opinionated about
architecture and the internal debates concerning it. At
most, I feel a bit less ignorant in this very rich field, and am
dense bush experiencing greater sensitivity towards it in my daily life.
My views, including those expressed here, remain those of
a person on the edge, on the margin.This position of being
With a mountain behind on the margin – not geographically but epistemologically –
remains very dear to me. If my understanding is correct,

a spring in front by including non-architects on the Master Jury, the Award’s

Steering Committee intended to enlarge the scope of
arguments beyond the field of architecture in a narrow
Tales of sense, in order to reach a more comprehensive view.

Meanwhile, the specificity of architecture as a field,

the warm hands of a friend intimately linked to our existence in this world, and the
depth of the debates surrounding architecture, the
accelerated speed of its changes, the growing impact
in cold nights of the city. it is having on our personal, social, cultural and aesthetic
experiences, and its emergence – at least on the symbolic
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Mehdi Akhavan Sales level – as one of the ingredients of contemporary global-

ization, are giving architecture a greater capacity to
influence, or at least to find an echo in, a broader social
context. Put differently, as a field, architecture has its own
‘gates’ – important, specific and consciously maintained
gates. But because of its capacity to resonate in the lives
of non-architects, it has become paradoxical to build and
maintain walls that delimit architecture from other fields in
society. It seems to me important to recognize architecture
as a field by acknowledging its gates, but also to scrutinize
the field from its margins, allowing its appropriation by
non-architects, conceptually as well as paradigmatically.
Can we hope that architects will accept having wall-less
gates, indicating the existence of a field but also inviting
outside views into it?

Analogy
I feel that it is important to explain my use of the term ‘field’.
Conceptually, my critical understanding of ‘field’ starts with
the work of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930–
2002). In Homo Academicus (1984) he became a systemic
denunciator of social arrangements in the production of
contemporary knowledge in the academic and professional
worlds, by opening perspectives beyond the gates to out-
siders. Please bear with me: I intend more to mention a
trajectory than to provide a conceptual demonstration. With
Bourdieu’s concept of field, the guardians of the gates of
the academic and professional fields became more visible.
These guardians intend to define the exclusivity of their
fields with the purpose of establishing personal power bases
within academia and, through it, within society at large.

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Portal near Le Croisic, western France

2
This first conceptual unveiling of the ‘gate’ was completed
through semiotics, emanating from a different perspective
and, interestingly enough, because of architectural
monuments, another interpretation of ‘gate’ was offered.
This interpretation has three monumental references. One
is a secular portal in a remote area of western France, more
precisely in the Loire Atlantique region, close to the village
of Le Croisic.This gate is in the middle of nowhere, near a
road, and it delimits nothing; it stands in a kind of no man’s A torii gate, Japan
land and is, at best, a landmark.1

Another ‘gate’ without any apparent walls is the torii in 3

Japanese Shinto shrines.The torii – a gate built with a
wide variety of materials, shapes and colours – indicates
the beginning of a sacred, divine space, which is inhabited

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by the god of the shrine. It indicates the symbolic border
between two worlds.The power of the deity located beyond
the torii is supposed to make itself felt in the profane world
outside the shrine. Physical openness, here, represents the Different designs of the torii
enclosure of the sacred ground.The torii gate without any
wall is, in fact, the gate of a powerful invisible wall. Passing
4
through the gate signifies an act of submission to the
transcendental senses that the gate designates.2/3

The third example is closer to my reading of the possibilities

for interaction between architects and non-architects within
the field of architecture.This is the story of a Buddhist
temple on the outskirts of Ome, a city to the west ofTokyo.
The name of the temple is Monshuin, derived from the school
of Buddhism that is based on the principles of mon (listening Gate of the MonshuinTemple, Ome, Japan
to the teaching of Buddha, or, in my interpretation, knowing),
shi (which can also be read as omou, understanding), and
shuu (mastering, action or practice – again in a simplified
interpretation).This temple, built between 1532 and 1555,
is based on these principles and is intended to be a place
for different people to meet, a place for people to experience
the transcendental, and a place that allows those who enter
to express themselves, to feel a sense of emancipation. From
the time of its inception, the gate of the temple was designed
and built not to have any walls.To my knowledge, it is unique
in Japanese Buddhism.4

I have a concept of a ‘gate’ that indicates lines of demar-

cation but is also open to inclusion. From this perspective,
I tried to clarify my own stance towards the deliberations
of the Award Master Jury, prompting the following thoughts.

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Place and time for living

If the central question of modernity – the quality of human
presence in the world – is still valid, then architecture
represents this inquiry in a multitude of ways, sometimes
consciously. Universal as it is, this question takes on more
specific meanings according to time and place. Here place Expanding
is understood in both senses: in physical terms – places My experience on the Master Jury has enlarged the above
where living occurs; and as a space where subjectivities, concerns. Arguing about some of them goes beyond the
tastes and consciousness meet.Time also refers to the intentions of this essay, but I shall mention just a few.
contemporary – living in the twenty-first century – and
to duration in time, the depth of historical awareness. Fragmenting
In these terms, the profession that conceives places Can the practice of architecture at the beginning of
becomes responsible for acts of civilization. the twenty-first century, through the contiguities that it
establishes, consider itself above the social fragmentation
Is it too much to claim that architecture is a reflection of the that it is generating – a fragmentation that is making living
accumulation of ten thousand years of human knowledge and together more difficult? Or does architecture consider itself
experience? Maybe not, if we consider the multitude of levels not to be bound – to be free of any social identity? If this is
at which architects willingly intervene in the contemporary the case, the only elements that count should be the
‘matrix of aesthetics’ – a matrix that tries to deal with diver- materials used and the styles chosen.
sity, heterogeneity, even a certain hybridity, while at the
same time retaining a certain harmony. Tool for a mirage
Another concern is modernization, which in my vocabulary
But the quality of our lives, which remains the fundamental is the opposite of modernity. Modernity is understood as
aspect of our presence in the world, has become in part the social acceptance that human beings have the faculty
confused because of the quality of the spaces that we are of questioning everything and anything.This faculty is the
building and inhabiting. This confusion and the problems it most emancipating factor for human beings individually as
generates are such that we are forced to say we have become well as collectively. In contrast with modernity, modern-
a society at risk. Does naming this confusion ‘Post-modern’ ization is an attempt by the state to substitute itself for
help to resolve this aspect of our human condition? society, and to impose a model of what it would like society
to become – a model borrowed from a different society with
The need of the contemporary ‘matrix of aesthetics’ for a another historicity. In the last sixty years, policies of modern-
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sense of beauty in our daily life is forcing the transcendental ization, coupled with all categories of development theory,
sense of space, manifested in the past in sacred places, to have been the major cause of acculturation. Architecture,
become part of our immanent life. Daily life requires ethics linked with urban planning (a link that unfortunately exists
and invented spaces must establish, rejuvenate and reflect only rarely) and landscaping, has been very active in this
these ethics. process of cultural amputation, whereas all three have the
means to become active engines for enculturation – for
How can we maintain flexibility in the interaction of humans generating hybrid creativity and life-enhancing experiences.
with nature and avoid alienation, while remaining open to
innovative approaches in building private spaces and Castrated myth
retaining a public sense of belonging in our shrunken but Myth, as a living factor, appropriated by social actors, could
fragmented world? How can society’s rising awareness have powerful capacities. A castrated myth is one emptied
of issues such as accessibility for the elderly, children of its vital, flexible and relevant character.Traditionalism, by
and people with disabilities be a focal point in the design extracting traditions from their historical context and trans-
of buildings when economic disparities are creating urgent forming them into ideological references with which to
issues such as homelessness – an acute problem for large discipline society, acts as a castrated myth. Traditionalism,
parts of the earth’s population? Furthermore, how can this as a fake replica, prevents the invention of traditions as the
latter issue be resolved without giving rise to the dehuman- only ways that societies can negotiate being and living
izing social conditions of a modern quasi-ghetto? And all together. Here also, architecture and urban design have
of these issues exist in a broader social context in which been instrumental.
large-scale corruption, including corruption in the field of
architecture, renders regulations rather cosmetic. Need Neophyte
we be reminded that schools inTurkey and hospitals in Iran, I entered the Award Master Jury discussions with many
destroyed over the heads of children and patients during doubts about the possibility of making any contribution.
earthquakes, were mostly recent buildings designed by Those doubts remain intact. Meanwhile, the experience
certified architects? One could add the partial collapse of has sparked new enquiries; for example, how to integrate
Terminal 2E at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris as a more issues related to architecture, urbanism and landscape
recent case. Rehabilitating an ethic of non-pretentiousness more actively into my own research and teaching practices.
and of rigour, forming a mechanism of checks and balances, Concepts such as the public sphere, public space, inter-
making it possible to create a beauty that is simple but can subjectivity and empowerment have become much more
invoke complexity, and keeping in mind a sense of our relevant. What are the possible new grounds for dialogue,
presence in the world – these are our major challenges. from my position at the margin, with architect colleagues?

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Architecture without Building

Babar Khan Mumtaz

It was a  exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art that made the
case for ArchitectureWithout Architects as an attempt ‘to break down our narrow
concepts of the art of building by introducing the unfamiliar world of non-
pedigreed architecture’. In the accompanying book, the exhibition’s curator,
Austrian architect and author Bernard Rudofsky, also explored the idea of the
anonymous architect and of ‘communal architecture – architecture produced
not by specialists but by the spontaneous and continuing activity of a whole
people with a common heritage, acting within a community of experience’.

Since then, greater awareness and understanding and a less ethnocentric

world-view changed the way we see the sorts of structure that Rudofsky
presented.Whether only qualified architects are capable of producing good
architecture is now, of course, a question not even worth asking. Indeed, over
the years, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture has been bestowed upon some
projects built without the assistance of architects.

The Award is particularly cognizant of the fact that the production of a building
or structure is rarely brought about by the architect without the support of at
least a client and a contractor.This is particularly so in the case of projects that
have received the Aga Khan Award, since they must have actually been constructed
and in use for at least a year before they are eligible for the Award. In all the
premiated projects, therefore, clients, sponsors, builders, engineers, contractors

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and craftspeople are recognized and acknowledged, along with designers.

The purpose of the Award in recognizing and rewarding excellence in architecture,

however, is also to raise overall standards in the built environment, particularly
in Islamic societies. It is in this context that it is worth considering the process
of the production of architecture. While there can be no doubt that by far
the greatest contribution is made by architects, designers and builders through
the production of buildings, there are others who make a significant contribution
to shaping, defining and developing architecture – and what is more, do so
without building.

It is possible to identify a number of such producers of ‘architecture without

building’, including educators, regulators, clients, financiers and the architect’s
peers, who together and separately operate to varying degrees in different
countries and contexts.They affect and influence architecture as much as,
and in some cases even more than, architects and designers do.They do so
by defining and directing what can and cannot be designed or built, as well
as the room for manoeuvre that architects and designers have.The fact that
some architects will always manage to break loose and eventually help to reset
the parameters does little to diminish the impact and influence of those who
fashion architecture without building. This is the more so if by architecture we
mean not just a building or even a group of buildings by an architect or group
of architects, but the output of a society, a culture or a period. For such a wide

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interpretation it is necessary to take into account not just the gems but also
the setting – and that setting is made up of buildings that owe much of their
form, indeed their very existence, to the power and influence of those who
produce architecture without building.

Regulators
Building and urban planning regulators have an obvious and immediate impact
on what can and cannot be done. Established to protect society from the greed
or ignorance of the individual, regulations also protect the individual from the
excesses or arbitrary acts of the state, and the areas of construction that are
subject to legal control are becoming ever more extensive and stringent.

The range of controls stretches from the aesthetic to the scientific – from what
a building looks like to how it is constructed and of what materials. It is not only
in areas that are of historical or aesthetic value that the appearance of buildings
is subject to control. However, the more an area is acknowledged as exceptionally
beautiful, the more such controls are accepted. Of course, that still begs the
question of definition – both of what constitutes exceptional and what may be
acceptable additions or modifications to such an environment. As such, there is
always some room for interpretation and, therefore, subjectivity. To a greater or
lesser degree, ‘aesthetic’ controls extend to all buildings, at least in urban areas,
in all countries. At their least subjective such controls may be expressed and
applied mechanically by ‘non-negotiable’ legislation; for example, limiting the
height or extent of building development. Examples of the type ‘no building
[in Washington, D.C.,] shall be higher than the Capitol’ may be found in any
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number of cities, particularly those keen to preserve their ‘culture’. Less

common are stipulations such as that by the Municipality of Amman, Jordan,
that ‘all buildings that are not built of [local] stone must be painted white’.

It was not long ago that, for most cities, there was no need to enact formal
legislation to this effect, since the colour and appearance of most buildings
was limited by what was locally available. If they were not to resort to enormous
expense, most architects and their buildings had to make do with the same
materials and, for the main part, were also limited by locally available techno-
logies and skills. The resulting architecture had an inbuilt conformity. Importing
materials, or architects for that matter, was an option available only to the very
rich and therefore very powerful, who were usually literally beyond the law.
Even if there had been aesthetic legislation, such clients could have escaped its
controls. Now, few buildings can be built using locally available materials since
even these need to be transported considerable distances in the bigger cities.
And most buildings use manufactured materials that are transported great
distances, if not imported from around the globe, with transport costs more
than offset by cheaper production costs. In these circumstances, any attempt
to control what buildings look like has to be made through formal legislation.

Over the years, most cities have come to incorporate, as a matter of course, some
aesthetic concerns in their legislation to protect society from individual excesses.
This is the case even with ‘New Towns’, which have nothing to preserve but seek

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to protect the future from the actions of the present. Precisely because there
are problems of definition and interpretation, most architects, not surprisingly,
are able to work with these regulations and even use them to good effect –
sometimes as an ally to convince a client. In any case, such legislation is only
as powerful as the society it serves, and in many societies most people overlook
legislation.The rich can afford to flout such regulations – if for no other reason
than to show that they can and to flaunt their wealth.The poor often cannot
afford to comply with regulations, even if they are aware of them, and have
so much else to worry about.

However, there are other areas of legislation that carry more weight.These
are to do with health and safety, but have a bearing on what a building looks
like, often explicitly so. Concerns about health first played an important part in
legislation controlling buildings in the post-industrial cities of Britain. Appalled
at the overcrowded tenements and afraid that the diseases spawned in the slums
could easily spread to and affect the rich, the government regulated the layout
and construction of buildings.The circulation of air was seen as the primary
weapon in the fight against disease, not just at home but also in the British
Empire.The ideal for the Englishman abroad was the bungalow, in splendid
isolation from its neighbours and in stark contrast to the higgledy-piggledy
housing of the natives. Even today, the bungalow – now renamed ‘the villa’ –
is the building of choice in South Asia, and the courtyard house, so eminently
suitable not just for the culture but also for the climate, cannot satisfy the
regulatory criteria. Not only has this had a profound effect on the appearance
of cities, especially residential areas, it has also affected lifestyles. Similarly,

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legislation regarding the size of fenestration often ignores climatic issues by
stipulating oversized windows unsuitable for hot, dry conditions and glare.

Safety concerns underpin much of the legislation relating to the size and
composition of the structure and materials of buildings, and rightly so.
Nevertheless, there are often discrepancies between the intent and the impact.
I remember sitting in the then newly built Architecture Faculty building in
Kumasi, Ghana, as Buckminster Fuller made rapid-fire calculations and
showed that it was some , times overdesigned! He cheated a bit, for he
added together all of the cautious assumptions made by the legislation, but
even so, the point he was making was valid and it is probably just as well that
building regulations err on the side of safety. On the other hand, a study funded
by the United States Agency for International Development in  showed
that out of the hundreds of building and planning regulations in Kenya, only
six had any actual impact on health or safety. In practice, of course, the
legislation ensures safety only to the extent it is applied, as the tragic
consequences of the earthquakes in Izmit,Turkey, showed.

So, since regulations have an impact on architecture, how is it possible to ensure

that this impact is positive and that regulations are respected and applied? Such
issues arise only because the framing and policing of regulations are removed
from society. Ideally, regulations should reflect people’s aspirations and respond
to their needs and experience. In the majority of countries in the developing

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world, building and planning legislation is imported wholesale, with little or

no reference to society. If anything, the framing of legislation is seen as some-
thing that belongs solely to the technocratic domain. It should not be surprising,
therefore, when ‘ordinary people’ find it incomprehensible why they should not
build over the whole of their plots or paint their houses colourfully. Indeed it
probably does not even occur to them that there is legislation that applies.

In Sri Lanka, when low-income communities were upgraded and improved,

the residents were able to frame their own regulations for those aspects that
did not affect the city or neighbouring communities.Together with facilitators
from the National Housing Development Authority, they agreed on plot sizes,
coverage, street setbacks, the provision of openings, respecting privacy, building
height and other such matters that had an immediate impact on the look and
feel of an area.This helped to produce not just a viable set of regulations, but
also a community that understood and therefore respected and enforced them.

In Turkey, where most urban construction has a speculative element, even

among lower-income housing, it has been suggested that a free service be
offered to inspect, advise and, where satisfactory, certify that a building meets
earthquake and disaster mitigation measures. Owners would be entitled to
display a plaque in confirmation, which would add a premium to the sale
price of apartments. Transforming compliance from an obligation to some-
thing desirable and providing a tangible symbol is felt to be far more effective
than the present system, under which building regulation certification is seen
as yet another bureaucratic expense.
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Devolution, participation and facilitation (including explanation) are the key

attributes for the development of building and planning legislation that is
responsive, reflective and respected.This, of course, means a better-educated
and informed bureaucracy and one that sees itself more as a facilitator than
a regulator, inspector or enforcer.

Educators
For better or for worse, to practise architecture today requires formal architec-
tural training, which has the potential for a major impact on the practice of
architecture. It is in the nature of a profession such as architecture that the
essential skill of design cannot be entirely taught but has to be developed. Many
schools of architecture have stated that they do not see their job as producing
architects, but rather as training problem-solvers.Those graduates that want
to become architects are expected to acquire the professional skills they need
as part of their work experience.

When these principles are extended to schools in developing countries and

the architectural curriculum replicated, they fail.They fail for the same reason
industrialization failed to provide development: most developing countries set
up factories but were unable to set up industries, where industry means not
just the unit of production (the factory) but the whole chain of upstream and
downstream suppliers and consumers that are needed for the transformation

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from raw commodity to finished product. Architects in these countries,

fresh out of school, jump into the deep end without an appropriate period
of apprenticeship and start operating without a support infrastructure.When
these architects constitute the bulk of the profession and take on the training
of the next generation, architecture enters a downward spiral.

Most architecture schools have a very tenuous link with practice; some go
so far as to prohibit their staff from undertaking any architectural work. Nor do
they compensate by using practising architects to provide input to the teaching.
Most courses then become endless repetitions of what the teacher once learned.
Perhaps the most glaring omission from most architectural education is any
introduction to or familiarity with the current architecture of the country
in question. Architectural history and criticism are alien concepts, separated
by space and time from current realities and therefore unable to provide any
insights into the future development of architecture.

Currently, most schools of architecture and their staff see themselves as

teaching just another academic discipline and model themselves on university
departments as far as their structure, teaching methods, admissions and exam-
ination procedures are concerned.They tend to ignore their responsibilities, not
just to the profession but also as academics; little or no research and scholarship
are built into the curriculum or incorporated into staff development.

For architectural education to provide the training and skill development

required for the production and sustenance of appropriate architecture, schools

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of architecture have to realize that their responsibilities include the development
of a profession.This will require not just more professionally able educators
but also a more professionally oriented curriculum.That in turn must be
grounded in research, particularly into current practice and issues affecting
architecture in the country in question.This shift, indeed transformation,
is unlikely to be accomplished without assistance. Particularly the schools
in the smaller countries are going to find it very difficult to recruit and retain
adequately qualified staff. Perhaps a system of regional, peripatetic staffing will
have to be considered, with schools making joint appointments of staff who can
service their needs by teaching at several schools in rotation. At the same time,
scholarship and research among architects – in particular the promotion of critical
judgement and discourse – will have to be initiated. Again, it is difficult in small
societies to avoid being seen as personally motivated or biased, and a regional
outlook may go down better in an environment unused to critical appraisal.

Architects, clients and others

Architects obviously affect and influence architecture, even when they are
not building. Indeed, it might be argued that their influence may be even greater
when they are not building! Architects have always explored alternatives and
experimented with innovative solutions through ‘projects’ that not only never
get built but may not even be intended to be built. An architect that waits for a
commission may well have a long wait, and even when there is a client, the brief
may be too restrictive to explore non-conventional ideas, especially for a young

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architect at the beginning of his or her career. Le Corbusier and Mies van
der Rohe were arguably at their most inventive when designing theoretical
projects – as, more recently, have been Archigram, Rem Koolhaas and Zaha
Hadid, to name but three – extending the frontiers of architecture and creating
a style without building.The process is facilitated by the architectural press and
by architectural historians and critics. Charles Jencks was largely instrumental
in transforming the work of architects into Postmodernism through writing
and not by building.

The Internet and the development of the virtual gallery has made it possible
for artists to display and sell their work and win commissions from clients. But
the use of this medium by architects to publish their work and broadcast their
ideas is still in its infancy, though computerization has made it easier for them
to demonstrate their ideas and put on a convincing show for their clients.The
use of three-dimensional renderings and ‘walk-throughs’ is especially valuable
for a client unused to reading plans and elevations.

The combination of an architectural press, critical analysis, ideas competitions

and architects using hypothetical projects seems to be missing in most developing
countries. As a result there is far less innovation or interpretation of what archi-
tecture could and should be in these places. In the absence of such resources
locally, young architects turn to international sources for inspiration and
indeed validation of their own work.

Unless they can showcase their ideas, architects are likely to be restricted to
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following rather than setting the style.This makes it more difficult for architects
to educate their clients as to what could be possible, and leaves many architects
complaining that the quality of their work is poor because of what their clients
want.This may be feeble, but has certainly led some clients to echo the view
of the chairman of the Water and Power Development Corporation, the largest
commissioner of civil works in Pakistan: ‘Architects are a luxury that developing
countries such as Pakistan cannot afford.’

Conclusion
More concerted action must be taken to address directly the operation and
outlook of some of the actors and agencies that influence and create architecture
without building.This would reinforce the aspirations of the Aga Khan Award
for Architecture to inspire and encourage the development of architectural
excellence in the Muslim world.

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A Breakthrough 1
The Chairman’s Award has been
Suha Özkan presented in recognition of the
lifetime achievement of a Muslim
architect on three occasions:
Awards are important honours that validate the
accomplishments of architectural professionals
and make their contributions more widely known
to the general public. Such awards may recognize
the lifelong commitment of notable architects or
recognize individual, new and exemplary works of
architecture or planning.The Aga Khan Award for
to Hassan Fathy in 1980,
Architecture has recognized three Muslims for their
outstanding lifetime achievements in architecture,1
but seeks primarily to pay tribute to projects of merit 2
that indicate directions for positive future change.

Each triennial cycle of the Award yields new

and fresh thinking for improving the environments Rifat Chadirji in 1986,
primarily, but not exclusively, of Muslims. An under-
standing of the values of plurality and coexistence
has characterized the Award and the Master Juries’ Ali Qapu, Chehel Sutun and
Hasht Behesht, Isfahan, Iran, 1980
decisions ever since the announcement of the first
cycle of the Award in . Since then, eighty-five
projects, covering a wide spectrum of architecture,
landscape design and urban improvement, have and Geoffrey Bawa in 2001.
received Awards. Each cyclical Jury identifies

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contributions in architecture that respond to the
priorities of the present time.The seven projects
Ertegün House, Bodrum,Turkey, 1980
identified by the current Master Jury make further
contributions to some of these areas, but more notably
represent international architectural standards of the
highest quality.

The collective profile of the  Aga Khan Awards

might be grouped under three headings: heritage National Museum, Doha, Qatar, 1980
and conservation, exploration and experimentation,
and large-scale innovation.Two projects exemplify
the importance of conserving historic architectural
heritage in the Muslim world: the restoration of
Al-Abbas Mosque● near the village of Asnaf,
Yemen, and the Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization
Programme.● Three of the projects place emphasis Rüstem Pa sş a Caravanserai, Edirne,
on the importance of exploration and experimen- Turkey, 1980

tation in architecture: the Gando Primary School●

in Burkina Faso, the B House● in the rural village
of Ayvacık,Turkey, and the Sandbag Shelter
Prototypes● for the provision of housing in
emergency situations. Finally, the two remaining
projects – Bibliotheca Alexandrina● in Alexandria,
Azem Palace, Damascus, Syria, 1983

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2 Egypt, and the Petronas Towers● in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – are large-
scale projects characterized by innovative technological advances and striking
architectural symbolism.

Heritage and conservation

The conservation and protection of the extraordinary architectural heritage
Tomb of Shah Rukn-i-’Alam, of Muslim societies have been vivid concerns for all of the successive Award
Multan, Pakistan, 1983
Master Juries. During recent cycles, emphasis has been placed on those projects
that not only show the highest standards of international conservation, but that
also ensure the continuing use and vibrancy of examples of architectural legacy
as important components of contemporary life.2

In the current cycle, the restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque● brings a new

Al-Aqsa Mosque, al-Haram
dimension of accomplishment to the field of conservation. Although work
al-Sharif, Jerusalem, 1986 concentrated on one small but highly significant and symbolic edifice, dramatic-
ally sited in the rugged mountains of the Yemeni landscape, the project permitted
further training of already highly skilled Yemeni craftsmen, while reinforcing the
social cohesion of the communities residing near the mosque.The work was
undertaken with meticulous care and dedicated effort and conviction.The
painstaking perseverance of the restorers was at times adversely affected by
political turmoil and national unease during the ten-year period in which the
Historic Sites Development, restoration was undertaken. However, these unfavourable conditions did not
Istanbul,Turkey, 1986
daunt the restorers or any of the many contributors to the project. As a result
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of over a decade of effort, the jewel-like monument has once again regained its
place as one of the most important examples of world architectural heritage.

A key aspect of this project was its strict observance of international standards
of restoration. As much original material as possible was maintained and
Great Omari Mosque, Sidon,
carefully restored; in places where new elements were required, special care
Lebanon, 1989 was given to their craftsmanship and to identifying them clearly as non-original.
Research and training were major components of the endeavour, based on a
conviction that the efforts invested in this singular building could be followed
in other buildings throughout Yemen and the region.

The protection and conservation of cities throughout the Muslim world have
also drawn the attention of the Award Master Juries, beginning with the village
of Sidi Bou Saïd in Tunisia, which received an Award in , and leading to
the recognition of the Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization Programme,●
which is being honoured during the present cycle.3

The complexity of urban conservation varies from one culture to another and
also differs greatly in terms of building technology and the techniques required
for restoration.The economic and social aspects of conservation require
particularly creative solutions for financing and to foster cultural relativity.

The Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization Programme● is notable for being

a genuinely integrated programme. It includes not only housing but also

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3 community buildings and the enhancement of urban

life.Thus a school, a nursery, a meeting facility,
a library and a restaurant have all been provided,
along with housing, which has been restored for the
comfort and well-being of more than ninety families.
The restoration techniques employed and the
degree to which recuperation of the original
Conservation of Sidi Bou Saïd,
Tunis,Tunisia, 1980
buildings has been accomplished are based on the
social and economic realities that prevail in this
part of Jerusalem. It is an important objective and
Kairouan Conservation Programme,
Tunisia, 1992 achievement of the programme that the houses
and community facilities have been restored to
accommodate the urgent and immediate needs of
the resident families, rather than to gentrify the area
Darb Qirmiz Quarter, Cairo, for higher-income groups.
Egypt, 1983

The Swiss-based Welfare Association, an inter-

Conservation of Old Sana’a, national non-governmental organization, centrally
Yemen, 1995
finances the revitalization. By receiving funds from
a central source, the restorers are able to maintain
the highest quality of conservation and restoration
– stringent international standards outlined by the
Conservation of Mostar OldTown,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1986
Venice Charter are consistently observed throughout.

The Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization

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Reconstruction of Hafsia Quarter II,
Tunis,Tunisia, 1995 Programme● also features strong components
for research, publications, teaching and training. It
thus aims not only to undertake physical restoration,
but also to inform the wider public.While many con-
Rehabilitation of Asilah, servation efforts elsewhere yield important but highly
Morocco, 1989 technical and academic literature, the generation and
wide dissemination of easily accessible information
Restoration of Bukhara Old City, is at the heart of the Jerusalem project.This permits
Uzbekistan, 1995
residents to contribute to and understand the overall
process and long-term objectives, while allowing
funders, donors and others interested in the work
to follow closely the progress of the project, including
the expenditure of funds.The Jerusalem revitalization
project● will require the work of many future
generations; today, it continues to make exemplary
Rehabilitation of Hebron OldTown,
1998 progress under stringent and difficult circumstances.

Exploration and experimentation

The Award Master Juries have always encouraged
the use of appropriate technologies, combined with
local materials. During the very first Award cycle, in
New Life for Old Structures in , the legacy of the late Hassan Fathy (–)
various locations, Iran, 2001

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was singled out for the first Chairman’s Award. His example of helping 4

people to build for themselves, using local materials and traditional techniques,
continues to be of great importance and influence the world over.The creativity
of architects in developing alternative technologies and expressions of built form
has also been a strong feature in every cycle of the Aga Khan Award.4 Most
examples have represented the confirmed application of new procedures and
new materials, but for this cycle of the Award, the Master Jury has selected a
Agricultural Training Centre,
powerful prototype that has not yet been fully developed or applied. Nianing, Senegal, 1980

The Sandbag Shelter Prototypes● employ raw earth or sand – readily and
cheaply avail-able nearly everywhere – as the principal construction material.
Earth or sand is compacted manually into plastic or jute bags, which are stacked
cylindrically to create parabolic domed spaces; strands of barbed wire are laid
between each layer to hold them in place.The rooms can be modified and
expanded according to the needs or means of the users to create additional Sidi el-Aloui Primary School,Tunis,
space or auxiliary service areas. Initial results have shown that the sustainability Tunisia, 1989

of the Sandbag Shelter is more promising than nearly all other techniques.

Packing loose granular material within tensile envelopes is a well-known practice

in architecture and engineering, used especially in road construction to contain
gravel and stones as protective barriers against landslides. However, the proto-
type Sandbag Shelter is perhaps the first demonstration of the use of sand or
Stone Building System,
earth without any binding element, such as cement, and the technology provides Dar’a Province, Syria, 1992
simple but effective resistance against lateral forces, including those resulting
from earthquakes.The prototype has been tested in several parts of the world
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as temporary housing for victims of natural disasters and for refugees.The

technique requires no skilled labour and only minimal materials from outside
sources. As such, the Sandbag Shelter offers great possibilities for future use.

The Gando Primary School● in Burkina Faso, addresses the specific

conditions of the rural village in which it is located, but contains strong
potential for replication elsewhere due to the intelligence and innovation of
its architecture. Diébédo Francis Kéré, the son of the village chief, studied
architecture in Germany, where he learned the skills and techniques of his
profession. He was the first member of his village to undertake higher education
abroad. Aware of, and grateful for, the benefits of this opportunity, he became
convinced that education is essential to human development, and sought to
combine this conviction with the architectural talents he had acquired in order
to create a new school for the children of his village. He was guided by the dual
faith that architecture can provide a nurturing environment and that education
can be enhanced by the architectural quality of schools.

The components of Kéré’s project are simple, functional and driven by reality,
and they demonstrate good design. He conceived the architecture of the school
in three layers.The lowest level is a platform paved with hexagonal bricks; this
plinth consolidates the foundation and serves to protect the building from dust,
sand and water.The top level is a corrugated steel cover, placed over rudimentary
triangular trusses in steel that form a simple space frame.The space between

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the corrugated shield and the ceiling of the building below is left open to permit
continuous circulation of air and to protect against radiant heat.Three large class-
rooms are located between the protective layers of the roof and base, interspersed
with large, covered, open areas used both for recreation and teaching.The main
structure comprises load-bearing walls made from locally produced compressed-
earth bricks; concrete is used only for the beams that support the ceilings.

Kéré showed imagination and determination in obtaining financing for the

project, as well.With a group of friends, he set up a fund-raising organization
in Germany and also secured the assistance of a government company in
Burkina Faso to provide training in the manufacture of compressed, stabilized
earth bricks. All of the community members of the village of Gando – young 5

and old, male and female – were motivated to contribute in any manner they
could, and they participated in the entire construction process.The Gando
Primary School● represents a breakthrough, applying admirable design skills
to provide an elegant building made of local materials and to bring a sense of
achievement and hope to an entire village.

Halawa House, Agamy, Egypt, 1980

Throughout architectural history, the design and construction of private
residences have provided architects with opportunities and inspiration for
innovation and experiment. In almost every cycle of the Award, the Jury
selections have included private houses that demonstrate a high degree of
architectural achievement – often the result of experimentation with intellectual
ideas and technological advances nurtured by the dreams and ideals of architects.5

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Nail Çakırhan Residence,
For the  Award Cycle, a minimalist summer residence in Ayvacık, a rural Akyaka Village,Turkey, 1983
Turkish village set in a sloping Aegean landscape, has been selected to receive
an Award.The B House,● commissioned by two brothers, consists of two
zones.The first, narrower zone faces a hillside and encompasses all of the
house’s service spaces.The second zone is fronted by open terraces giving
views onto the surrounding landscape and sea.The main living space is located
on a lower level, while the upper level has two bedrooms.To emphasize the
simplicity – perhaps austerity – of the design, the staircase connecting the two Ramses Wissa Wassef Arts Centre,
Giza, Egypt, 1983
levels is placed on the exterior of the house, but also used to create additional
outdoor spaces that are an integral part of the design.The house features an
extraordinary combination of indoor and outdoor spaces and a keen under-
standing of climate and environmental control through such effective but simple
elements as reed-panel sunscreens.The project is an inspiring example of the
minimalist design ideology of the architect, Han Tümertekin, working closely
with the clients, two cosmopolitan and sophisticated brothers who appreciate
Gürel Family Summer Residence,
the value of architectural experimentation. Çanakkale,Turkey, 1989

In the discouraging context of opulence and abuse of building materials that

characterizes so many private residences in contemporary societies, this house
was achieved at a medium cost and affirms the inherent beauty of the surfaces
and textures of exposed concrete, untreated stone and simple natural materials.
It remains distant from, and yet at the same time perfectly integrated into,
the village of which it forms a part. Salinger Residence, Selangor,
Malaysia, 1998

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Large-scale innovation 6

The iconography of large-scale buildings, whether government, public or

corporate structures, elicits an opinion, or a fleeting impression at least, from
nearly everyone. Over time, many such buildings become symbols in the popular
imagination and represent the aspirations of entire communities and even
nations.These large facilities are also the workspaces of thousands of people
who are directly affected by the quality of architecture and the working conditions
Intercontinental Hotel and
the buildings provide. Large-scale buildings have featured in each Award cycle.6 Conference Centre, Mecca,
Fine works by some of the world’s greatest architects are included in this group Saudi Arabia, 1980
and, in the  Award Cycle, two additional large-scale edifices are celebrated.

The ancient Library of Alexandria was the world’s most important centre
of learning. Destroyed by fire, the original library – even its ruins – has now
disappeared, though its legend remains vivid in the collective memory. A noble
initiative of the Egyptian government to revive the institution garnered worldwide
support, and the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina● is one of the most important Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, 1989
buildings of recent decades.The project was the result of an international
competition and the completed building is the collaborative product of
a multinational team.

In spite of its massive volume, the eleven-storey building fits well into the city
of Alexandria. Inside, the memorable main reading room is divided by steps
and terraces into distinct reading areas and shelf spaces, so that it cascades National Assembly Building,
down towards the Mediterranean Sea, creating an exhilarating and dramatic Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka,
Bangladesh, 1989
spatial experience. A stone-clad exterior wall encircles the building and brings
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unity to the large complex.The stone facing is carved with characters drawn
from all the alphabets of the world, further enhancing the symbolism of this
unique centre of learning.

The transverse cross-section of the building can be seen as a terraced wedge

that ascends from levels devoted to fields of basic knowledge to the topmost
Entrepreneurship Development
level, featuring the most recent developments of the electronic era. An exhibition Institute of India, Ahmedabad,
gallery and auxiliary spaces are located beneath the wedge.The modular roof India, 1992

panelling has a well-proportioned amount of glazing that draws a comfortable

amount of northern light into the reading areas from above. Bibliotheca
Alexandrina● symbolizes many of the world’s most treasured values of learning
and history and, at the same time, is a dramatic confirmation of the potential
of today’s architecture.

Alhambra Arts Council, Lahore,

The other large-scale facility awarded this cycle is a high-rise, multi-use
Pakistan, 1998
centre in Kuala Lumpur, the Petronas Towers.● The towers are the second
tallest buildings in the world, and represent one of many significant techno-
logical advances recognized by the Award since its inception in .7 The
Petronas Towers taper at the top, making efficient use of the lower floors and
foundations.While it is common practice to use steel for the main structure
of high-rise buildings, the Petronas Towers were built with high-performance
reinforced concrete, which is more resistant to fire and other hazards.The forms Vidhan Bhavan, Bhopal, India, 1998
of the floor plans are derived from a polygonal geometry with sixteen angles and

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7 lobes, and the circular and triangular projections

offer many possibilities for furnishing, while also
providing daylight for the interior workspaces.
Cross-beams spanning each floor permit a maximum
amount of undivided floor space.The innovative
structural system is pioneering, and the construction
was entirely Malaysian.
WaterTowers, Kuwait City,
Kuwait, 1980
Contemporary Malaysia is a rich fabric of many
different cultures with a predominantly Muslim
population.The country is an exemplary model 8
of pluralism, with a commitment to respecting
and enhancing the beliefs and mores of all its
citizens, while placing an emphasis on modernity
HajjTerminal, King Abdul Aziz and progress.This unique context permits projects
International Airport, such as the Petronas Towers to flourish.
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 1983

Kampung Improvement Programme,

Jakarta, Indonesia, 1980
Lacunae
One of the hallmarks of the Award is the acknow-
ledgement that no group of winning projects can
fully address the many issues, themes and needs
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris,
that are current in contemporary Islamic societies.
France, 1989 It is the cumulative breadth of the premiated projects
that constitutes the Award’s message and legacy.

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Pondok Pesantren Pabelan,
Central Java, Indonesia, 1980
In the current cycle, examples of important urban
interventions aimed at improving the architectural
and environmental conditions of existing de facto
or informal communities have not come forward,
Menara Mesiniaga, Kuala Lumpur, as they have in the past.8 Neither do the winning
Malaysia, 1995
projects of this cycle encompass solutions for the
housing crisis growing in the Islamic world, though Ismaïliyya Development Projects,
Ismaïliyya, Egypt, 1986
such solutions have previously been prominent.9
Former cycles have also included housing as a
key feature of some excellent examples of rural
development, including the innovative Grameen
Tuwaiq Palace, Riyadh,
Bank programme for rural housing in Bangladesh,
Saudi Arabia, 1998 which has provided over , safe dwellings
for rural families and is probably the Award’s most
Kampung Kebalen Improvement,
important contribution in the field of housing.10 Surabaya, Indonesia, 1986

Every year, tens of thousands of mosques are built,

but sadly very few demonstrate any architectural
excellence or quality. No contemporary mosques
or religious facilities are included in the winning
projects this cycle, although the Old City of Jerusalem
Revitalization Programme● and Al-Abbas Mosque● East Wahdat Upgrading Programme,
Amman, Jordan, 1992

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9 11

Kampung Kali Cho-de, Yogyakarta,

Indonesia, 1992 Courtyard Houses, Agadir, Great Mosque of Niono, Mali, 1983
Morocco, 1980

Khuda-ki-Basti Incremental Sherefudin’s White Mosque, Visoko,

Development Scheme, Hyderabad, Hafsia Quarter,Tunis,Tunisia, 1983 Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1983
Pakistan, 1995

10

Shushtar NewTown, Shushtar, Bhong Mosque, Rahim-Yar Khan,

Slum Networking of Indore City, Iran, 1986 Pakistan, 1986
India, 1998
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Grameen Bank Housing Programme,

various locations, Bangladesh, 1989

Dar Lamane Housing Community,

Casablanca, Morocco, 1986

Aït Iktel, Abadou, Morocco, 2001

Aranya Community Housing,

Indore, India, 1995

Barefoot Architects,Tilonia,
India, 2001

Kahere Eila Poultry Farming School,

Koliagbe, Guinea, 2001

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are fine examples of the restoration of historic

mosques. Places of worship demand a sense of
spirituality, with qualities of light and space that
express their special nature. Some of these qualities
are represented in the mosques that have been
selected to receive Aga Khan Awards in the past,
Saïd Naum Mosque, Jakarta, which display a wide spectrum of architectural
Indonesia, 1986
expression, from traditional to popular, from
regionalist to contemporary.11

The Award has also made efforts to seek out

excellent architecture in health facilities, but to
date the Master Juries have not identified any
fully functioning hospitals in dense urban centres.
Yaama Mosque,Tahoua, Niger, 1986
Hospitals are among the most technically challenging
and complex building types, but this should not
preclude innovative architectural solutions in their
design.While clinics and a small hospital figure
among the projects premiated in past Award cycles,12
larger hospitals and healthcare facilities still require
Corniche Mosque, Jeddah, attention from the Award nominators in order to
Saudi Arabia, 1989 highlight the importance of this specialized domain.

Industrial facilities are absent from the winning

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projects this cycle once again, though the Award
Steering Committee has drawn attention to this
12
and other fields through correspondence with over
a thousand nominators who suggest the building
Great Mosque of Riyadh and
projects to be considered by the Master Jury. Since
Redevelopment of the Old City
Centre, Saudi Arabia, 1995 , when the Aga Khan founded the Award,
successive Steering Committees have continued
their search for industrial facilities that demonstrate
architectural excellence.To date, however, these
Medical Centre, Mopti, Mali, 1980
efforts have not succeeded, and no industrial project
has ever been identified to receive an Award. Still,
the quality of work environments, where most of
Mosque of the Grand National us spend the greatest portion of our lives, deserves
Assembly, Ankara,Turkey, 1995
more attention and better examples to guide the
industrialists, investors and decision-makers who
constitute the clients.Two projects selected to Kaedi Regional Hospital, Kaedi,
receive Awards this cycle – the Petronas Towers● Mauritania, 1995
and Bibliotheca Alexandrina● – do, however,
show good signs for the provision of excellent
workspaces in contemporary facilities.

Perhaps the most interesting surprise of the Ninth

Cycle of the Award is the absence of projects that
represent ‘regionalist’ architecture. In the past, the Lepers Hospital, ChopdaTaluka,
India, 1998

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selections of Award Juries have always included 13

examples of regionalism. Among many distinguished

contributors, the most noteworthy proponents of
this tradition in architecture are Alvar Aaalto of
Finland, Luis Barragán of Mexico and Alvaro Siza
of Portugal, to name only three. Regionalism in
architecture searches for deep roots into history, Social Security Complex, Istanbul,
Mughal Sheraton Hotel, Agra, Turkey, 1986
professes the relevance of cultural identity, and is India, 1980
particularly sensitive to climatic conditions. Even
though it can sometimes be characterized by an
excessive use of derivative vernacular or traditional
forms and expressions, regionalism is in many
respects the search for authentic modern expressions
that are relevant to context. Different architects give
Al-Kindi Plaza, Riyadh,
different interpretations to context, some defining Turkish Historical Society, Ankara, Saudi Arabia, 1989
it by culture, others by climate, and still others by Turkey, 1980

architectural expression. Many of these approaches

have been recognized by the Award in influential
projects by Charles Correa and Balkrishna Doshi
of India; Nayyar Ali Dada of Pakistan; Rasem Badran
and Jafar Tukan from Jordan; Ali Shuaibi and Basem
Shihabi from Saudi Arabia; Sedad Eldem,Turgut Demir Holiday Village, Bodrum,
Résidence Andalous, Sousse, Turkey, 1992
Cansever, Cengiz Bektaş and Sedat Gürel from Tunisia, 1983
Turkey; Serge Santelli from France; and Jimmy
C.S. Lim and Kerry Hill from Malaysia.13
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Finally, another conspicuous absence this cycle is

the category of open spaces. It is a common concern
that environmental degradation and damage is taking
Panafrican Institute for
place throughout Muslim societies, and this is a Tanjong Jara Beach Hotel and Development, Ouagadougou,
worry for everyone throughout the world. Parks, Rantau Abang Visitors’ Centre, Burkina Faso, 1992
KualaTerengganu, Malaysia, 1983
plazas, playgrounds and pedestrian areas are –
unlike buildings – not for limited users, but are
for the benefit of all. In the past, Award Juries
have recognized many extraordinary and exemplary
accomplishments in urban contexts, and most have
become models of quality for others to follow. 14
Alliance Franco-Sénégalaise,
Kaolack, Senegal, 1995
Let us hope that future cycles of the Award will
discover exemplary projects to address these and
other areas of concern.

Datai Hotel, Pulau Langkawi,

Malaysia, 2001

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14

Citra Niaga Urban Development,

Samarinda, East Kalimantan,
Indonesia, 1989

Hayy Assafarat Landscaping,

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1989

Cultural Park for Children, Cairo,

Egypt, 1992

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Palace Parks Programme, Istanbul,
Turkey, 1992
Landscaping Integration
of the Soekarno-Hatta Airport,
Nubian Museum, Aswan, Egypt, 2001 Cengkareng, Indonesia, 1995

Olbia Social Centre, Akdeniz Reforestation Programme of

Üniversitesi, Antalya,Turkey, 2001 the Middle EastTechnical University,
Ankara,Turkey, 1995

SOS Children’s Village, Aqaba,

Jordan, 2001 Bagh-e-Ferdowsi,Tehran, Iran, 2001

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2004 Award Steering Committee Charles Correa is an Indian Abdou Filali-Ansary is a Moroccan Jacques Herzog is a Swiss
architect, planner, activist and social scientist and Director of the architect and partner in the firm
theoretician who studied archi- Institute for the Study of Muslim Herzog & de Meuron, recipients of
His Highness The Aga Khan, tecture at the Massachusetts Civilizations, Aga Khan University, the 2001 Pritzker Architecture Prize.
Chairman. Institute ofTechnology (MIT), London. Before he took up this post Trained in architecture at the Swiss
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he was Director of the King Abdul- Federal Institute ofTechnology
the University of Michigan, Ann Aziz Al Saud Foundation for Islamic (ETH) in Zürich, Mr Herzog opened
Akram Abu Hamdan is a Arbor. He has taught and lectured Studies and Human Sciences in his private practice with Pierre de
Jordanian architect, trained at the at many universities, both in India Casablanca. Dr Filali-Ansary Meuron in Basle in 1978. Current
Architectural Association School and abroad, including MIT, Harvard, obtained a doctorate in philosophy and recent projects include the New
of Architecture in London. Mr Abu the University of London, and from the University of Dijon in de Young Museum in San Francisco
Hamdan directed an architectural Cambridge University, where he 1970 on the topic of ‘The Notion (2005), the Prada Flagship Store in
research unit at Jordan’s Royal was Nehru Professor. Mr Correa of Intuition in the Philosophy of Tokyo (2003), the Laban Dance
Scientific Society from 1979 to 1982, is known for the wide range of his Spinoza and Bergson’. He has Centre in London (2003), the New
and has been a lecturer and design architectural projects in India and taught philosophy at the University Link Quay in Santa Cruz deTenerife
tutor at the University of Jordan for his work on urbanization and of Rabat and served as Secretary (2005), the Forum 2004 Building and
School of Architecture. In private low-cost shelter in theThird World, General of the University of Plaza in Barcelona (2004), and the
practice in Amman, Mr Abu which he articulated in his 1985 Mohamed V in Rabat. Since 1994 Beijing National Stadium (2008).
Hamdan’s work has focused on publication, The New Landscape. he has been the editor of Prologues, Following on the success of the
architectural themes that support His architectural designs have been a scholarly journal devoted to St Jakob Park Stadium in Basle,
vibrant urban spaces. He has been internationally acclaimed and he has literature and ideas of interest to Herzog & de Meuron are planning
a council member of the Greater received many awards including the the Maghrib. Dr Filali-Ansary has a new soccer stadium for Munich,
Amman Municipality and coordin- Royal Institute of British Architects published numerous articles on to be inaugurated with the 2006
ator for a documentation study of Gold Medal (1984), the Indian contemporary Islamic thought, World Championships.The projects
the old city of Jerusalem conducted Institute of Architects Gold Medal including ‘The Challenge of and completed work of Herzog & de
jointly by Harvard University and (1987), the International Union Secularization’ (The Journal of Meuron are widely exhibited and
the Royal Scientific Society of of Architects Gold Medal (1990), Democracy, Washington, D.C., published and featured in numerous
Jordan. Mr Abu Hamdan served and the Praemium Imperiale for 1996) and ‘Islam and Secularization’ monographs and catalogues. Mr
as Commissioner General and Architecture from the Japan Art (Revista de Occident, Madrid, 1997). Herzog is a visiting professor at
Chairman of the Jordan National Association (1994). Professor His monograph entitled Is Islam Harvard Design School and co-
Committee for Expo 2000 in Hanover, Correa was a member of the 1980, Hostile to Secularism? was founder of the ETH Studio Basel,
as well as leading the design team 1983, 1986 and 2001 Award Steering published in 1996. Dr Filali-Ansary Institute for the Contemporary City.
of the Jordan Pavilion at the Expo, Committees, and of the 1989 Award was a member of the 2001 Award
for which he was awarded the Master Jury. He was presented an Master Jury.
Medal of Independence by HM Aga Khan Award for Architecture
King Abdullah II. He is currently during the 1998 cycle as the architect
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Director General of the National of Vidhan Bhavan in Bhopal, India.

Resources Investment and
Development Corporation,
with responsibility for major urban
regeneration projects in the cities
of Amman, Zarqa and Aqaba. He is
also Chairman of the Executive
Committee for the Martyrs Memorial
Public Park Project in Amman, and
Commisioner General for Jordan for
the Expo 2005 World Exposition to be
held in Aichi, Japan. Mr Abu Hamdan
served as aTechnical Reviewer
during the 2001 Award Cycle.

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Glenn Lowry is an art historian Mohsen Mostafavi is an Iranian Babar Khan Mumtaz is a reader Peter G. Rowe is the Raymond
from the United States and Director architect and Dean of the College in Housing Studies at the University Garbe Professor of Architecture
of the Museum of Modern Art of Architecture, Art and Planning at of London and director of the and Urban Design at Harvard
(MoMA) in New York City. Among Cornell University in New York state. Development Planning Unit at University, and Education
the major exhibitions that have taken Mr Mostafavi received a diploma in the Bartlett School of the Built Programme Director of the Aga
place during Mr Lowry’s tenure at architecture from the Architectural Environment, London. Originally KhanTrust for Culture. He served
MoMA are ‘Matisse.Picasso’ (2003), Association in London in 1976 and from Pakistan, Mr Mumtaz is a as Dean of the Graduate School
‘Mies in Berlin’ (2001), ‘Andreas undertook research on Counter- specialist in urban planning, housing of Design at Harvard from 1992 to
Gursky’ (2001), ‘Workspheres’ Reformation urban history at the and development and is committed 2004. Prior to joining the Harvard
(2001), ‘Jackson Pollock’ (1998–99), University of Essex and at Cambridge to the improvement of living con- faculty in 1985, Professor Rowe
‘Pierre Bonnard’ (1998), ‘Aleksandr University. From 1995 to 2004 he was ditions in underprivileged societies. was Director of the School of
Rodchenko’ (1998), ‘Chuck Close’ Chairman of the Architectural He has undertaken projects and Architecture at Rice University,
(1998), ‘Jasper Johns’ (1996–97), Association School of Architecture, led research throughout the world, Houston, and a senior member
‘Picasso and Portraiture’ (1996) and before that he was Director including the Indian subcontinent, of several research organizations,
and ‘Piet Mondrian’ (1995). A of the Master of Architecture 1 Central Asia, the Arab states, West including the Rice Center and the
noted scholar of Islamic arts and Program at the Graduate School Africa and the Pacific rim. He has Southwest Center for Urban
architecture, Mr Lowry was Director of Design, Harvard University. Mr also served as a consultant to a Research, both in Houston. He is
of the Art Gallery of Ontario from Mostafavi has also taught at the large number of national govern- the author of numerous articles,
1990 to 1995. From 1984 to 1990 he University of Pennsylvania, ments, international agencies and principally concerned with matters
was Curator of Near Eastern Art at Cambridge University and Frankfurt non-governmental organizations. of cultural interpretation and design
the Smithsonian Institution’s Arthur Academy of Fine Arts. His research Equally influential as a teacher, he in both architecture and urban
M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery has been published in many journals, has pioneered and contributed to design, as well as the relationship
of Art, where he organized, among including The Architectural Review, the development of curricula for of urban form to issues of economic
other exhibitions, ‘Timur and the AA Files, Arquitectura, Bauwelt, studies in development planning, development, housing provision and
Princely Vision: Persian Art and Casabella, Centre and Daidalos. urban housing, urban design in resource conservation. Professor
Culture in the Fifteenth Century’ He is co-author of Architecture developing societies, and disaster Rowe is also the author of many
(1989) and ‘A Jeweler’s Eye: Islamic and Continuity (with Dalibor Vesely, management and preparedness, books, including Modernity and
Arts of the Book From the Vever 1983), Delayed Space (with Homa all with a focus on field experience Housing (1993), Civic Realism (1997),
Collection’ (1988). Mr Lowry’s Fardjadi, 1994) and On Weathering: for students to complement their Projecting Beirut (1998), L’Asia e il
many honours include an honorary The Life of Buildings in Time (with academic studies. His writings on Moderno (1999), Architectural
doctorate of fine arts from the David Leatherbarrow, 1993), which these topics are widely published, Encounters with Essence and Form in
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine received the American Institute including Meeting Housing Demand: Modern China (2002), and Shanghai:
Arts (2000), the Chevalier d’Ordre of Architects Commendation Prize A Model for Establishing Affordability Making the Modern Metropolis (2004).
de Merite (2001) and Officier de for writing on architectural theory. Parameters for Housing (1995) and
l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres (2004) Mr Mostafavi’s recent publications The Housing Question, and Other
from the French government, include: Approximations (2002) and Answers (with R. Ali, 1989). He is a

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and the Smithsonian Institution Surface Architecture (2002). frequent speaker at international
Scholarly Studies Award (1990). meetings and scholarly conferences.

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2004 Award Master Jury Rahul Mehrotra is an Indian architect and urban
designer trained at the School of Architecture,
Ghada Amer is an Egyptian artist who lives Ahmedabad, and the Graduate School of Design
and works in New York City. She trained at the at Harvard University. He has been in private
École des Beaux-Arts in Nice, the School of the practice since 1990 and works on architecture,
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Institut urban design and conservation projects. He
des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques in Paris. has built extensively in India and, beside several
Ms Amer’s works include embroidered canvases, single family houses, his projects include the
textile installations and sculptures, frequently Laxmi Machine Works Corporate Office in
incorporating imagery and texts reflecting on Coimbatore (1998), an Extension to the Prince
childhood, dreams, daily life, beauty, popular ofWales Museum in Bombay (1995), the Institute
culture and sexuality. Her work is a synthesis for Rural Development inTulzapur (2004), and
of both Western and Eastern traditions and the restoration of the Chowmahalla Palace in
questions the role of women in contemporary Hyderabad (phase 1 completed November 2004).
societies.The pieces also examine gender-based He is currently developing (with theTaj Mahal
stereotypes, as well as dispelling preconceived Conservation Collaborative) a master plan for
ideas and redefining the distinction between high the conservation of theTaj Mahal and its
and low forms of art, art and handicraft, East and surroundings. Professor Mehrotra is Executive
West, male and female. Ms Amer’s work has been Director of the Urban Design Research Institute,
presented in numerous solo shows and group which promotes awareness and research on the
exhibitions at museums and galleries throughout city of Bombay. He has also written several books
the United States, Europe and the Muslim world. on Bombay, including Bombay: the Cities Within
(2001), and has lectured extensively on urban
Hanif Kara is a London-based structural design, conservation and architecture in India.
engineer originally from Uganda. Co-founder His most recent book is The Architecture of the
of the firm Adams KaraTaylor – a progressive, 20th Century in the South Asian Region (1999). He
design-led structural and civil engineering also serves on several government committees
consultancy in London – Mr Kara is particularly that are responsible for historic preservation
interested in innovative form, the use of new and the conservation as well as creation of public
materials, prefabrication, sustainable con- spaces in Bombay. Rahul Mehrotra teaches at the
struction, and complex form-finding and analysis University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he is an
methods. He has collaborated on numerous associate professor.
important and award-winning projects, such
as Peckham Library in London (2000) (winner of Farshid Moussavi is an architect of Iranian
the Stirling Prize), and has worked with leading origin, trained at the Graduate School of Design
architects and designers throughout the world, at Harvard University, University College London,
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including Alsop Architects, Foreign Office the Bartlett School of Architecture, London, and
Architects, Foster and Partners, Rafael Viñoly, Dundee University. Before establishing Foreign
and Zaha Hadid Architects. Mr Kara is a co- Office Architects (FOA) with Alejandro Zaera
tutor for a design unit at the Architectural Polo in London in 1992, she worked with the
Association in London and has been visiting Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Genoa
tutor at universities in Vienna and Stockholm. and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture
He is also an examiner for the Institution of in Rotterdam. Professor Moussavi taught at the
Structural Engineers and a member of the Architectural Association in London from 1993
Design Review Panel at the Commission for to 2000 and has been visiting professor at the
Architecture in the Built Environment (CABE), University of California at Los Angeles, Columbia
which monitors the quality of design throughout University in New York, Princeton University, the
the United Kingdom. Berlage Institute in Amsterdam, and the Hoger
Architecture Institute in Belgium. She is currently
teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.
FOA’s built projects include a Passenger Cruise
Terminal in Yokohama, Japan (2002) (awarded
the RIBA Worldwide Award in 2004), a new park
with outdoor auditoria in Barcelona (begun in
2004), the Bluemoon Hotel in Groningen, the
Netherlands (2001), and a police headquarters
in La Villajoyosa, Spain (2001). In the United
Kingdom the practice is developing a master
plan for the Lower Lee Valley in London, the
2012 London Olympics proposal, and a new
Music Centre for the BBC, also in London. In
2002 FOA was one of the architectural practices
shortlisted for the design of the new WorldTrade
Center in New York. In the same year the practice
represented Britain at the Eighth Venice Archi-
tecture Biennale, and a retrospective show of
their work was mounted during 2003 at the
Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.

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Modjtaba Sadria is an Iranian-born philosopher Elías Torres Tur is a Spanish architect and Billie Tsien is an American architect and
and Professor at the Graduate School and Faculty partner in the firm Martínez Lapeña-Torres artist trained in fine arts at Yale University and
of Policy Issues at Chuo University inTokyo. Arquitectos.Trained in architecture at the Escola in architecture at the University of California at
Professor Sadria holds doctorate degrees in Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona Los Angeles. She has worked withTod Williams
philosophy from the University of Paris and in (ETSAB), MrTorres opened his private office since 1977 and they have been in partnership
international relations from the University of with José Antonio Martínez Lapeña in Barcelona since 1986. She has taught at the Parsons School
Quebec at Montreal, and master’s degrees in in 1968. Among their best-known projects are the of Design in New York, Yale University, Harvard
literature, history and philosophy from the Vila Olímpica Housing Complex in Barcelona University’s Graduate School of Design, and the
University of Paris. Professor Sadria is a (1994), the La Granja Escalator inToledo (2001), University ofTexas at Austin. Completed works
specialist in cross-cultural relations and East the restoration of the Ronda Promenade in the byTod Williams BillieTsien Architects include
Asian studies. He lectures widely, including City Walls at Palma de Mallorca (1990), the the American Museum of Folk Art in New York
recent presentations on ‘A Complex World and restoration of Antonio Gaudí’s Park Güell in City (2001), the Student Arts Centre at Johns
Many Understandings’ (Kobe, Japan, 2002), ‘The Barcelona (1993), and the Forum 2004 Esplanade Hopkins University in Baltimore (2001), Feinberg
Possibility of Dialogue After 9.11’ (Tokyo, 2001), and Photovoltaic Power Plant in Barcelona (1994), Hall at Princeton University (1986), a 525-person
‘A Perspective of Iranian Foreign Policy:Triangle as well as several works in Japan including the dormitory and dining facility at the University of
Relations between Khatami, Nation and Society’ Kumamoto Museum Annex (1994).The projects Virginia, Charlottesville (1994), a major addition
(Tokyo, 2000), ‘Building Bridges between the and completed works of Martínez Lapeña-Torres to the Phoenix Art Museum (1996), the Natatorium
United States and Iran’ (Washington, D.C., 2002), Arquitectos are widely exhibited and published at the Cranbrook School in Michigan (2000), and
and ‘Preserving Cultural Integrity and Promoting in numerous monographs and catalogues and the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, California
Dialogue among Civilizations’ (Tokyo, 1999). have received many architectural awards. Mr (1996). MsTsien has a particular interest in
Professor Sadria is a member of the board of Torres has been a visiting professor at Harvard work that bridges art and architecture. She is
directors of the Institute of Policy and Culture, University and is currently a doctorate professor an advisor for the Wexner Prize at Ohio State
Tokyo, and from 1999 to 2001 he served as Deputy at ETSAB. University, and serves on the boards of the Public
Director for Research at the International Center Art Fund and the Architectural League, both in
for Dialogue Among Civilizations inTehran. New York, and the American Academy of Rome.
Professor Sadria has published over fifty books WithTod Williams, she is the recipient of the
and articles, including ‘Social Development: Brunner Award from the American Academy of
Challenges to a Concept’ (Journal of Policy and Arts and Letters, the Medal of Honor from the
Culture,Tokyo, 2004) and ‘East Asia: Cultural New York City branch of the American Institute
Aspects of Challenges in a Globalizing World’ of Architects, theThomas Jefferson Medal from
(Globalization in East Asia, 2004, in Japanese). the University of Virginia, and the Chrysler Award
for Design Innovation. A monograph of their work
Reinhard Schulze is a German linguist and entitled Work Life was published in 2000.
historian and professor of Islamic Studies at
the University of Berne, Switzerland, where Jafar Tukan is a Jordanian architect trained at
he is also Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. the American University of Beirut. After leaving

TJ521-8-2004 IMUK HUC0186 Aga Khan Award For Architecture (CTP) W:215mmXH:278mm 150L 140 Profijt White W/F Magenta
He studied Islam, Latin languages, Arabic and university, he worked for the Jordanian Ministry
linguistics at the University of Bonn from 1974 of Public Works as a design architect and then
to 1981, and went on to teach at the universities joined the firm Dar Al-Handasah Consulting
of Bochum, Bonn and Bamburg before joining Engineers at their headquarter offices in Beirut.
the University of Berne in 1995. Professor Schulze In 1968 he established a private practice in Beirut,
is interested in the historical development and and in 1973 formed the partnership Rais andTukan
spread of Islam and in its contemporary under- Architects, which was later changed to Jafar
standing and practice. His most important and Tukan and Partners Architects and Engineers
recent work is A Modern History of the Islamic and relocated to Amman. In 2003, he merged
World (2000), and he has published social, this firm with Consolidated Consultants for
economic and political studies of the Middle Engineering and the Environment. MrTukan’s
East, Asia and Africa, including ‘The Birth of work has extended to nearly all aspects of
Tradition and Modernity in 18th and 19th Century architecture and planning and among his most
Islamic Culture’ (History and Culture 16, 1997), notable projects are a new City Hall for Amman
‘International Islamic Organizations and the (1997), prototype kindergarten schools in Dubai
Muslims in Europe’ (Migration 28, 1998), ‘Mass (1980), the Jubilee High School in Amman (1999),
Culture and Islamic Culture Production in the and the SOS Children’s Village in Aqaba, Jordan
19th Century Middle East’ (in Mass Culture, (1991), which was presented with an Aga Khan
Popular Culture, and Social Life in the Middle East, Award for Architecture in 2001. MrTukan is active
edited by Georg Stauth and Sami Zubaida, 1987), in professional organizations for architecture,
‘The Forgotten Honor of Islam:The Muslim World engineering, the protection of the historic built
in 1989’ (in Middle East Contemporary Survey XIII, environment and fine arts in Jordan and Lebanon.
edited by Ami Ayalon, 1989), and ‘Is there an
Islamic Modernity?’ (in The Islamic World and
the West, edited by Kai Hafez, 1989).

Master Jury • Architecture and Polyphony 171

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2004 Award Master Jury and Project Reviewers

Seated, left to right: Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj, Ghada Amer, BillieTsien, Jimmy (Cheok Siang) Lim,
Khadija Jamal-Shaban, Fernando Varanda, Hana Alamuddin, Shiraz Allibhai.
Standing, left to right: Yıldırım Yavuz, Suha Özkan, Rahul Mehrotra, Sahel Al-Hiyari, ElíasTorresTur,
Reinhard Schulze, Farshid Moussavi, Modjtaba Sadria, JafarTukan, Galal Abada, Hanif Kara, Mohammad Al-Asad,
Farrokh Derakhshani. (Not pictured: Reha Günay, Michael Sorkin, Ayşıl Yavuz.) 172

172
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2004 Award Project Reviewers Mohammad Al-Asad is a Jordanian architect Reha Günay is aTurkish architect, restoration
and architectural historian and the founding architect and architectural photographer, and
Galal Abada is an Egyptian architect and director of the Center for the Study of the Built Professor of Conservation and Restoration
urbanist and an assistant professor at Ain Environment in Amman. He studied architecture atYildizTechnical University Faculty of
Shams University in Cairo, where he is also at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Architecture, Istanbul. Professor Günay also
Director of the Historic Cairo Studies and and history of architecture at Harvard University, teaches architectural photography at Mimar
Development Centre. Dr Abada studied at Ain before taking post-doctoral research positions at Sinan University in Istanbul. He was trained
Shams University, the School of Architecture Harvard and at the Institute for Advanced Study, in architecture at IstanbulTechnical University,
Paris-Belleville, and the Catholic University of Princeton. He has taught at the University of and received his PhD from Istanbul University
Leuven in Belgium. He has a PhD in architecture Jordan, Princeton University, Massachusetts in the Faculty of Arts and Letters, joining the
and urban design from Stuttgart University in Institute ofTechnology and the University of Faculty of Architecture in 1973. During 1979–80
Germany. His projects, including a number of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was Professor Günay was a fellow of the Japan
winning competition entries, are located in the Alan K. and Leonarda Laing Distinguished Foundation. He has been working on the
Belgium, Germany and throughout the Middle Visiting Professor. Dr al-Asad has published restoration of the antique theatre in Side,
East, particularly in Egypt. Current ongoing in both Arabic and English on the architecture Turkey, since 1992. Professor Günay’s research,
projects include a number of urban rehabilitation, of the Islamic world in books and academic and essays and photography have been published
adaptive reuse and design schemes in Egypt: a professional journals. He is the author of Old as monographs, including Japanese Art and
group of Children’s Cultural Clubs in historic Houses of Jordan: Amman 1920–1950 (1997), Culture Through the Ages (1986), Places and
Cairo, the Cairo headquarters of the National and co-author (with Ghazi Bisheh and Fawzi Expression: Techniques in the Miniatures of the
Organization for Enhancing Urban Landscapes, Zayadine) of The Umayyads: The Rise of Islamic Süleymanname (1992), Tradition of the Turkish
the Museum of Qena, site planning and a visitors’ Art (2000). Dr Al-Asad is a member of the board House and Safranbolu Houses (1998), Sinan: the
centre for DendaraTemple and a proposed of directors of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Architect and His Works (1998) and Traditional
improvement project for the Luxor temples site. Arts, a part of the Royal Society for Fine Arts. He Wooden Buildings: Problems and Solutions
Dr Abada has been a member of the editorial served as a Project Reviewer for the Aga Khan (2002). He has also published on the topic
board and a frequent contributor to the Egyptian Award for Architecture during the 1989, 1995 and of architectural restoration and conservation,
architecture and design magazine Medina. During 1998 Award cycles. and contributed photographs to numerous art
2003, he was a member of the evalutation team for historical publications and monographs on
submissions to the international competition for Sahel Al-Hiyari is a Jordanian architect and leading architects inTurkey. Professor Günay
the Great Egyptian Museum in Cairo. painter. He studied architecture and fine arts at has contributed research and photography to
the Rhode Island School of Design, and received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture since 1983.
Hana Alamuddin is a Lebanese architect a master’s degree in urban design from Harvard
who trained atThames Polytechnic in the University. He later undertook doctoral studies Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj is a Syrian architect
United Kingdom and at the Aga Khan Program in architecture at the University of Venice. He has in private practice in Aleppo and a partner in
for Islamic Architecture at Massachusetts worked at Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners) the Suradec Consortium (Sustainable Urban
Institute ofTechnology. She established her in Cairo and Machado Silvetti Associates in Rehabilitation, Architectural Design and
own architectural practice, Al-Mimariya, in Boston, and is now the principal in the archi- Engineering). Mr Hallaj had served in the past
TJ521-8-2004 IMUK HUC0186 Aga Khan Award For Architecture (CTP) W:215mmXH:278mm 150L 140 Profijt White W/F Magenta

Lebanon in 1998, and has completed many tectural firm Sahel Al-Hiyari and Partners. In as the Chairman of theTechnical Committee
residential and restoration projects. She has 2003, Mr Al-Hiyari was the first architect honoured responsible for the preservation of the old city
been a lecturer at the American University by the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative of Aleppo, supervising implementation of
of Beirut since 1994, where she teaches urban and has since worked closely with the architect rehabilitation measures and coordinating
design and landscape architecture. Her recent Alvaro Siza in Portugal. Mr Al-Hiyari’s paintings integrated interventions for the preservation
teaching has concentrated on sustainable have been exhibited in Jordan, Lebanon and Italy. of historic neighbourhoods in Aleppo. He has
development with a focus on energy-efficient most recently been involved in the development
design in large-scale planning projects. Ms of the Historic Houses Programme of the Shibam
Alamuddin is a member of the executive Urban Development Project in Yemen. Mr Hallaj
committee of the Association pour la Protection was trained at the University ofTexas at Austin,
des Sites et Anciennes Demeures au Liban where he received both his bachelor’s and
(APSAD) and is actively involved in conservation master’s degrees in architecture. He continues
projects in Lebanon, notably in Salimah. She to research the development of architecture
served as a Project Reviewer during the 1998 and urban theory in the context of historic
and 2001 cycles of the Award. and contemporary Muslim societies, and is
particularly interested and active in community-
oriented planning and urban management. Mr
Hallaj served as a Project Reviewer during the
1998 and 2001 Award cycles.

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Khadija Jamal-Shaban is a Pakistani Michael Sorkin is the principal of the Ayşıl Yavuz is aTurkish restoration architect
architect and planner who studied at the Michael Sorkin Studio in New York City, a with doctorate degrees in conservation from the
Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture design practice devoted to both practical University of Rome and from IstanbulTechnical
at Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology and and theoretical projects at all scales, with University. She has been a staff member of the
the NED University of Engineering andTechnology a special interest in the city. Recent projects Department of Restoration at Middle East
in Karachi. Ms Jamal-Shaban works in the fields include master planning in Hamburg (1998) Technical University in Ankara since its
of design, planning and development and is and Schwerin (1999), Germany; planning for foundation, and she also teaches restoration
committed to improving the quality of human a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem (1999); design and historic structural systems there,
life through the built environment. Her work urban design in Leeds, United Kingdom (2003); and serves as a thesis director for master’s and
has been located in Afghanistan,Tajikistan, campus planning at the University of Chicago doctoral students. Professor Yavuz was the Chair
the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan, as well (1998); and City College of New York studies of of the Department of Interior Architecture at King
as in Pakistan, and she has been a consultant the Manhattan waterfront, Far Rockaway (1994), Faisal University, Damman, Saudi Arabia, from
to such agencies as the World Bank, the Swiss and a large park in Queens Plaza (1997).The 1982 to 1988. She has taken part in and directed
Development Cooperation, the US Agency studio is the recipient of a variety of awards, several pilot conservation and restoration
for International Development, the Aga including three ID Awards and a Progressive projects inTurkey, and is widely published in
Khan Development Network and other non- Architecture Award. Professor Sorkin is the English andTurkish on the topics of conservation,
governmental organizations. Ms Jamal-Shaban Director of the Graduate Urban Design Program structure and construction and the architecture
is a visiting faculty member of the NED University at the City College of New York. From 1993 to 2000 of caravanserais. Her most recent fieldwork has
of Engineering andTechnology, where she advises he was Professor of Urbanism and Director of taken place inTurkmenistan for the restoration
final-year thesis students. She is an active the Institute of Urbanism at the Academy of Fine of the Sultan Sanjar Mausoleum in Merv, and in
member of the Institute of Architects of Pakistan, Arts in Vienna. Previously, he has been professor Turkey for the restoration of Alara Han, a Seljuk
working to improve professional standards in the at numerous schools of architecture including the caravanserai in Antalya, and the restoration of
country. Ms Jamal-Shaban served as a Project Cooper Union, New York (for ten years) and the the museum–mansion of Atatürk at Cankaya in
Reviewer during the 2001 Award cycle. universities of Columbia, Yale (holding both Ankara. Professor Yavuz served as a Project
Davenport and Bishop chairs), Harvard, Cornell Reviewer for the 1998 and 2001 Award cycles.
Jimmy (Cheok Siang) Lim is a Malaysian (Gensler Chair), Nebraska (Hyde Chair), Illinois,
architect, trained at the University of New Pennsylvania,Texas and Minnesota. Professor Yıldırım Yavuz is aTurkish architect, faculty
SouthWales in Sydney. From 1972 to 1977 he Sorkin lectures widely and is the author of many member and former dean of the Middle East
was senior architect and then an associate of articles in a wide range of both professional and Technical University (METU) School of Archi-
ProjectArchitects Sdn in Kuala Lumpur, and he general publications and is currently contributing tecture in Ankara. Professor Yavuz received
established his own practice, CSL Associates, editor at Architectural Record and Metropolis. For bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture
in 1978. His built works, both in Malaysia and ten years, he was the architecture critic of The from METU, and a second master’s degree in
abroad, have ranged from residential bungalows Village Voice. His books include Variations on A architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.
to high- and low-rise commercial complexes, Theme Park (1991), Exquisite Corpse (1991), Wiggle He taught architectural design and history at
medical facilities, sporting facilities and hotels (a monograph of his studio’s work, 1998), The Next METU from 1962 to 1982 and design and history
and resorts. He is the architect of the Salinger Jerusalem (2002), Starting From Zero (2003), and of architecture at King Faisal University,

TJ521-8-2004 IMUK HUC0186 Aga Khan Award For Architecture (CTP) W:215mmXH:278mm 150L 140 Profijt White W/F Magenta
Residence in Selangor, Malaysia, which received Analyzing Ambasz (2004). Forthcoming in 2005 Damman, Saudi Arabia, from 1982 to 1988. He
an Aga Khan Award for Architecture during the are Fifteen Minutes in Manhattan, Against The Wall then became Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Art,
1998 Award cycle. In 1983, Mr Lim was a founding and Work on the City. Michael Sorkin was born in Design and Architecture at Bilkent University,
member and trustee of the HeritageTrust of Washington, D.C., and received his architectural Ankara, where he taught advanced design at
Malaysia (Badan Warisan Malaysia), and he training at Harvard University and Massachusetts graduate level and art and culture at under-
continues to serve as a member of theTrust Institute ofTechnology. graduate level. Professor Yavuz has served
Council. He served as President of the Friends as a member of many national committees for
of Heritage of Malaysia (Sahabat Warisan Fernando Varanda is a Portuguese architect cultural affairs and architecture inTurkey and
Malaysia) from 1998 to 1992, and was President and urban planner. He graduated in architecture his research is concentrated on architectural
of the Malaysian Architectural Institute from from the Lisbon School of Fine Arts, received history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
1991 to 1993. Mr Lim is active in local residents’ his master’s degree in urban and regional He is also active as an architect and is currently
organizations in Kuala Lumpur, working to resist planning from New York University and was designing a Nationality Classroom at the
uncontrolled planning, prevent destruction of the awarded a PhD in human geography from Durham University of Pittsburgh in the United States.
environment and protect the natural environment University in the United Kingdom. He is currently He served as a Project Reviewer during the
and ecology of the city. He has presented a professor in the department of urbanism at the 1992, 1995 and 2001 Award Cycles.
numerous papers on architecture and con- Universidade Lusófona in Lisbon. Since 1973,
servation at seminars and conferences he has undertaken extensive research on built
in Malaysia and internationally. spaces in Yemen, published in both monographs
and specialized publications, notably The Art of
Building in Yemen (1982). He has also undertaken
research into the built environments of Portugal,
and published Mértola no Alengarve in 2002. Dr
Varanda is in private practice in Lisbon, woking
on a variety of projects for the public and private
sectors, especially those involving the rehabili-
tation of buildings and building technologies,
as well as the integration of new structures in
historic centres. Dr Varanda served as a Project
Reviewer during the 1986, 1998 and 2001 cycles
of the Award.

Project Reviewers • Architecture and Polyphony 175

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The Award Secretariat

Suha Özkan, Secretary General, has been associated with the Aga Khan Award for Architecture since 1982.
Having studied architecture at the Middle EastTechnical University (METU) in Ankara, he went to the Architectural
Association in London to study theory of design. He taught architectural design and design theory at METU for
fifteen years, becoming Associate Dean of the Faculty of Architecture in 1978 and Vice-President of the university
in 1979. On behalf of the Aga KhanTrust for Culture he has organized three international architectural competitions
– for the Revitalization of Samarkand, Uzbekistan (1991), the new Museum of Islamic Arts in Doha, Qatar (1997),
and the Doha Corniche and Arts and Culture Plaza (2003). In 2002, Dr Özkan was elected as a Council Member
(Region II) of the International Union of Architects (UIA), and will be President of the UIA’s twenty-second Congress
to be held in Istanbul during 2005. He was made an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 2004.

Farrokh Derakhshani Director of Award Procedures

Siméon Duchoud Documentalist
Jack Kennedy Executive Officer
William O’Reilly Librarian, Aga KhanTrust for Culture
Mariam Panosetti Award Procedures Assistant
Karen Stylianoudis Executive Secretary

Photo Credits
Galal Abada: 125; Kamran Adle: 124, 125, 130–7;
Hana Alamuddin: 18, 19; Rémy Audouin: 70, 80;
Marylène Barret: 70, 71, 76, 77, 82; Cal Earth: 54, 55,
57, 58–9, 60–1, 62–3; Pierre-Yves Dhinaut: 138–9,
170–3; Siméon Duchoud: 36, 37, 40–9; Cemal
Emden: 106, 107, 109–19; Diébédo Francis Kéré: 36,
37; Murat German: 71, 74–5, 78–9, 81, 88, 89, 92–3,
Reha Günay: 70, 71; Dada Krpasundarananda: 54,
Mohamed Nafea: 18, 30–1; OCJRP: 88; Christian
Richters: 18, 19, 22–9; Steve Sabella: 88, 89, 94–101;
Modjtaba Sadria: 149; FujitaTadayoshi: 149;
UNDPTehran: 55, 64–5; Ayşıl Yavuz: 70.
Pages 157–67
Abdelhalim I. Abdelhalim, Abdel Wahid El-Wakil,
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Kamran Adle, Mohammad Akram, Hana

Alamuddin, Mokhless Al-Hariri, Yori Antar,
Arriyadh Development Authority, Chant
Avedissian, Jacques Bétant,Timothy Bradley,
Steven Cohn, Argun Dundar, Abdel Wahed El-
Wakil, Cemal Emden, Monica Fritz, Seiichi Furuya,
Reha Günay, Güven Incirlioglu, Barry Iverson,
Sian Kennedy, Saleh Lamei-Mostafa, Christian
Lignon, Christopher Little, Pascal Maréchaux,
Khedija M'Hadhebi, Kamel Nefzi, K. L. Ng, John
Paniker, Jacques Perez, Ram Rahman, Christian
Richters, Samir Saddi, Hans Scholten, Skidmore,
Owings & Merrill and Rajesh Vora.

Drawings
All drawings were provided by the architects.

Documentation assistance
at the Award Secretariat in Geneva was provided
by:Thê-HôngTang-Lâm (team leader), Minh
Phung Dào, Hoàng Long Dô,Truòng Vy Duong,
Vuong Son Duong, Dình Khoa Kristian Hoàng,
Thuy An Hoàng, Duy Nhiên Lâm-Bình, BaoTrân
Lâm, Karine Kim Lan Lê-Van, Ngoc Phu Mai,
Quôc An Nguyên,Tiên Dung Nguyên,Thi LêThu
Nguyên-Ngoc, Kim Phuong Pham, Ngoc Hô Pham
and Nhu HuyTrân. Special thanks to Pamela
Johnston, Laura Hobson and Shiraz Allibhai.

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture

P.O. Box 2049
1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
www.akdn.org

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture • Architecture and Polyphony 176

176
The 2004 Award Steering Committee

His Highness the Aga Khan, Chairman

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt – Architecture and Polyphony:
Building in the Islamic World Today

Akram Abu Hamdan At no time in recent history have architecture,

Charles Correa
architects: Snøhetta Hamza Consortium (Snøhetta urban planning, rehabilitation and reconstruction

Building in the Islamic World Today

Architecture and Polyphony:
Abdou Filali-Ansary been as important to the Islamic world as they
Jacques Herzog are today. With great opportunities to engender
Glenn Lowry
Mohsen Mostafavi
AS, Norway, Craig Dykers, Christoph Kapeller and positive change and build better places for
everyone, architects are responding to local
Babar Mumtaz Khan challenges with understanding and innovation,
Peter Rowe
Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, principal architects; Hamza with global outlook and vernacular and innovative
forms. These multifaceted achievements include
restoration, landscape design, infrastructure
The 2004 Award Master Jury

Ghada Amer
Associates, Egypt). Primary School, Gando, and urban planning, and new buildings.

Bringing to international attention the work

Hanif Kara
Rahul Mehrotra
Farshid Moussavi
Burkina Faso – architect: Diébédo Francis Kéré, Burkina of architects, artisans, designers, planners
and visionaries who have produced significant
projects for Muslim societies since 1977,
Modjtaba Sadria

Faso. Sandbag Shelter Prototypes, Iran,

the triennial Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Reinhard Schulze
celebrates outstanding contributions to
Elías Torres Tur
architectural design, local construction and
Billie Tsien
the revivification of historic cities. In this,
Jafar Tukan
Mexico, Canada, India, Thailand, Siberia, Brazil, Chile the ninth Award cycle, an independent Jury
comprising architects, engineers, artists,
Recipients of the 2004 Award historians, philosophers and urban-planners

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt

and US – architects: Cal-Earth Institute, US (Nader has selected seven projects to reflect the rich
diversity of Muslim architecture today.
Gando Primary School, Burkina Faso
Sandbag Shelter Prototypes
Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque, Yemen Khalili, concept and design; Iliona Outram, project From Snøhetta’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina in
Egypt to a primary school in Burkina Faso, from
Old City Revitalization Programme, Jerusalem a prototype construction system using sandbags
B2 House, Turkey
Petronas Towers, Malaysia manager). Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque, to a modern house in Turkey and a mosque
restoration in Yemen, from the revitalization of
Jerusalem’s Old City to Cesar Pelli's Petronas

Other titles of interest

near Asnaf, Yemen – conservators: Marylène Towers in Kuala Lumpur, there is a great degree
of ingenuity, care and excellence demonstrated
in all the awarded projects. Each work is shown in
Legacies for the Future:
Contemporary Architecture in Islamic Societies Barret, France, with Abdullah al-Hadrami, Yemen. detailed drawings, concise building descriptions
and outstanding photographs that convey each
project’s true spirit. Texts by Billie Tsien, Reinhard
Edited by Cynthia C. Davidson
With 253 illustrations, 103 in colour

Modernity and Community:

Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization Schulze, Hanif Kara, Elías Torres Tur, Modjtaba
Sadria, Babar Khan Mumtaz and Suha Özkan
provide insights and multiple perspectives to the
Architecture in the Islamic World
Foreword by Charles Correa
Introduction by Kenneth Frampton
Programme (OCJRP), Jerusalem – conservation: challenges and achievements of the premiated
buildings.

With 280 illustrations, mostly in colour

OCJRP Technical Office, Jerusalem. B2 House,
Text by David Robson
With 296 illustrations, 82 in colour

An Architecture for People:

The Complete Works of Hassan Fathy
James Steele
Büykhüsun, Ayvacık, Turkey – architect: Han Tümertekin,
With 213 illustrations, 100 in colour

The Mosque and the Modern World:

Turkey. Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia –
Architects, Patrons and Designs Since the 1950s
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Renata Holod and Hasan-Uddin Khan
With 446 illustrations, 156 in colour architects: Cesar Pelli & Associates, US (Cesar Pelli,
design principal, Fred Clarke, collaborating design The Ninth Award Cycle
If you would like to receive details of our new and
forthcoming titles, please send your name and
address to

Thames & Hudson

principal and Jon Pickard, design team leader).
181A High Holborn ISBN 0-500-28533-0
London WC1V 7QX
www.thamesandhudson.com
On the cover: Bibliotheca Alexandrina
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (photo Hana Alamuddin)
Printed in Singapore 9 780500 285336
 72902_CTP_AKAA_cover_def to REP 6/10/04 5:07 AM Page 4 QC Preflight Point

1st 13 13

Inner Job no : 72902 Title : Aga Khan Architecture Award-PB JKT-CTP Client : (TH)_5817
PB JKT Scn : #175CB Size : 827(w)278(h)mm Co : M13 C0
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 72902_CTP_AKAA_cover_def to REP 6/10/04 5:07 AM Page 4 QC Preflight Point

1st 13 13

Inner Job no : 72902 Title : Aga Khan Architecture Award-PB JKT-CTP Client : (TH)_5817
PB JKT Scn : #175CB Size : 827(w)278(h)mm Co : M13 C0
Dept : DTP D/O : 07.10.04 (Job no:000000 D/O : 00.00.04 Co: CM0)
The 2004 Award Steering Committee

His Highness the Aga Khan, Chairman

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt – Architecture and Polyphony:
Building in the Islamic World Today

Akram Abu Hamdan At no time in recent history have architecture,

Charles Correa
architects: Snøhetta Hamza Consortium (Snøhetta urban planning, rehabilitation and reconstruction

Building in the Islamic World Today

Architecture and Polyphony:
Abdou Filali-Ansary been as important to the Islamic world as they
Jacques Herzog are today. With great opportunities to engender
Glenn Lowry
Mohsen Mostafavi
AS, Norway, Craig Dykers, Christoph Kapeller and positive change and build better places for
everyone, architects are responding to local
Babar Mumtaz Khan challenges with understanding and innovation,
Peter Rowe
Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, principal architects; Hamza with global outlook and vernacular and innovative
forms. These multifaceted achievements include
restoration, landscape design, infrastructure
The 2004 Award Master Jury

Ghada Amer
Associates, Egypt). Primary School, Gando, and urban planning, and new buildings.

Bringing to international attention the work

Hanif Kara
Rahul Mehrotra
Farshid Moussavi
Burkina Faso – architect: Diébédo Francis Kéré, Burkina of architects, artisans, designers, planners
and visionaries who have produced significant
projects for Muslim societies since 1977,
Modjtaba Sadria

Faso. Sandbag Shelter Prototypes, Iran,

the triennial Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Reinhard Schulze
celebrates outstanding contributions to
Elías Torres Tur
architectural design, local construction and
Billie Tsien
the revivification of historic cities. In this,
Jafar Tukan
Mexico, Canada, India, Thailand, Siberia, Brazil, Chile the ninth Award cycle, an independent Jury
comprising architects, engineers, artists,
Recipients of the 2004 Award historians, philosophers and urban-planners

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt

and US – architects: Cal-Earth Institute, US (Nader has selected seven projects to reflect the rich
diversity of Muslim architecture today.
Gando Primary School, Burkina Faso
Sandbag Shelter Prototypes
Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque, Yemen Khalili, concept and design; Iliona Outram, project From Snøhetta’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina in
Egypt to a primary school in Burkina Faso, from
Old City Revitalization Programme, Jerusalem a prototype construction system using sandbags
B2 House, Turkey
Petronas Towers, Malaysia manager). Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque, to a modern house in Turkey and a mosque
restoration in Yemen, from the revitalization of
Jerusalem’s Old City to Cesar Pelli's Petronas

Other titles of interest

near Asnaf, Yemen – conservators: Marylène Towers in Kuala Lumpur, there is a great degree
of ingenuity, care and excellence demonstrated
in all the awarded projects. Each work is shown in
Legacies for the Future:
Contemporary Architecture in Islamic Societies Barret, France, with Abdullah al-Hadrami, Yemen. detailed drawings, concise building descriptions
and outstanding photographs that convey each
project’s true spirit. Texts by Billie Tsien, Reinhard
Edited by Cynthia C. Davidson
With 253 illustrations, 103 in colour

Modernity and Community:

Old City of Jerusalem Revitalization Schulze, Hanif Kara, Elías Torres Tur, Modjtaba
Sadria, Babar Khan Mumtaz and Suha Özkan
provide insights and multiple perspectives to the
Architecture in the Islamic World
Foreword by Charles Correa
Introduction by Kenneth Frampton
Programme (OCJRP), Jerusalem – conservation: challenges and achievements of the premiated
buildings.

With 280 illustrations, mostly in colour

OCJRP Technical Office, Jerusalem. B2 House,
Text by David Robson
With 296 illustrations, 82 in colour

An Architecture for People:

The Complete Works of Hassan Fathy
James Steele
Büykhüsun, Ayvacık, Turkey – architect: Han Tümertekin,
With 213 illustrations, 100 in colour

The Mosque and the Modern World:

Turkey. Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia –
Architects, Patrons and Designs Since the 1950s
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Renata Holod and Hasan-Uddin Khan
With 446 illustrations, 156 in colour architects: Cesar Pelli & Associates, US (Cesar Pelli,
design principal, Fred Clarke, collaborating design The Ninth Award Cycle
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Thames & Hudson

principal and Jon Pickard, design team leader).
181A High Holborn ISBN 0-500-28533-0
London WC1V 7QX
www.thamesandhudson.com
On the cover: Bibliotheca Alexandrina
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (photo Hana Alamuddin)
Printed in Singapore 9 780500 285336