2003

Mehdi Alizadeh (born 1935) is one of Iran's most distinguished architects, known for designing some of the country's most iconic public and institutional buildings. He graduated in Architecture from the University of Tehran, Faculty of Fine Arts, and built a remarkable career spanning over four decades. His portfolio includes Hotel Laleh (formerly the Tehran Intercontinental Hotel), one of Tehran's most recognizable modernist landmarks; the Iran Center for Management Studies (now Imam Sadegh University); Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman; the Ararat Sport Complex; the Central Office of Behshahr Industrial Group; and the Conference Center of Toseye Saderat Bank. Alizadeh also served as a technical leader at Ove Arup and Partners in London, bringing international structural engineering expertise to his practice. He served on the jury panels of the 2nd and 3rd Memar Awards (2002–2003), evaluating the best of contemporary Iranian architecture alongside Pritzker laureate Fumihiko Maki and AA School chairman Mohsen Mostafavi.

Secretary

Mohsen Mirheydar (born 1938 in Hamedan) is one of Iran's most distinguished architects and a founding partner and chairman of Pirraz Consulting Planners, Architects & Engineers. He holds a degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran and pursued advanced studies in urban planning and design at the Architectural Association (AA School) in London. Early in his career he worked in the offices of BBPR in Milan and Marcel Breuer in New York, absorbing the highest traditions of European and American post-war modernism before returning to Iran. He has taught at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, and has authored research and articles on the history of architecture and urban planning in Iran. Among his major built works are the National Library of Iran in Tehran (designed 1995–98, built 1996–2004, Aga Khan Award nominee 2007), the Extension to the Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh in Qom (1999–2005, 53,937 m²), the Islamic Summit Assembly Hall, the Bank Markazi currency printing facility, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, and Cinema Rivoli (Sahara) in Tehran. In 2001 he served as a juror for the inaugural Grand Memar Award, contributing to the recognition of Iran's best independent architecture of the preceding five years.

Mohsen Mostafavi is an Iranian-born architect, educator, and scholar, born in Isfahan in 1954. He studied architecture at the Architectural Association (AA) in London, graduating with a diploma in 1976, and subsequently conducted postgraduate research on counter-Reformation urban history at the University of Essex (1976–1981) and Clare Hall, University of Cambridge (1981–1984). He began his academic career as a tutor at the AA under Dalibor Vesely before joining Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, where he directed the Master of Architecture I Program from 1992 to 1995. He returned to the AA as Chairman from 1995 to 2004, a nine-year tenure during which he significantly reshaped the school's international standing. He served as Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University (2004–2008), before becoming Dean of Harvard GSD — the most prominent design school in the United States — a position he held from 2008 to 2019. He is currently Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design and Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor. His scholarly work spans architectural theory, urban history, landscape urbanism, and the aesthetics of construction. His book On Weathering: The Life of Buildings in Time (MIT Press, 1993, co-authored with David Leatherbarrow) received the AIA commendation prize for writing on architectural theory. Surface Architecture (MIT Press, 2002) won the CICA Bruno Zevi Book Award. Other publications include Delayed Space (Princeton Architectural Press, 1994, with Homa Farjadi), Landscape Urbanism (AA, 2004), Ecological Urbanism (Lars Müller, 2010), and Architecture and Plurality (Lars Müller, 2016). He has served on the steering committee of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and as a Master Jury member for the 2014–2016 cycle. He chaired the jury of the Mies van der Rohe Prize and led juries of the LafargeHolcim Awards for Sustainable Construction. He is a member of RIBA and served on its Gold Medal Selection Committee. In 2003, he served as a juror for the 3rd Memar Award. He is married to architect Homa Farjadi.