About the award
Under its statutes, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture was established in 1977 with the aim of promoting awareness of Islamic culture as reflected in works of architecture. The award seeks out outstanding examples of architecture, fresh viewpoints in contemporary design, social housing, environmental development and improvement, restoration and adaptive re-use, the conservation of urban fabric and environment, and educational activity; and it endeavours to identify and support those building concepts that successfully meet the needs and reflect the spirit of communities in which Muslims form a majority.
The criterion for selection, beyond meeting the physical, social, and economic needs of users, is fitting response to people's cultural and spiritual expectations. Particular emphasis is placed on those building schemes that rely on local resources and on appropriate innovation in technology.
The award is held every three years under an Executive Committee chaired by the Aga Khan. The prizes — which together total US$500,000, the largest cash prize in the world for architecture — are paid to the projects selected by the Master Jury once every three years. From 1977 to the present, the award has run through seven cycles and has examined and assessed approximately 7,010 buildings around the world. In all, 75 projects have been honoured to date with the prize. The eighth cycle covers the years 1999 to 2001.
Members of the 2001 Steering Committee
The Aga Khan, Chair; Selma al-Radi, archaeologist, Baghdad and New York; Charles Correa, architect, Mumbai; Kenneth Frampton, architect and architectural historian, New York; Frank Gehry, architect, Los Angeles; Zaha Hadid, architect, London; Luis Monreal, historian and archaeologist, Barcelona; Azim Nanji, professor of religious studies, London.
The 2001 Master Jury
Darab Diba, architect, Tehran; Said Filali-Ansari, philosopher, Casablanca; Doğan Hasol, architect and publisher, Istanbul; Mona Hatoum, artist, London; Zahi Hawass, archaeologist, Cairo; Ricardo Legorreta, architect, Mexico City and Los Angeles; Norani Othman, sociologist, Selangor; Raj Rewal, architect, New Delhi.
Award Secretariat
Suha Özkan, Secretary General; Jack Kennedy, Executive Officer; Farrokh Derakhshani, Programme Director.
Eligibility criteria
Projects must have been completed in the previous 13 years (between 1988 and 2000). They must also have been in use for one full year between 1 January 1988 and 31 December 2000. Although there is no fixed criterion as to use, climate, location, or cost of the projects, projects must have been mainly or wholly designed for, and used by, Muslim communities.
Award ceremonies
The ceremony to honour the winning projects and to announce the results of each three-year cycle has always been held in a historic site of valuable Islamic architecture: the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore (1980), Topkapi Palace in Istanbul (1983), Badi' Palace in Marrakesh (1986), the Citadel of Saladin in Cairo (1989), the Registan square in Samarkand (1992), the Karaton Surakarta in Solo (1995), and the Alhambra in Granada (1998).
Schedule of the eighth cycle
Identification and nomination of projects: April 1999 to December 2000. Submission of documents: June 1999 to December 2000. First Master Jury session: January 2001. On-site technical reviews: February 2001 to May 2001. Second Master Jury session: June 2001. Awards ceremony: autumn 2001.
Statement of the Master Jury
The nine members of the Master Jury for the 2001 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, in selecting the winning projects from 427 entries, were assisted by a sixteen-strong group of specialist on-site reviewers. Their commentaries clarified for the jury many of the complex aspects of the works.
The jury held that one of the principal aims is to attain that kind of architecture which serves the betterment of the living conditions of various Muslim communities and groups; and, alongside attention to social justice, cultural and historical identity and human dignity also influenced the jury's deliberations.
Some projects had set themselves the goal of helping deprived communities improve their conditions through raising production, upgrading the built environment, and entering modern culture and communications. The cooperation of those who benefit from the new economy with those who remain in rural conditions slows the one-way migration that drains local sources of human energy and degrades environmental and living conditions. Others, within the context of an ancient civilisation's culture, have answered educational needs. Others still teach techniques of livestock production for an improved diet.
The jury gave attention to the role of architects in the new economy as it bears on architecture itself — that role which honours the environment and introduces local culture through built work. Projects that secure the future of historic buildings inside cities, and that create newly protected zones within the urban environment, were also of high importance to the jury. Public, industrial, and religious buildings were likewise present, but did not reach the level the jury expected of an award.
The 2001 Aga Khan Award for Architecture honourees
Living New Life in Old Fabric — various locations, Iran (Designers/Conservators: Urban Regeneration & Improvement Co.; Cultural Heritage Organisation of Iran; completed 1992 and ongoing).
Abadou, Morocco (Initial concept: Ali Amahan; Client: Abadou Renewal Association; completed 1995 and ongoing).
Barefoot Architects, Tilonia, India (Architect: Tilonia Barefoot Architects; Client: Barefoot College; completed 1988 and ongoing).
Kahere Eila Poultry Farming School, Koliagbé, Guinea (Architect: Heikkinen-Komonen Architects; Sponsor: Eila Kivekäs; Client: Centre Avicole de Kahere; completed 2000).
Nubian Museum, Aswan, Egypt (Architect: Mahmoud al-Hakim; Consultants: Arab Office for Design and Technical Consultancy; Landscape: PCP, Workmeister and M. Heimer landscape design; Client: Nubian Antiquities Conservation Foundation; Sponsors: UNESCO, ICOM; completed 1997).
SOS Children's Village, Aqaba, Jordan (Architects: Jaafar Tukan & Partners; Client: SOS Children's Villages Association of Jordan; completed 1991).
Olbia Community Centre, Antalya, Turkey (Client: Akdeniz University; completed 1999).
Bagh-e Ferdowsi (Ferdowsi Garden), Tehran, Iran (Architects: Baft-e Shahr Architecture and Urban Design Consultants; Client: Tehran Municipality; completed 1997).
The Datai Hotel, Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia (Architects: Kerry Hill Architects; Client: Teluk Datai Resorts; completed 1993).
