The Dallas Architecture Forum will launch its Twentieth Anniversary Season on October 24 with a lecture about the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The winners of this triennial competition (grand prize of $1,000,000 USD) were recently announced and include projects by internationally known firms such as Zaha Hadid Architects and BIG Architects, as well as those by rising talent from countries around the world. Winning projects are located in China, Bangladesh, Iran, Lebanon and Denmark.
The lecture begins at 7 pm in the Horchow Auditorium at the Dallas Museum of Art. There will be a pre-lecture reception in the museum’s atrium beginning at 6:15 pm.
The Forum is pleased that the International Deputy Director of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Shiraz Allibhai, will come from Geneva, Switzerland to present this important lecture. Prior to his current role, Shiraz has held several positions at the Trust, including Education Officer and Director of the Aga Khan Humanities Project. Shiraz ‘s previous position was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he oversaw the development of Archnet.org as Managing Director. Shiraz is trained as an architect, receiving his degrees in architecture from the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.
As a community outreach, the event will be Free and Open to the Public, with no reservations needed. Oversized panels of the winning projects, along with thirteen additional shortlisted projects, will be on display during the pre-lecture reception and immediately following the lecture.
See additional media coverage: the New York Times, via Associated Press; Architectural Digest, and a video presentation of the award winners by the Aga Khan Development Network.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/10/03/world/middleeast/ap-ml-aga-khan-award.html
http://www.akdn.org/video/2016-aga-khan-architecture-recipients
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is unique among architecture prizes: it selects projects – from slum upgrading to high rise “green” buildings – that not only exhibit architectural excellence but also improve the overall quality of life. Over the last four decades, it has steadfastly championed the needs and aspirations of human beings within the practice of architecture. The Award is also different because it not only rewards architects but also identifies municipalities, builders, clients, master craftsmen and engineers who have played important roles in the realization of a project. The selection process emphasizes architecture that not only provides for people’s physical, social and economic needs, but that also stimulates and responds to their cultural expectations. Particular attention is given to building schemes that use local resources and appropriate technology in innovative ways, and to projects likely to inspire similar efforts elsewhere. Through its efforts, the Award seeks to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of societies across the world and set new standards of excellence in architecture, planning practices, historic preservation and landscape architecture. Over the course of the last 39 years, most of the great architects of our time have either won the Award or served on its Master Jury or Steering Committee, from Zaha Hadid to Norman Foster, Charles Correa to Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel.
2016 Winners
Winners for this cycle’s Aga Khan Award for Architecture include projects by BIG and Zaha Hadid Architects: The winners are:
- Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, Dhaka (Architect: Marina Tabassum), a refuge for spirituality in urban Dhaka, selected for its beautiful use of natural light
- Friendship Centre, Gaibandha (Architect: Kashef Chowdhury / URBANA), a community center which makes a virtue of an area susceptible to flooding in rural Bangladesh
- Hutong Children’s Library and Art Centre, Beijing (Architect: ZAO / standard architecture / Zhang Ke), a children’s library selected for its embodiment of contemporary life in the traditional courtyard residences of Beijing
- Superkilen, Copenhagen (Architects: BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, Topotek 1 and Superflex), a public space promoting integration across lines of ethnicity, religion and culture
- Tabiat Pedestrian Bridge, Tehran (Architect: Diba Tensile Architecture / Leila Araghian, Alireza Behzadi), a multi-level bridge spanning a busy motorway has created a dynamic new urban space
- Issam Fares Institute, Beirut (Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects), a new building for the American University of Beirut’s campus, radical in composition but respectful of its traditional context
Find more information on the competition winners and images here http://www.akdn.org/press-release/2016-aga-khan-award-architecture-recipients-announced