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Nine projects received the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture at a glittering function here on September 4. The Award has completed 10th cycle in 30 years of its existence. It was instituted in 1977.  


The Aga Khan Award for Architecture has a triennial prize fund of US$ 500,000, making it the world’s largest architectural award. The rigour of its nomination and selection process has also made it, in the eyes of many observers, the world’s most important architectural prize. Awarded projects this year have ranged from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur to a simple bamboo-made building of a primary school in Bangladesh. 


“The essence of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture is to examine, analyse, understand, and try to influence the dynamics of physical change in Islamic societies,” Aga Khan remarked at the presentation ceremony. “Our attempt and aspiration is to try to have the humility, but also the competence, to understand what is happening and to seek to influence it so that future generations can live in a better environment.” 


During the current cycle of the Award, 343 projects were presented for consideration, and 27 were reviewed on site by international experts. An independent Master Jury selected nine Award recipients are notable for having attained the highest standards of architectural excellence while reflecting the values of their specific environments.


The projects selected this year are:

Samir Kassir Square, Beirut, Lebanon / Rehabilitation of the City of Shibam, Yemen / Central Market, Koudougou, Burkina Faso / University of Technology Petronas, Bandar Seri Iskandar, Malaysia / Restoration of the Amiriya Complex, Rada, Yemen / Moulmein Rise Residential Tower, Singapore / Royal Netherlands Embassy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia / Rehabilitation of the Walled City, Nicosia, Cyprus / School in Rudrapur, Dinajpur, Bangladesh


With its emblematic high-tech architecture, the University of Technology Petronas provides an inspiring structure for progressive education in Malaysia. The Award will be presented to the architects, Foster + Partners and GDP Architects, and the Petronas Corporation (the Petronas Towers won an Award in the 2004 cycle). 


The 2007 Master Jury placed an emphasis on the meaningful collaborations and exchange of ideas - between architects, craftsmen, governments, international development agencies, clients and users - that were a defining feature of the winning projects. The Aga Khan Award for Architecture was established by the Aga Khan in 1977 to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies. The Award recognises examples of architectural excellence in all the places where Muslims live, in the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community improvement and development, historic preservation, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscape design and improvement of the environment. 


A monograph on the 2007 Award will be published by I.B. Tauris & Co in September 2007. The book, Intervention Architecture: Building for Change includes concise descriptions and illustrations of the nine winning projects, an introductory essay by Homi K. Bhabha, as well as contributions from Omar Akbar, Homa Farjadi, Sahel Al-Hiyari, Shirazeh Houshiary, Mohsen Mostafavi, Farshid Moussavi, Modjtaba Sadria, Brigitte Shim, Billie Tsien and Kenneth Yeang. 

The Jewish rabbi call for dialogue between Muslims and Jews to better understand both faiths.


The president of the largest Jewish movement in the United States has accused US media and politicians of demonizing Islam and portraying Muslims as “satanic figures.” “There exists in this country among all Americans, whether Jews, Christians, or non-believers, a huge and profound ignorance about Islam,” rabbi Eric Yoffie, head of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), told the opening session of the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) last month.


“There is no shortage of voices prepared to tell us that fanaticism and intolerance are fundamental to Islamic religion, and that violence and even suicide bombing have deep Qur’anic roots,” he said.


Many critics have blamed Western media for promoting prejudice and stereotypes against Muslims and Arabs in the West. Famed US academic Stephen Schwartz had criticized the Western media for failing to meet the challenge of reporting on Islam and Arab issues after the 9/11 attacks. A recent British study accused the media and film industry of perpetuating Islamophobia and prejudice by demonizing Muslims and Arabs as violent, dangerous and threatening people.


“We know nothing of Islam - nothing,” the Jewish rabbi told the ISNA audience. He said “Americans need to know how far removed Islam is from the perverse distortions of the terrorists who too often dominate the media, subverting Islam’s image by professing to speak in its name.”


He called for dialogue between Muslims and Jews to better understand both faiths. “The time has come to listen to our Muslim neighbours speak in their own words about the spiritual power of Islam and their love for their religion,” he added.


“Will we, Jews and Muslims, import the conflicts of the Middle East into America, or will we join together and send a message of peace to that troubled land?” Yoffie asked.


Yoffie has remained the unchallenged head of the URJ, the congregational arm of the Reform Jewish Movement in North America, since 1996.