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On November 28, 2004, at a ceremony
at the historical Agra Fort in India, Agha Khan announced the seven
recipients of the 2004 Agha Khan Award for Architecture.
During the current cycle of the Award, 378 projects were presented
for consideration, and 23 were reviewed on site by outside experts.
An independent Master Jury selected 7 Award recipients that are
notable for having attained the highest international standards of
architectural excellence, while reflecting the values of the primary
Muslim societies the projects are intended to serve.
The 7 projects selected by the 2004 Award Master Jury are:
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt
Primary School, Gando, Burkina Faso
Sandbag Shelter Prototypes, various locations
Restoration of Al-Abbas Mosque, Asnaf, Yemen
Old city of Jerusalem Revitalization Program, Jerusalem
B2 House, Ayvacik, Turkey
Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Two of the projects - Bibliotheca Alexandria in Egypt and the
Petronas Towers in Malaysia - are the results of important
international architectural competitions for high-profile landmark
buildings. A third project - the Sandbag Shelter Prototypes - is an
experiment for self-built housing that employs earth-filled sandbags
stacked atop each other to form domed and vaulted spaces. The
provision of housing is an important aspect of the Old City of
Jerusalem Revitalization that also includes components for the
restoration of historic monuments and for the creation of public
community facilities, schools and playgrounds. The Primary School in
Gando, Burkina Faso, goes far beyond its educational program and
exemplifies highest-caliber architectural design employing locally
available materials and techniques, training, and community
participation and empowerment. B2 House, located in small village on
the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, extends architectural design to a
poetic level, establishing dialog between nature and building,
inside and outside, and public and private. The Restoration of Al-Abbas
Mosque in Asnaf, Yemen, represent attainment of the highest
standards of restoration and conservation, while at the same time,
investigating the nature and contemporary importance of a sacred
site.
Reinforcing the architectural excellence of the seven winning
projects is the written statement of the Master Jury, which reveals
the comprehensive approach adopted to discover, understand and
explain the challenges of architecture in the Muslim world, as it
confronts modernity in all its diversity. The Jury identified 4
areas of social meaning to illustrate the winning projects: How the
complexity of history and of historical memory can be expressed in
architecture; how private initiatives are integrated into the
emerging public sphere; how to express individuality within complex
social and in the context of the plurality of Muslim traditions; and
how power and authority in the global domains of technology, culture
and economics might be addressed through architecture. Throughout
their 2 week-long meetings at the Award headquarters in Geneva, the
Jury gave foremost importance to projects that raise the standards
of excellence.
2004 Award Steering Committee
His Highness The Agha Khan, Chairman
Akram Abu Hamdan, Director General,
National Resources Investment & Development Corporation, Amman
Charles Correa, Principal, Charles
Correa Architects, Bombay
Abdou Filali Ansari, Director,
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations, Agha Khan
University, London
Jacques Herzog, Partner, Herzog &
de Mueron Architects, Basle
Glenn Lowry, Director, The Museum of
Modern Art, New York City
Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean, College of
Architecture, Art & Planning, Cornell University, Ithaca, New
York
Babar Khan Mumtaz, Reader in Housing
Studies, University of London
Peter Rowe, Raymonde Garbe Professor of
Architecture & Urban Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
and Education Program Director, Agha Khan Trust for Culture
Award Secretariat (Geneva)
Suha Ozkan, Secretary General
Farrokh Derakhshani, Director of Award
Procedures
Jack Kennedy, Executive Officer
2004 Award Master Jury
Ghada Amer, Artist, New York City
Hanif Kara, Partner, Adams Kara Taylor
Structural & Civil Engineering Consultancy, London
Rahul Mehrotra, Executive Director,
Urban Design Research Institute, Bombay
Farshid Moussavi, Partner, Foreign
Office Architects, London
Mojtaba Sadria, Professor of
Cross-Cultural Relations & East Asian Studies, Chuo University,
Tokyo
Reinhard Schulze, Professor of Islamic
Studies, University of Bern
Elias Torres Tur, Partner, Martinez
Lapeia-Torres Arquitectos SL, Barcelona
Billie Tsien, Partner, Tod Williams
Billie Tsien Architects, New York City
Jafar Tukan, Principal, Consolidated
Consultants for Engineering and the Environment, Amman
Projects
| Bibliotheca
Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt |
Client:
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt
Architects: Snohetta Hamza Consortium, Egypt & Norway
Completed: October 2002
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 center for learning and exchange, and provided the city with
a landmark building.
The library was designed as a titling disk rising from the
ground, with 4 levels below ground and 7 above. The scale of
the building is thus minimized at close quarters, so it does
not overwhelm the visitor.
The facility provides a main reading room with seating for
2000 readers, 6 specialist libraries, 3 museums, 7 research
centers, 3 permanent galleries, space for temporary
exhibitions, a planetarium, a public plaza, offices, a
cafeteria and all the necessary services, required for such a
complex. The circular form of the library also has strong
symbolic significance and an iconic presence. Its exterior
wall is clad with 4000 granite blocks, carved with letters
from the alphabets or the word.
The main reading area is a single open space with 8 terraces,
each accommodating a different subject section, starting from
the roots of knowledge (philosophy, history, religion,
geography) and ending with the latest technologies.
The substructure of the library is the most innovative part of
the project. Its circular diaphragm wall is considered the
largest in the world, with a diameter of 160 meters and a
height of 35 meters. One of the most successful features of
the building is its use of natural light, drawn in through
glazed panels on the roof. The orientation of the roof panels
was carefully studied on computer at the design stage to
introduce maximum levels of natural light without direct
sunlight.
The library has also acted as an catalyst for improvements
throughout the city, such as renovating roads, buildings,
bridges and upgrading hotels. The library is seen as a
progressive landmark for the country as a whole, reinstating
Egypt on the map as open, modern center of cultural exchange.
Jury Citation
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 its current financial management, 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 'titled 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 variety of programs it 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. |
| Primary
School, Gando, Burkina Faso |
Client: The
Community of Gando Village, Burkina Faso
Architect: Diebedo Francis Kere, Burkina Faso
Completion: 2001
Gando, with a population of 3000, lies on the southern
plains of Burkina Faso, some 200 km from Ouagadougou, the
capital. Diebedo Francis Kere, the first person from Gando to
study abroad, was convinced of his people's advancement. As an
architecture student in Berlin, he took upon himself the cause
of ensuring that his village would not be deprived of a
school, and with a group of friends in Germany, Kere set up a
fund-raising association, "Schulbausteine fur Gando"
(Bricks foe the Gando School). The idea met with a positive
response and having secured finance through the association,
Kere also obtained the support of LOCOMAT (a government agency
in Burkina Faso) to train brick makers in the technique of
working with compressed stabilized earth. Construction of the
school began in October 2000, carried out largely by the
village's men, women and children. After the school was
completed in July 2001, construction of buildings for resident
teachers began along similar principles.
To achieve sustainability, the project was based on the
principles of designing for climatic comfort with low-cost
construction, making the most of local materials and the
potential of the local community, and adapting technology from
the industrialized world in a simple way. It was also
conceived as an exemplar that would raise awareness in the
local community of the merits of traditional materials.
Climatic considerations largely determined the building's form
and materials. The structure comprises traditional
load-bearing walls, made from stabilized and compressed earth
blocks. Concrete beams run across the width of the ceiling,
and steel bars lying across these support a ceiling also of
compressed earth blocks. Climatic comfort is also ensured by
the overhanging roof, which shades the facades, by the raising
of the corrugated metal roof on a steel truss, allowing
cooling air to flow freely between the roof and the ceiling,
and through the use of earth blocks for the walls, which
absorb heat, moderating room temperature.
All the people involved in the project management were native
to the village, and the skills learned here will be applied to
further initiatives in the village and elsewhere.
Jury Citation
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, he 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 instills hope
in its community, laying the foundations for the advancement
of a people. |
| Sandbag
Shelter Prototypes, various locations |
Architect:
Cal-Earth Institute, Nader Khalili, US Timetable First
Development, 1992
The global need for housing includes millions 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 basic
construction technique involves filling sandbags with earth
and laying them in courses in a circular plan. The circular
courses are corbelled near the top to form a dome. Barbed wire
is laid between courses to prevent the sandbags from shifting
and to provide earthquake resistance.
Hence the materials of war - sandbags and barbed wire - are
used for peaceful ends, integrating traditional earth
architecture with contemporary global safety requirements.
The system employs the timeless forms of arches, domes and
vaults to create single and double-curvature shell structures
that are both strong and aesthetically pleasing. While these
load-bearing or compression forms refer to the ancient mud brick
architecture of the Middle East, the use of barbed wire as a
tensile element alludes to the portable tensile structures of
nomadic cultures. The result is an extremely safe structure.
The addition of barbed wire to the compression structures
creates earthquake resistance; the aerodynamic form resists
hurricanes; the use of sandbags aids flood resistance; and the
earth itself provides insulation and fire proofing.
Since 1982, Nader Khalili has developed and tested the
Superadobe prototype in California. In 1991, he founded the
California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture
(Cal-Earth), a non-profit research and educational
organization that covers everything from construction on the
Moon and on Mars to housing design and development for the
world's homeless foe the United Nations. Both the UNHCR and
the United Nations Development Program have chosen to apply
the system, which they used in 1995 to provide temporary
shelters for a flood of refugees coming into Iran from Iraq.
Khalili's educational philosophy has also continued to
develop. A distance-teaching program is being tested for the
live broadcast of hands-on instruction directly from
Cal-Earth. Many individuals have been trained at Cal-Earth to
build with these techniques and are carrying this knowledge to
those in need in many countries of the world, from Mongolia to
Mexico, India to the United States, and Iran, Brazil, Siberia,
Chile and South Africa.
Jury Citation
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 forms 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 the construction of the sandbag
shelters does not require external intervention, but can be
built 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. |
| Restoration
of Al-Abbas Mosque, Near Asnaf, Yemen |
Client: General
Organization for Antiquities, Manuscripts and Museums and the
French Center for Yemeni Studies, Yemen
Conservators: Marylene Barret, France, with assistance from
Abdullah al-Hadrami, Yemen
Al-Abbas Mosque is a testimony to the living traditions and
architectural achievements of one of the world's earliest
civilizations. Build over 800 years ago, the mosque is
situated on the remains of a pre-Islamic shrine or temple on a
site considered sacred since ancient times. Its cubic form
also has ancient precedents, including the Kaaba in Mecca. The
local population continues to revere the mosque and the site
today still holds special significance for them. The lower
parts of the mosque's wall are made of stone, with mud bricks
at the upper levels. Almost square in plan, the mosque has a
flat roof, making it cubic in shape. Inside are 6 columns, 4
in stone dating from pre-Islamic times and 2 in brick. By the
1980s, the ceiling was suffering from rot and warping in 1985,
the Yemeni Government asked the French Center for Yemeni
Studies in Sanaa to help preserve it. The ceiling was
dismantled with funding from UNESCO and removed to the
National Museumof Sanaa. In 1987, the French Center asked
archaeologist and conservator Marylene Barret to carry out the
restoration of the ceiling, which took 3 years. The cleaning
and restoration was a slow, painstaking process, and the
importance of preserving the history of the ceiling was
respected. Major repairs were also required on the roof, and
the decision was taken to restore the fabric of the building
itself. Marylene undertook this work with Yemeni architect
Abdullah al-Hadrami, together with a team of French and Yemeni
archaeologists and the best local craftsmen, who completed the
restoration project in 1996. Traditional materials and
techniques - many still in use today, such as qudad, a
traditional mortar composed of lime and volcanic aggregate
that is polished with a smooth stone and daubed with animal
fat - were employed wherever possible. No speculative elements
were inserted: All new elements can be traced back to original
examples in both their form and their location.
After the completion of the roof, 1000 separate pieces of
ceiling were carefully assembled like a puzzle and numbered in
museum. They were then transported to the mosque, one row at a
time, and fixed to an ingenious new supporting structure of
U-shaped box beams that is entirely hidden now that the
restored panels are in place.
The restoration principles employed in Al-Abbas Mosque may
well serve as a guide for further projects concerned with the
preservation of cultural property, and the project may
stimulate further research, particularly in relation to a
number of ruins surrounding the mosque site.
Jury Citation
This scheme has been chosen to receive an award, because it
applies exemplary conservation standards and engages local
pride in safeguarding this culturally significant monument for
future generations.
The project presents the establishment of a successful and
sustainable partnership between local and external expertise
for the conservation process. In fact, the process has raised
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 conservation of
the delicate decorative ceiling paintings.
The project also demonstrates sensitivity in dealing with the
building 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. |
| Old
city of Jerusalem Revitalization Program (OCJRP), Old City, Jerusalem |
Sponsor: Welfare
Association, Switzerland
Conservation: OCJRP Technical Office, Jerusalem
Completion: Ongoing since 1996
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 Program aims to rehabilitate the
city, to preserve its heritage and to create a better quality
or life for its inhabitants. It is a comprehensive project
aimed at every aspect of human life, with several components,
including restoration, training, education and public
awareness. All these components are tied together to achieve
an integrated and enduring revitalization.
The body of completed works to date includes over 160
projects, all undertaken in close collaboration with local
institutions, international organizations and funding
agencies. The urban fabric has suffered from neglect, in
appropriate use and inadequate services, with many people
living in dilapidated buildings in unsanitary conditions.
To address these issues the Welfare Association - a
Geneva-based non-governmental organization established in 1983
to support Palestinians in all development areas - set up a
technical office in
Jerusalem in 1995. The office is composed all professionals
from different fields: Architecture, engineering, planning,
economics and history.
The Old City Revitalization Plan forms the basis of the
program's work. The duration of the project varies from about
3 months for a small house to many years for non-residential
projects; work on buildings of historic and architectural
value is carried out slowly and sensitively and made with
great care.
By the end of 2003, 82 residential projects and 26 public and
55 commercial buildings had been restored through the program,
providing decent living conditions for residents, creating new
spaces for the community and ensuring the preservation of the
rich historic fabric of the old city.
Jury Citation
The program 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 project has created a community
outreach program to raise public awareness of the value of
historic buildings and to encourage public participation and
restoration.
The effort is conducted under severe constraints, restoring
the 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. |
| B2
House, Buykhusun, Ayvacik, Turkey |
Clients: Selman
and Suha Bilal, Turkey
Architect: Han Tumertekin, Turkey
Completion: June 2001
B2 House is located on the edges Buykhusun, a small village
near Ayvacik, on Turkey's north Aegean coast housing, a
tightly knit community of around 450 people, who work mainly
in agriculture. Located just outside the south-east boundary
of the village, the pure rectangular mass of B2 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. The house
opens itself the surrounding and encourages its users not only
to observe the landscape but also to immerse themselves in
nature through the use of semi-external parts of the
accommodation. It is a place, where a basic shelter becomes a
space for the celebration of nature. B2 House is embedded in
the slope of the mountainside; however, in contrast to the
local building typology, there are no garden walls around B2
House. As a result, the site is absorbed by the surrounding
landscape but, at the same time, the house is set apart,
appearing almost as a sculpture on a pedestal.
The purity of the main spaces and an integration with nature
are maintained by semi-external spaces and all of the outdoor
spaces are conceived as integral parts of the house.
The structure of the house is earthquake resistant and fairly
simple, and it was built with local technology and materials.
With a reduced architectural language employing humble
materials and rudimentary forms, remarkable spatial conditions
are achieved in B2 House. The spaces gain a sublime presence
that transforms the sense of a dwelling into that of a
monument. The house functions as an apparatus for perceiving
nature with truly mesmerizing effects, constantly shifting the
user from domestic activity to a state of pure contemplation
in a suspended timeless zone. Its capacity to transport its
users between different realms is extended to its image: The
pure mass on a pedestal is conceived with the silent grandeur
and noble simplicity of a monument, while its scale and humble
materials take it back to the realm of the vernacular.
Jury Citation
This house has been chosen to receive an award, because it
embodies the sense of perfection and well-being. It represent
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 into a wider
landscape. B2 conveys a maximum amount or dignity, achieved
with a minimum of means. It celebrates the act of
contemplation, looking towards the distant between 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 visitor or
passers-by. When empty, it continues to command the respect it
so much deserves. |
| Petronas
Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
Client: Kuala
Lumpur City Center Holdings Sdn Bhd., Malaysia
Architect: Cesar Pelli & Associates, US
Completion: January 1997 - August 1999
The Petronas towers are the centerpiece of the mixed-use Kuala
Lumpur City Center (KLCC) complex, set in the heart of the
commercial district of the city.
Rising 452 meters, the towers were certified the world's
tallest buildings by the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban
Habitat in 1996.
The complex is at the forefront of technology, with a form
derived from an Islamic pattern, an extensive use of local
materials.
The towers have become a popular example of contemporary
architecture in Malaysia, and their elegant form makes them
the country's most significant urban landmark.
The project design is based on the concept of two interlocking
squares that form an eight-pointed star, modified by placing 8
semicircles in the angles of the corners, to create more floor
space. Each tower rises 88 stories and provides 128,000 square
meters of floor space, including and additional circular
'bustle' or annex 44 stories high. The towers taper at 6
intervals, with the walls of the upper levels sloping inwards.
Both towers are topped by a conical spire and a
73.5-meter-high pinnacle. The towers are connected at the 41st
and 42nd levels, 170 meters above street level, by a sky
bridge, enabling intercommunication between the towers. The
structural design of the sky bridge was complex. because it
had to accommodate differing movements from each tower.
Throughout the complex, automatic controls and advanced
communication reduce energy consumption and promote
convenience of use. The Petronas Towers complex combines
modern technology with a sense of cultural identity. It has
also introduced new architectural standards to Malaysia in
terms of design, construction and technology.
Jury Citation
The 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
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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