Aga Khan Award for Architecture Seminar at AKU-ISMC
18 May 2007

Kaedi Regional Hospital, Mauritania (AKDN Image Bank)

Over the 18th and 19th of May the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) held a joint seminar with the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) in London, UK to discuss the tangible elements of multiple modernities and its relationship to the Award.

Since its inception in 1977, the AKAA has grown to be an important international award, with a unique tradition of looking for excellence in the built environment and how it can improve people’s lives.  With the theme of multiple modernities in mind, the seminar at AKU-ISMC was held in order to reflect on what the Award had achieved, and consider the next 25 years.

The philosophy of multiple modernities is grounded in the idea that the dichotomy between the traditional and the modern is false, and that modernity need not assume ‘modernisation’ in the sense of ‘westernisation.’  From this perspective, it is possible to be modern within one’s own cultural framework, an idea that breeds inclusiveness rather than exclusiveness in relations between modernity and tradition.

Over the two days of the seminar, three sessions were conducted, each consisting of one paper, one commentator and a discussion.  The genuinely intellectual dialogue that emerged led to the exploration and development of ideas from a wide range of people in the fields of architecture, the humanities and sociology with an emphasis on the application of these ideas to architecture.

The three presentations were, From Civilisations to Multiple Modernities. The issue of the public sphere by Professor Armando Salvatore, Iranian Islamic Modernities by Professor Masud Kamali and Critique of Modernity, to the Limit of Its Rejection, as a Part of Modernity! by Professor Modjtaba Sadria.

A wide range of scholars participated in the seminar.

The Institute’s graduate students were involved in the second day of the seminar and discussed a number of ideas relating to the importance of the Award and its content.  The intellectually robust dialogue that occurred during the seminar underlines its important educational impact, especially for the graduate students.

The AKAA is the largest architectural award in the world and aims to identify and encourage building concepts that address the needs and aspirations of societies where Muslims form a majority of the population.

The Award looks to identify practices that not only provide for economic and social means, but stimulate the spiritual and cultural needs of the community as well.  In addition to this, projects that make use of local resources and act as an inspiration to other projects elsewhere are rated highly.

1980 Chairman's Award recipient - Hassan Fathy, Egypt (AKDN Image Bank)

The AKAA, which seeks out a broad range of architectural projects - from contemporary design to restoration and rehabilitation of important sites, has developed an important constituency including art magazines, critics and architects from around the world.

The seminar was one of four to be held over the next two years.  The aim of the seminar series is the eventual production of a book that strengthens the knowledge base of the Award by looking at its broader intellectual and educational impact.

External Links

For more information about the Aga Khan Award for Architecture please click here.

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Professor Modjtaba Sadria participates in Aga Khan Award for Architecture Award Ceremony (October 2007)

All photographs © agencies of AKDN including AKAA, AKU and AKF.
The photo on the previous page is the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris (AKDN Image Bank).