Aga Khan Awards 1998 - architectural awards

Architectural Review, The, Nov, 1998

Out of the plethora of architectural awards offered in the world today, those of the Ago Khan(1) have the most explicit social dimension. As this cycle's Master Jury(2) explained in its report it 'searched for projects which respond creatively to the [crises of] the world in general today, and in the Muslim world in particular: demographic pressure, environmental degradation, globalization, standardization, ethnic tensions, the crisis of the nation-state, the struggle for democracy and human rights ... This search was related to community rebuilding ... and to the development of vital modern vernacular styles'. Presumably by this, jury members mean that they have looked for(3) sustainable and replicable models which have lessons for us all. They have certainly done so in premiating the reinvigoration of Indore (p62) and the renaissance of the old town of Hebron (p64); the jury explained that 'both share the idea of reclaiming community space from growing social, physical and environmental degradation'. Particularly in the case of Indore, the most sophisticated modern technology like satellite surveying was combined with age-old methods whereby the inhabitants of the slums literally dug themselves out of squalor. At Hebron 'the project was initiated and managed by a community under siege'.

Equally moving is the leper's hospital at Chopda in India (p66) where the simplest techniques and local materials (some of them waste) were brought together by two young architects to make a building which remains unfinished because it was so urgently needed and it was occupied as soon as the first part was habitable. All three of these projects show how architects and other designers (the person responsible for the Indore project was a civil engineer) provided they have enough modesty, imagination and drive, can use their skills to help the poorest people in the world.

Other premiated schemes in this round of awards are different in character. Jimmy Lira's house in Malaysia (p71) is one of the most obviously ecologically aware of the projects, adapting ancient building techniques (even going as far as refusing to use metal fixings in the timber structure). Yet it is clearly far from cheap, and it is difficult to use as a model for extensive development, though its climate control principles may perhaps have wide application.

The other three award-winning buildings are in different ways attempts to create modern Islamic monuments. The jury commented that they are 'very significant in the process of evolving a contemporary architectural vocabulary within the Islamic world'. Creating a monument in a Muslim culture is no easier than it is elsewhere, and each architect has adopted a different strategy. The Lahore arts centre (p70) is the most conventional: a cluster of modern object buildings is grouped to provide a court which the assessor has found to be a popular addition to the public spaces of the city. While claims that the brick cladding of the Lahore buildings reflects the red sandstone of the old city seem a bit far-fetched, the materials and forms of the Saudi Arabian government hospitality centre (p68) are obviously derived from desert citadels and tents, united in a surprisingly coherent solution that grew out of an unlikely marriage between two quite different teams of designers. Though the place is fundamentally exclusive, the assessor reports that Riyadh citizens use its oasis and terraces in evenings and at holiday times, so it is to some extent a public amenity.

Charles Correa's parliament building in Bhopal (p65) is perhaps the most successful of these monumental buildings. On its height above the city, it has to make a figure, and be a symbol of the state's democracy. And, at the same time, it has to offer an interlocked hierarchy of spaces for the public, their legislators and civil servants. By understanding traditional urban spaces and reinterpreting them, Correa has created a building which resonates with the past but does not copy it.

In one way or another, all the award winners reflect on tradition without being slavish. As the jury pointed out, the countries of the Islamic world 'are developing new lifestyles, cultural values, symbols and aspirations' and the Award Programme is in an ideal position to generate debate on 'architecture that reflects these new realities'. P.D.

1 The awards have been given every three years since 1980. Total prize money is US$ 500 000, which is divided up not only between the architects, but depending on the project, between the people who were responsible for the work, from clients to craftsmen,

2 Members of this jury were Mohammed Arkoun, French/Algerian philosopher, Zaha Hadid; Saleh Al-Hathloul, Saudi Arabian architectural critic and educator, Arif Hasan, Pakistani architect; Arata Isazaki; Fredric Jameson, American cultural theorist; Romi Khosla, Indian architect; Yuswadi Saliya, Indonesian architect; Dogan Tekeli, Turkish architect.

3 Out of 424 projects presented to this year's jury, 24 were selected for review in-situ by assessors to find out how they have performed in practice (usually, a project has to have been in use for at least three years before it is considered; the Aga's awards are the only ones that include this dimension). The seven premiated works were chosen after the jury reconvened to discuss the 24 on the short list. The number of prizewinners was unusually small but the jury was 'concerned not to duplicate messages conveyed through selections by earlier juries', A curious decision, as good lessons need repeating.