Five Projects Receive 2010 Aga Khan Award for Architecture

The five projects selected by the 2010 Master Jury are:

Wadi Hanifa Wetlands, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Re-establishing the natural landscape in the desert tablelands and rangelands of the desert catchment area above the Wadi bed, including construction of check dams. © Copyright: Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Arriyadh Development Authority

This project is already successful in providing water treatment while creating a one-of-a-kind natural facility and open-space public attraction. © Copyright: Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Arriyadh Development Authority

Interpretative trails that wind their way throughout the Wadi allowing the public to access the area easily and to direct them to places of interest. © Copyright: Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Arriyadh Development Authority

Revitalisation of the Hypercentre of Tunis, Tunisia

3D model of the central market. © Copyright: Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Association de Sauvegarde de la Médina de Tunis

Interior view of the central building after restoration. © Copyright: Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Salah Jabeur

Interior view of the central building after restoration. © Copyright: Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Salah Jabeur

Madinat Al-Zahra Museum, Cordoba, Spain

View of mashrabiyya-type openings, and reflecting pool. © Copyright Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Melissa Walsh, Maximillian Jacobson-Gonzalez

View of main patio from the lobby. © Copyright Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Melissa Walsh, Maximillian Jacobson-Gonzalez

Archeaological site of Madinat Al-Zahra. © Copyright Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Melissa Walsh, Maximillian Jacobson-Gonzalez

Ipekyol Textile Factory, Edirne, Turkey

Aga Khan Award_Ipekyol. Detail of the North-West façade. © Copyright: Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Cemal Emden

Aga Khan Award_Ipekyol. Inner gallery, facing the North-West façade. © Copyright: Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Cemal Emden

Aga Khan Award_Ipekyol. Inner courtyard. © Copyright: Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Thomas mayer

Bridge School, Xiashi, Fujian, China

Photo: Aga Khan Award_Bridge School (Classroom, interior), © Copyright: Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Li Xiaodong Atelier

Aga Khan Award_Bridge School (South view of the entrance), © Copyright: Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Li Xiaodong Atelier

Aga Khan Award_Bridge School (Master plan, School plan, Sections), © Copyright: Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Li Xiaodong Atelier

At the Award ceremony, His Highness the Aga Khan presented the Chairman’s Award to Professor Oleg Grabar in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the field of Islamic art and architecture. The Chairman’s Award was established to honour achievements that fall outside the scope of the Master Jury’s mandate and is made in recognition of the lifetime achievements of distinguished architects and academics. It has been presented on only three previous occasions. The winning projects were selected by an independent Master Jury from a shortlist of 19 projects announced in May 2010. A total of 401 projects were presented for consideration for the 2010 Award.

In their statement, the Master Jury noted that a central concern in making their selection had been the issues of identity and plurality and their intersection in an increasingly globalized world. They emphasized the generous and pluralistic visions reflected through the winning projects, and the transformative roles they have played in the improvement of the quality of the built environment both in places with a majority of Muslims and in societies where Muslims are in a minority.