The Aga Khan Award for Architecture has announced the members of the Master Jury for the 2020-2022 Cycle. The Jury, which will independently select the recipients of the US$ 1 million Award, will convene in January 2022 to select a shortlist from hundreds of nominated projects.

The nine-member jury panel includes significant names for the fifteenth Award Cycle, including conservation architect Nada Al Hassan, Professor and Dean of Columbia GSAPP and Principle of WORKac Amale Andraos, Burkina Faso-born architect and designer Francis Kéré, Franco-Lebanese architect and founder of Paris-based studio Lina Ghotmeh Architecture Lina Ghotmeh, 2021 Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Anne Lacaton, Professor and Dean of the Cooper Union's Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture Nader Tehrani.

Image courtesy of Aga Khan Award for Architecture

In January 2022, the Master Jury will select a shortlist, the shortlisted projects will then be subjected to rigorous on-site reviews by independent experts, most of them architects, conservation specialists, planners or structural engineers. 

The Jury will meet for a second time in summer 2022 to examine the on-site reviews and select the final recipients of the Award. 

The selection process of the jury will emphasize architecture "that not only provides for people’s physical, social and economic needs, but that also stimulates and responds to their cultural aspirations." 

They will give a particular attention to building schemes that use local resources and appropriate technology in innovative ways and to projects likely to inspire similar efforts elsewhere.

Arcadia Education Project in Bangladesh by Saif Ul Haque Sthapati. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Sanndro di Carlo Darsa

Established in 1977, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture identifies and encourages building concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of communities in which Muslims have a significant presence. 

The prestigious Award recognises examples of architectural excellence 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.

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is governed by a Steering Committee chaired by His Highness the Aga Khan. 

Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, Palestine by Heneganh Peng Architects. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden

The other members of the Steering Committee are Sheikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, President, Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, Manama; Emre Arolat, Founder, EAA - Emre Arolat Architecture, Istanbul; Meisa Batayneh, Principal Architect, Founder, maisam architects and engineers, Amman; Sir David Chipperfield, Principal, David Chipperfield Architects, London; Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Director, Institute of African Studies, Columbia University, New York; Nasser Rabbat, Aga Khan Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; Marina Tabassum, Principal, Marina Tabassum Architects, Dhaka; Sarah M. Whiting, Dean, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge. Farrokh Derakhshani is the Director of the Award.

Alioune Diop University Lecture Building in Bambey, Senegal by IDOM. Image © Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Chérif Tall

You can see the winning projects for the 2017-2019 Cycle for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The winning projects include the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit by Heneganh Peng Architects, Revitalisation of Muharraq in Bahrain by Authority for Culture & Antiquities Conservation Department, Manama, Arcadia Education Project in Bangladesh by Saif Ul Haque Sthapati.

Top image courtesy of Aga Khan Award for Architecture. 

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