Lisbon, 30 April 2013 – The shortlist of nominees for the 2013 cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture was announced today at the Palacio das Necessidades (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs). The 20 nominees for the US$ 1 million prize range from a modern high rise apartment block to the revival of traditional building techniques. Shortlisted projects, which are selected by an independent Master Jury, are located in Afghanistan, Austria, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Thailand and Yemen. The shortlist includes:

Farrokh Derakhshani, the Director of the Award, remarked: “The Master Jury, which includes some of the most prominent architects of our time, made interesting choices this year. For example, they chose schools in Afghanistan and Syria, but they also chose a hospital in Sudan, a high rise in Bangkok and the reconstruction of a refugee camp in Lebanon. In many ways, the choices reflect a central preoccupation of the Award: the impact of buildings and public spaces on the quality of life. Now this seems fairly mainstream, but we must remember that the Aga Khan Award has been talking about 'human scale' and 'sustainability' since 1977”.

The Award’s mandate is different from that of many other architecture prizes: it selects projects – from innovative mud and bamboo schools to state of the art “green” high-rises – which not only exhibit architectural excellence but also improve the overall quality of life. Since the Award was launched 36 years ago, over 100 projects have received the award and more than 7,500 building projects have been documented.

The shortlisted projects are now being technically reviewed by a select group of architects, urban planners and engineers. The reviews, which emphasise both the impact on the quality of life and architectural excellence, will be submitted in June to the Master Jury for closer evaluation. Five to six finalists will then be selected and announced at a ceremony to be held in Lisbon in September 2013.

Images and additional information about the shortlisted projects are available at: http://www.akdn.org/architecture/awards.asp?tri=2013. Project descriptions of the short list are also available as a PDF in English and Portuguese.

Video Available: Each project page (see above for links) contains a video which can be viewed at full screen. Broadcast quality films and B-Roll material of the 20 nominees and the announcement is available on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and at the following links: For the VNR: http://www.dev.tv/TEMPORARYFILES/AKAAshortlistVNR.mov. For the BROLL: http://www.dev.tv/TEMPORARYFILES/AKAAshortlistBROLL.mov. The shotlist is available here: http://www.dev.tv/TEMPORARYFILES/AKAAshortlistVNR.docx

The Awards are selected by an independent Master Jury appointed by the Steering Committee for each three-year Award cycle. The nine members of the Master Jury for the 2010-2013 Award cycle are:

Mr. David Adjaye, Principal, Adjaye Associates, London, United Kingdom
Dr. Howayda al-Harithy, Professor, Department of Architecture and Design, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Mr. Michel Desvigne, Landscape Architect and Founder, Agence Michel Desvigne, Paris, France
Professor Mahmood Mamdani, Professor and Executive Director, Makerere Institute for Social Research (MISR), Wandegeya, Uganda
Mr. Kamil Merican, Principal Designer and CEO, Group Design Partnership, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Professor Toshiko Mori, Principal, Toshiko Mori Architect, New York City, USA
Ms. Shahzia Sikander, Artist, New York City, USA
Mr. Murat Tabanlioglu, Architect and Founder, Tabanlioglu Architects, Istanbul, Turkey
Mr. Wang Shu, Architect and Founder, Amateur Architecture Studio, Hangzhou, China

Full biographies of Master Jury members can be found online at: http://www.akdn.org/architecture/jury.asp

About the Aga Khan Award for Architecture

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture was established by the Aga Khan in 1977 to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of communities in which Muslims have a significant presence. The 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 Award is governed by a Steering Committee chaired by His Highness the Aga Khan. The current members of the Steering Committee are:

His Highness the Aga Khan (Chairman)
Mohammad al-Asad (Founder & chairman, Center for the Study of the Built Environment, Jordan)
Homi K. Bhabha (Director of the Humanities Center, Harvard University, USA)
Norman Foster (Founder and chairman, Foster + Partners, UK)
Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj (Architect, Damascus)
Glenn Lowry (Director, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA)
Rahul Mehrotra (Principal, RMA Architects, India)
Mohsen Mostafavi (Dean of the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, USA)
Farshid Moussavi (Principal, Farshid Moussavi Architecture, UK)
Han Tümertekin (Principal, Mimarlar Tasarim Danismanlik Ltd, Turkey)

Farrokh Derakhshani is Director of the Award.

For more information please contact:

Sam Pickens
Aga Khan Award for Architecture
PO Box 2049
1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
Telephone: (41.22) 909.72.00
Email: info@akdn.org
Website: www.akdn.org/architecture

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