Aga Khan Trust for Culture

His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V is the 50th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, and the Chair of the Aga Khan Development Network. He is the eldest son of the late Prince Karim Aga Khan and succeeded his father in accordance with historical Shia Imami Ismaili tradition on 4 February 2025.

His Highness worked closely with his late father for over three decades, serving on the boards of many AKDN agencies. He has been particularly concerned with AKDN&rsquo;s drive to protect the environment and mitigate the effects of climate change. He has also given sustained attention to the work of AKDN and the Ismaili community institutions in addressing the needs of those living in the greatest poverty and supporting the improvement of their livelihoods through education, training and enterprise.

His Highness meets regularly with leaders of government, international organisations and civil society to strengthen their relations with the Ismaili Imamat and to advance AKDN&rsquo;s efforts to improve the lives of marginalised and vulnerable communities.

His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V is the 50th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, and the Chair of the Aga Khan Development Network.

HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN

Omar Akbar is a German urbanist and architect, and the Executive Director of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation. He was born in Afghanistan and attended primary school in Kabul, and undertook university and graduate training in architecture and urban design at the Technical University in Berlin. His Master's thesis (1976) concentrated on the process of urbanization in developing countries, using India as an example, and his doctoral thesis (1981) was a comparison of the social behaviour and the construction and spatial organization of&nbsp;mahals, which led to the development of the theory of Islamic living quarters. Professor Akbar worked as an architect in several offices in Germany while at the same time teaching in Berlin. He was the team leader (1981-82) of the development project for Al-Karkh (an area of Baghdad), and a consultant to GTZ (German Agency for Technical Development) from 1987 to 1993 for urban development projects in Banjul (Gambia), Sana'a (Yemen), and Aswan (Egypt). He also served as a UNESCO consultant on Cairo in 1991 and 1992. From 1993 to 1998, he was professor of urban design and the theory of architecture at the Technical University for Applied Sciences in Dessau, before taking up the position of Executive Director of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation in 1998.&nbsp;

Omar Akbar is a German urbanist and architect, and the Executive Director of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation.

Omar Akbar

Jacques Herzog is a Swiss architect and partner in "Herzog &amp; de Meuron", the firm which received the 2001 Pritzker Architecture Prize. Trained in architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Z&uuml;rich, Mr. Herzog opened his private practice with Pierre de Meuron in Basel during 1978. Recently completed projects include Prada Aoyama Tokyo; Forum 2004 Building and Plaza in Barcelona; the Walker Art Center Expansion in Minneapolis; and the new de Young Museum in San Francisco. Following the success of the Allianz Arena in Munich, Herzog &amp; de Meuron are designing the National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Other current projects include: The New Link Quay in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Caixa Forum in Madrid, and the Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg. The projects and completed works of Herzog &amp; de Meuron are widely exhibited and published, and featured in numerous monographs and catalogues. Mr. Herzog is a visiting professor at Harvard University and co-founder of the ETH Studio Basel, Institute for the Contemporary City. He was a member of the 2004 Award Steering Committee.&nbsp;

Jacques Herzog is a Swiss architect and partner in "Herzog & de Meuron", the firm which received the 2001 Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Jacques Herzog

Glenn Lowry is an art historian from the United States and Director of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. Among the major exhibitions that have taken place during Mr. Lowry's tenure at MoMA are&nbsp;Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years&nbsp;(2007),&nbsp;Manet and the Execution of Maximilian&nbsp;(2007),&nbsp;Edvard Munch: The Modern Life of the Soul&nbsp;(2006),&nbsp;Pioneering Modern Painting: C&eacute;zanne and Pissarro 1865-1885&nbsp;(2005),&nbsp;Matisse Picasso&nbsp;(2003),&nbsp;Mies in Berlin&nbsp;(2001), and&nbsp;Jackson Pollock&nbsp;(1998-1999).&nbsp;A noted scholar of Islamic arts and architecture, Mr. Lowry was previously Director of the Art Gallery of Ontario (1990-1995) and Curator of Near Eastern Art at the Smithsonian Institution's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art (1984-1990) where he organised, among other exhibitions,&nbsp;Timur and Princely Vision: Persian Art and Culture in the Fifteenth Century&nbsp;(1989) and&nbsp;A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection&nbsp;(1988). Mr. Lowry's many honours include honorary doctorates from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (2000) and The College of William and Mary (2009),&nbsp;Chevalier de l&rsquo;Ordre National du M&eacute;rite&nbsp;(1994) and&nbsp;Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres&nbsp;(2001) from the French government, and the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Studies Award (1990). Mr. Lowry is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science and American Philosophical Society.

Glenn Lowry is an art historian from the United States and Director of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

 Glenn Lowry

An architect and educator, Mohsen Mostafavi is Dean of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and the Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design. He was formerly the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University, prior to which he served as the Chairman of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.&nbsp;He has taught at numerous institutions including the University of Pennsylvania, University of Cambridge and the Frankfurt Academy of Fine Arts (St&auml;delschule). Mostafavi served on the Steering Committee of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture from 2001 to 2013, and has served on the design committees of the London Development Agency (LDA) and the RIBA Gold Medal. He is a consultant on a number of international architectural and urban design projects, including a recent collaboration on the major technology park Skolkovo Innovation Center in Skolkovo, Russia; the Greenway Campus Project at Amherst College; and campus design at Weifang University. He was co-curator of the 5th China International Architectural Biennial 2013 in Beijing and the 2015 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season Main Exhibition Pavilion. His recent publications include&nbsp;Ecological Urbanism&nbsp;(co-edited 2010 and recently translated into Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish);&nbsp;Implicate &amp; Explicate&nbsp;(2011);&nbsp;Louis Vuitton: Architecture and Interiors&nbsp;(2011);&nbsp;In the Life of Cities&nbsp;(2012);&nbsp;Instigations: Engaging Architecture, Landscape, and the City&nbsp;(2012);&nbsp;Architecture Is Life&nbsp;(2013);&nbsp;Nicholas Hawksmoor: The London Churches&nbsp;(2015); and&nbsp;Ethics of the Urban: The City and the Spaces of the Political&nbsp;(forthcoming).

An architect and educator, Mohsen Mostafavi is Dean of the Harvard University Graduate School

 Mohsen Mostafavi

Farshid Moussavi is an architect and educator, and principal of Farshid Moussavi Architecture (FMA). She studied at University College London and the Harvard Graduate School of Design before co-founding Foreign Office Architects (FOA) in London. FMA is working on a range of international projects including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland, USA; a residential complex in the La D&eacute;fense financial district in Paris, France; and the Quran Museum in Tehran.&nbsp;At FOA, she co-authored many award-winning projects internationally such as the Yokohama International Port Terminal and the firm&rsquo;s work was widely published and exhibited, most notably as a solo show representing the British Pavilion at the 8th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2002. FOA&rsquo;s many awards included the Enric Miralles Prize for Architecture, six RIBA Awards, the 2004 Venice Architecture Biennale Award and the Charles Jencks Award for Architecture. Since 2006, Farshid Moussavi has been Professor in Practice of Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She has also taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, the Architectural Association in London, the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, the Hoger Architectuure Instituut in Gent, and in the USA at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and Princeton University School of Architecture, as well as at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. Farshid Moussavi is the author of&nbsp;The Function of Ornament&nbsp;(2006) and&nbsp;the Function of Form&nbsp;(2009), based on her research and teaching at Harvard. Both books have been translated into several languages. She has recently become a regular columnist for the Architectural Review magazine. Professor Moussavi is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Whitechapel Gallery as well as The Architecture Foundation in London. She is an External Examiner at the Royal College of Art in London and is on the Education Board of the Strelka Institute for Architecture, Media and Design in Moscow. She has previously been a member of the Advisory Group to the British Council, the Mayor of London&rsquo;s&nbsp;Design for London&nbsp;advisory group, the International Design Committee for the London Development Agency (LDA) and the RIBA President&rsquo;s Medals. She has served on the jury for the RIBA Gold Medal and the Stirling Prize for Architecture. In 2004, she was Chair of the Aga Khan Award Master Jury and has been a member of the Award Steering Committee since 2005.&nbsp;

Farshid Moussavi is an architect and educator, and principal of Farshid Moussavi Architecture (FMA). 

Farshid Moussavi

Hani Rashid&nbsp;is a New York based practising architect who received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Carleton University and a Master of Architecture degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. In 1988, he co-founded Asymptote Architecture in New York City with partner Lise Anne Couture. Asymptote received the 2004 Frederick Kiesler Award in recognition of outstanding contribution to the fields of art and architecture. The work of Asymptote includes architecture, urban planning, exhibition and product design as well as multi-media digital installations. Current projects include a commercial and cultural complex in Penang, Malaysia; a chapel and auditorium in the Netherlands; a masterplan for the city of Monterrey, Mexico; a residential tower in New York; and an exhibition venue for Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, Germany. Recently completed projects include the award-winning HydraPier in the Netherlands, the Turf Club Masterplan in Penang, and a proposal for a new Guggenheim Museum in Guadalajara, Mexico. Hani Rashid's work has been featured in numerous publications including&nbsp;Time&nbsp;magazine,&nbsp;The New York Times,&nbsp;Domus,&nbsp;A + U,&nbsp;Architectural Record&nbsp;and&nbsp;Wired. He represented the United States at the American Pavilion of the Architecture Biennale in Venice in June 2000; in 2004, he was the Chair to the C&aacute;tedra Luis Barrag&aacute;n, in Monterey, Mexico, and was invited to exhibit at Documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany. Since 1989, Hani Rashid has been a Professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture where he is a leading researcher with respect to architectural design utilizing digital technologies, co-developing the school's Advanced Digital Design programme in 1995. He has been a visiting professor and lecturer at numerous universities including the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen, the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles, the University of Lund, Sweden, the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, the Berlage Institute in the Netherlands, and the Stadleschule in Frankfurt. Presently, Hani Rashid is a Professor of Architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Department of Architecture in Zurich, Switzerland.&nbsp;

Hani Rashid is a New York based practising architect who received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Carleton University

 Hani Rashid

Modjtaba Sadria, an Iranian-born philosopher, is Professor at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations-AKU, London. Professor Sadria holds doctorate degrees in philosophy from the University of Paris and in international relations from the University of Quebec at Montreal, and master's degrees in literature, in history, and in philosophy from the University of Paris. Professor Sadria is a specialist in cross-cultural relations and East Asian studies, and was Professor of Cross-Cultural Relations and East Asian Studies at Chuo University, Tokyo.&nbsp;He lectures widely, including recent presentations on "A Complex World and Many Understandings", "The Possibility of Dialogue After 9.11", "A Perspective of Iranian Foreign Policy: Triangle Relations between Khatami, Nation and Society", "Building Bridges between the United States and Iran", and "Preserving Cultural Integrity and Promoting Dialogue among Civilizations". Professor Sadria is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Policy and Culture, Tokyo. From 1999 to 2001, he served as the Deputy Director for Research at the International Center for Dialogue Among Civilizations in Tehran. He is also a member of the Organizing Committee of the Kyoto International Cultural Forum. Professor Sadria has published over 50 books and articles, including "Global Civil Society and Ethics: Finding Common Ground" (Tokyo, 2003), "People Who Live on the Edge of the World" (Tokyo, 2002), "Realism: Trap of International Relations" (1994, in Japanese),&nbsp;Prayer for Lost Objects: A Non-Weberian Approach to the Birth of Modern Society&nbsp;(2003, in Persian), "Social Development: Challenges to a Concept" (in the&nbsp;Journal of Policy and Culture, Tokyo, 2004), "East Asia: Cultural Aspects of Challenges in a Globalizing World" (in&nbsp;Globalization in East Asia, 2004, in Japanese), and "Spinoza and Japan" (in&nbsp;Sogoseisaku Kenyu, Tokyo, 2005). Professor Sadria was a member of the 2004 Award Master Jury.&nbsp;

Modjtaba Sadria, an Iranian-born philosopher, is Professor at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations-AKU, London. 

 Modjtaba Sadria

Billie Tsien is an American architect and artist trained in fine arts at Yale University (BFA, 1971) and in architecture at the University of California at Los Angeles (M.Arch, 1977). She has worked with Tod Williams since 1977 and they have been in partnership since 1986. She has taught at the Parsons School of Design, Yale University, Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, and the University of Texas at Austin.&nbsp;ompleted works by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects include the American Museum of Folk Art in New York City, the Student Arts Centre at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Feinberg Hall at Princeton University, a 525-person dormitory and dining facility at the University of Virginia, a major addition to the Phoenix Art Museum, the Natatorium at the Cranbrook School, and the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, California. Ms. Tsien has a particular interest in work that bridges art and architecture. She is an advisor for the Wexner Prize, and serves on the boards of the Public Art Fund, the Architectural League, and the American Academy of Rome. With Tod Williams, she is the recipient of the Brunner Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Medal of Honour from the New York City branch of the American Institute of Architects, the Thomas Jefferson Medal from the University of Virginia, the Chrysler Award for Design Innovation, and the Smithsonian Institution/Cooper Hewitt National Design Award. A monograph of their work entitled&nbsp;Work Life&nbsp;was published in 2000. Ms. Tsien was a member of the 2004 Award Master Jury.

Billie Tsien is an American architect and artist trained in fine arts at Yale University (BFA, 1971)

Billie Tsien

Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) 2007

Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA)

Architecture

2005-2007 Cycle: Steering Committee

Prince Rahim Aga Khan joins world leaders at COP28

Seeking common ground in a world of rivalry: AKDN at the 2023 Paris Peace Forum 

Aga Khan Award for Architecture announces Steering Committee for 2025 Award

Search

Aga Khan Development Network

Privacy Policy

Cookie Notice

Terms and Conditions

Legal

Page Temporarily Unavailable

Subscribe Email Check

Home

Our Chair

Our Founder

Our Partners

Awards

Fact Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact Us

Leadership

Biography

The Ismaili Imamat

Titles and Decorations

Who We Are

Early Childhood Development

Education

Health

Developing Human Capacity

Environment & Climate Change

Agriculture & Food Security

Civil Society

Disaster Preparedness & Response

Habitat Planning and Improvement

Habitat Planning & Improvement

Building Resilient Communities

Enterprise Development

Financial Inclusion

Hospitality & Tourism

Industrial Development

Infrastructure Development

Media

Generating Economic Growth

Historic Cities

Museum

Museums

Music

Parks & Gardens

Honouring Cultural Heritage

What We Do

Canada

United States of America

North America

France

Portugal

Switzerland

United Kingdom

Europe

Kenya 

Madagascar

Mozambique

Agriculture and Food Security

Rwanda

Tanzania

Uganda

Eastern Africa

Côte d’Ivoire

West Africa

Egypt

Syria

United Arab Emirates

Middle East

Afghanistan

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyz Republic

Tajikistan

Central Asia

Bangladesh

India

Pakistan

South Asia

Malaysia

Singapore

East Asia

WHERE WE WORK

Where We Work

Our Approach to Development

Our Ethical Framework

Our Approach

AKHS \t Aga Khan Health Services

Aga Khan Health Services

AKAH \t Aga Khan Agency for Habitat

Aga Khan Agency for Habitat

AKF \t Aga Khan Foundation

Aga Khan Foundation

AKS \t Aga Khan Schools

Aga Khan Schools

AKU \t Aga Khan University

Aga Khan University

UCA \t University of Central Asia

University of Central Asia

AKTC \t Aga Khan Trust for Culture

AKAM \t Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance

Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance

AKFED \t Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development

Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development

Our Agencies

How We Work

Our Stories

Project Spotlights

News Releases

Events

AKDN in the Media

News & Stories

Videos

Photographs

MULTIMEDIA

Multimedia

Press Kits

Speeches

Publications

Press Resources

The Learning Hub

Resources

Resources and Media

Careers

Work with AKDN

Donate

Subscribe

International Scholarship Programme

Get Involved

Adnan Test

Adnan Test (Do Not Edit) 

Tag Page

Thank You

Internal

Architecture & Planning

AKF Portugal Legal Documents

Historic Cities Programme in Cairo