Aga khan Award for Architecture

Azra Ak&scaron;amija is an artist and architectural historian born in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and based in Boston. She is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Architecture, where she is the director of the Art, Culture and Technology Program. She is the founding director of the MIT Future Heritage Lab (FHL). She holds a MArch from Princeton University, a PhD in Architecture from MIT and a Diploma Engineer degree from the Technical University Graz.

Ak&scaron;amija's work explores the intersection of art, design, history and preservation, often focusing on cultural heritage, identity and social justice issues. Her artistic practice engages with topics such as the representation of Islam in the West, the agency and resilience of refugee communities, and the role of art in addressing social inequalities and environmental challenges. She is the author of two books: Mosque Manifesto: Propositions for Spaces of Coexistence (2015) and Museum Solidarity Lobby (2019); and the co-editor of Design to Live: Everyday Inventions from a Refugee Camp (2021) with Raafat Mazjoub and Melina Philippou.

She has exhibited her work in leading international venues and museums in Zagreb, Belgrade and Ljubljana, the Sculpture Center and Queens Museum of Art in New York, the Royal Academy of Arts London and Design Festivals in Milan, Istanbul, Eindhoven and Amman. Most recently, her work has been shown at the Kunsthaus Graz in 2024, the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2024, the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023 and 2021, and the Aga Khan Museum Toronto in 2020. Her work has been recognised with the Art Award of the City of Graz in 2018, an honorary doctorate from the Montserrat College of Art (2020), the LafargeHolcim Award 2021 and the Emerging Voices Award by the Architectural League New York in 2022.&nbsp;

She received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2013 for her artistic work in the Altach Islamic Cemetery. She is the editor of the book Architecture of Coexistence, Building Pluralism published in 2020, which features Award recipients in Europe as case studies. She served as an on-site reviewer for the Award in 2016.

Azra Akšamija is an artist and architectural historian born in Sarajevo.

Azra Akšamija 

Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop is an architect and curator with over 15 years of experience in the cultural development, architectural and planning fields. She holds a MArch from the &Eacute;cole Polytechnique F&eacute;d&eacute;rale de Lausanne (EPFL). She currently advises the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities on cultural and heritage policies, where she oversees the planning and implementation of cultural institutions and museums as well as urban rehabilitation strategies. She is also a board member of the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit.&nbsp;&nbsp;

She has built a number of temporary and permanent architectural installations and interventions, and has worked as an architect in Jerusalem, Amsterdam and New York. She was the co-curator of &ldquo;Reclaim&rdquo;, Bahrain's first participation at the 12th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2010, which was awarded a Golden Lion. She was also the deputy commissioner general of the Bahrain Pavilion at the Expo Milan 2015, which received a silver medal for Best Architecture and Landscape.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Since 2015, Al-Sayeh Holtrop has headed the &ldquo;Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy&rdquo; UNESCO World Heritage project, which received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture as part of the Muharraq Revitalisation project in 2019. She served as an on-site reviewer for the Award in 2022.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop is an architect and curator with over 15 years of experience in the cultural development, architectural and planning fields.

Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop 

Lucia Allais is an architectural historian whose work addresses architecture&rsquo;s relation to technology and politics in the modern period and on the global stage. She holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a MArch from Harvard and a B.S.E from Princeton.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Allais is associate professor of architecture at Columbia University, a founding member of the Aggregate Architectural History Collaborative and an editor of the journal Grey Room. At Columbia, she is also the director of the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture, where she has led a broad initiative on the theme of &ldquo;Architecture and Land in and out of the Americas&rdquo; since 2022.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Her first book, Designs of Destruction: The Making of Monuments in the Twentieth Century (2018) shows that today&rsquo;s global heritage policies arose from mid-century episodes of exceptional destruction. She has written widely on the many ways the built environment affects and reflects changing ideas of historical change. Most recent articles have addressed: how the &ldquo;carbonation&rdquo; of reinforced concrete takes part in the image of anthropocenic change; Alois Riegl&rsquo;s influential theory of mood; and the teachings of Louis Pasteur for artists and architects in the 19th century.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Allais has received several grants, prizes and fellowships for this work, including from the Graham Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute, the CASVA, and, most recently, a Sarton Medal for the History of Science. She has collaborated with architects on several exhibitions, including &ldquo;Legible Pompei&rdquo; at the Venice Architecture Biennale (2014) and &ldquo;100 Links&rdquo; at the Chicago Architecture Biennial (2023).&nbsp;&nbsp;

Lucia Allais is an architectural historian whose work addresses architecture’s relation to technology and politics.

Lucia Allais  

David Basulto is an architect and editor. He graduated from Pontificia Universidad Cat&oacute;lica de Chile (2006). In 2006, he founded ArchDaily and its global network of sites in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese. ArchDaily is one of the most important and influential media outlets for architecture and interior design. Its mission is to &ldquo;Inspire, connect and empower the architecture and design community for a better built environment&rdquo;. ArchDaily is the world&rsquo;s most visited architecture website today, with offices and operations in Chile, China, Mexico, Brazil, Germany and Switzerland. As of May 2020, ArchDaily is part of DAAily Platforms owned by the NZZ Media Group in Switzerland. Basulto was the editor-in-chief until 2024.&nbsp;

Basulto is a member of the Endeavor Foundation in New York and of the Advisory Council of the Architecture, Art &amp; Design School at Tecnol&oacute;gico de Monterrey University in Mexico. Curator of the Nordic Countries Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, Basulto lectures widely in Europe, and North and Latin America.&nbsp;&nbsp;

He has also served as jury for several awards, prizes and design competitions in Latin America, North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Basulto has been chosen as one of Chile&rsquo;s 100 Young Leaders and received the National Award of Innovation from the Government of Chile in 2013.&nbsp;&nbsp;

David Basulto is an architect and editor. In 2006, he founded ArchDaily and its global network of sites in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese.

David Basulto 

Yvonne Farrell is an Irish architect and academic. Having graduated from University College Dublin in 1974, along with Shelley McNamara, she co-founded Grafton Architects in 1978. She is a fellow of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI), International Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and elected member of Aosd&aacute;na, the eminent Irish Art organisation.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Recently completed projects include: The Town House Building, Kingston University London; The School of Economics for the University of Toulouse 1 Capitol; Institut Mines T&eacute;l&eacute;com University Building, Paris Saclay; The Marshall Institute, Lincoln&rsquo;s Inn Fields, for the London School of Economics and Political Science; and Headquarters for Electricity Supply Board with OMP architects in Dublin. &nbsp;

In 2018, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara were the curators of the Venice Architecture Biennale. Their manifesto &ldquo;Freespace&rdquo; was the title of the Biennale. In 2019, the RIAI awarded the James Gandon Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Architecture to Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, which is the highest personal award given to an architect in Ireland. The practice was presented with the 2020 RIBA Royal Gold Medal in London. Grafton Architects was also the winner of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture &ndash; Mies Van der Rohe Award 2022 for the Townhouse, Kingston University London.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Yvonne Farrell, along with Shelley McNamara, were selected as the 2020 Pritzker Prize laureates.&nbsp;

Yvonne Farrell is an Irish architect and academic.

Yvonne Farrell

Kabage Karanja is a Nairobi-based architect, researcher&nbsp;and educator. He studied art and architecture in the United Kingdom, where he qualified in 2011 under the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He leads the research and aesthetic direction of Cave_bureau, which&nbsp;charts explorations into architecture and urbanism within nature. This work addresses the anthropological and geological context of the postcolonial African city to confront the challenges of our contemporary rural and urban lives.

In 2022, he was an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University&rsquo;s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation, and he has recently been appointed as the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor of Architectural Design at Yale University. His work has been published widely on platforms such as e-flux, The New York Times, Wallpaper, Elle Decor, Dezeen, The Architect&rsquo;s Newspaper, CNN, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and The Architectural Review, amongst others.

In 2025, he will be co-curating the British Pavilion for the upcoming Venice Architecture Biennale. Since 2017, he has led the research project titled &ldquo;The Anthropocene Museum&rdquo;, which has been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum and twice at the Venice Architecture Biennale, where Cave_bureau received a special mention in 2021 for the installation &ldquo;Obsidian Rain&rdquo; under &ldquo;Anthropocene Museum 3.0&rdquo;. In 2023-2024, he participated in the final series of &ldquo;The Architects Studio&rdquo; solo show, featuring the works and collection of Cave_bureau at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark. More recently a section of &ldquo;the Anthropocene Museum&rdquo; collection that includes the &ldquo;mbai bronze&rdquo; has been acquired by New York&rsquo;s Museum of Modern Art.&nbsp;

Kabage Karanja is a Nairobi-based architect, researcher and educator.

Kabage Karanja 

Yacouba Konat&eacute; is a curator, writer and art critic. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from Panth&eacute;on-Sorbonne University in Paris. He is currently vice-president of the Scientific Council of the Academy of Sciences, Arts, African Cultures and Diasporas in Abidjan and president of honour of the International Association of Art Critics in Paris, as well as the director of the Rotonde des Arts Contemporains in Abidjan. Until 2021, he served as director of the Market for African Performing Arts of Abidjan.&nbsp;&nbsp;

He is also a consultant in cultural development and has been the artistic advisor for several projects of the Jean-Paul Blach&egrave;re Foundation. He was Fulbright Professor at Standford University (1998) and taught at the School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris (2004-2008), as well as Laval University in Canada (2007). He was also a Carter Fellow at the University of Florida, Gainesville (2007). Former director of cabinet at the Ivorian Ministry of Culture and Francophony (2000), he also directed the National Higher Institute of Arts and Cultural Action in Abidjan. He was the general curator of the African Contemporary Art Biennale Dak&rsquo;Art in 2006 and curated the Ivorian contribution to the Venice Biennale in 2013 and 2015.&nbsp;

Konat&eacute; has published widely on African culture and politics, amongst which are Alpha Blondy : Reggae et soci&eacute;t&eacute; en Afrique Noire (1987), Christian Lattier : Le sculpteur aux mains nues (1993), La biennale de Dakar. Pour une esth&eacute;tique de la cr&eacute;ation contemporaine africaine (2009) and more recently Voil&agrave; pourquoi&hellip; Contes de Bam&ocirc;r&ocirc; Traor&eacute; de Kong (2019).&nbsp;

Yacouba Konaté is a curator, writer and art critic. 

Yacouba Konaté 

Hassan Radoine is an architecture curator, critic, educator, author and expert-consultant. He is currently full professor and director general of Citinnov SA for Integrated Territorial Planning and Smart Cities at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Rabat, Morocco. He was the founder and director of SAP+D, School of Architecture, Planning and Design at UM6P. He was also the director of &Eacute;cole Nationale d&rsquo;Architecture (ENA) in Rabat, and previously chaired the Architectural Engineering Department at the University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. He received his first diploma in architecture from ENA. As a Fulbright Scholar, he completed a MSc and a PhD in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania; and received an MPhil in Architecture from the Prince of Wales Institute of Architecture and University of Wales.

He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, University of Sharjah, American University of Sharjah, Al Akhawayn University, &Eacute;cole Nationale d&rsquo;Architecture, Al-Akhawayn University and UM6P.

His book with Wiley International (2017) is entitled Architecture in Context: Designing in the Middle East. His research and practice interests include sustainable architectural and urban design; smart cities and territories; heritage regeneration for urban resilience; territorial innovation and urban performances; and integrated design for sustainable building systems.

Radoine worked as an international expert for UN-Habitat, UNESCO, ICCROM, and MCC. In addition, he is coordinator of UN-Habitat/UM6P International Center for Territorial Innovation and Smart Urban Performances, and scientific chair holder EMARA, Moroccan and Andalusian Architecture &amp; Urbanism at UM6P. He served as an on-site reviewer for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2010, 2013 and 2016.

Hassan Radoine is an architecture curator, critic, educator, author and expert-consultant. 

Hassan Radoine 

Mun Summ Wong is the architect who co-founded with Richard Hassell the Singapore-based architectural practice WOHA in 1994. He is a professor in practice at the National University of Singapore's Department of Architecture and co-directs the Integrated Sustainable Design Masters Studio. He is also appointed to the Seidler Chair in the Practice of Architecture at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He sits on the Nominating Committee of the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize and the Design Advisory Board of DesignSingapore Council, and is a member of the CTBUH Masters of Tall Building and Vertical Urbanism Advisory Panel, in collaboration with the Illinois Institute of Technology.

WOHA projects are living systems that connect to the city as a whole. With every project, the practice aims to create a matrix of interconnected human-scaled environments that foster community, enable stewardship of nature, generate biocentric beauty, activate ecosystem services and build resilience. WOHA applies its systems thinking approach to architecture and urbanism in its building design as well as its regenerative masterplans.

WOHA received a number of architectural awards such as the Aga Khan Award for the project One Moulmein Rise in 2007 as well as the RIBA Lubetkin Prize and International Highrise Award for The Met in Bangkok. The practice was awarded the CTBUH Urban Habitat and Best Mixed-Use Building and World Architecture Festival World Building of the Year for Kampung Admiralty and CTBUH Best Tall Building Worldwide for the Oasia Hotel Downtown and Pan Pacific Orchard.&nbsp;

Mun Summ Wong is the architect who co-founded with Richard Hassell the Singapore-based architectural practice WOHA in 1994.

Wong Mun Summ 

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