Who We Are
Founder & ChairmanOur Partners
AwardsFact Sheet
Frequently Asked QuestionsContact Us
Founder & Chairman
Our Partners
Awards
Fact Sheet
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact Us
What We Do

Developing Human Capacity


Early Childhood DevelopmentEducationHealth

Building Resilient Communities


Environment & Climate ChangeAgriculture & Food SecurityCivil SocietyDisaster Preparedness & ResponseHabitat Planning & Improvement

Generating Economic Growth


Enterprise DevelopmentFinancial InclusionHospitality & TourismIndustrial DevelopmentInfrastructure DevelopmentMedia

Honouring Cultural Heritage


ArchitectureHistoric CitiesMuseumMusicParks & Gardens

Developing Human Capacity


Early Childhood DevelopmentEducationHealth

Building Resilient Communities


Environment & Climate ChangeAgriculture & Food SecurityCivil SocietyDisaster Preparedness & ResponseHabitat Planning & Improvement

Generating Economic Growth


Enterprise DevelopmentFinancial InclusionHospitality & TourismIndustrial DevelopmentInfrastructure DevelopmentMedia

Honouring Cultural Heritage


ArchitectureHistoric CitiesMuseumMusicParks & Gardens
Where We Work

North America


CanadaUnited States of America

Europe


FrancePortugalSwitzerlandUnited Kingdom

Eastern Africa


Kenya MadagascarMozambiqueRwandaTanzaniaUganda

West Africa


Burkina FasoCôte d’IvoireMaliSenegal

Middle East


EgyptSyriaUnited Arab Emirates

Central Asia


AfghanistanKazakhstanKyrgyz RepublicTajikistan

South Asia


BangladeshIndiaPakistan

East Asia


MalaysiaSingapore

North America


CanadaUnited States of America

Europe


FrancePortugalSwitzerlandUnited Kingdom

Eastern Africa


Kenya MadagascarMozambiqueRwandaTanzaniaUganda

West Africa


Burkina FasoCôte d’IvoireMaliSenegal

Middle East


EgyptSyriaUnited Arab Emirates

Central Asia


AfghanistanKazakhstanKyrgyz RepublicTajikistan

South Asia


BangladeshIndiaPakistan

East Asia


MalaysiaSingapore
How We Work

Our Approach


Our Approach to DevelopmentOur Ethical FrameworkFrequently Asked Questions

Our Agencies


Aga Khan Health ServicesAga Khan Agency for HabitatAga Khan FoundationAga Khan SchoolsAga Khan UniversityUniversity of Central AsiaAga Khan Trust for CultureAga Khan Agency for MicrofinanceAga Khan Fund for Economic Development

Our Approach


Our Approach to DevelopmentOur Ethical FrameworkFrequently Asked Questions

Our Agencies


Aga Khan Health ServicesAga Khan Agency for HabitatAga Khan FoundationAga Khan SchoolsAga Khan UniversityUniversity of Central AsiaAga Khan Trust for CultureAga Khan Agency for MicrofinanceAga Khan Fund for Economic Development
Resources and Media

News & Stories


Our StoriesProject SpotlightsNews ReleasesEventsAKDN in the Media

Multimedia


VideosPhotographs

Resources


SpeechesPublicationsThe Learning Hub

News & Stories


Our StoriesProject SpotlightsNews ReleasesEventsAKDN in the Media

Multimedia


VideosPhotographs

Resources


SpeechesPublicationsThe Learning Hub
Get Involved
Work with AKDNDonate
SubscribeInternational Scholarship Programme
Contact Us
Work with AKDN
Donate
Subscribe
International Scholarship Programme
Contact Us
en
العربيةEnglishFrenchPortuguês
Resources and Media/News & Stories/News Releases

Aga Khan and Presidents of MIT and Harvard lay foundations for an architecture of understanding

United States of America · 15 June 2008 · 5 min

From left, Lawrence H. Summers, President of Harvard, His Highness the Aga Khan, and Charles M. Vest, President of MIT, at the launch of ArchNet.org,

AKDN / Gary Otte

Email

Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 27 September 2002 - While the world remains focused on conflict and destruction amidst Muslim societies, a collaborative venture in technology shows how the East and the West can together construct a world that recognises shared heritage.


His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims; Charles M. Vest, President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); and Lawrence H. Summers, President of Harvard University today launched a global electronic resource designed to bridge cultural, civilisational and digital divides.


ArchNet (www.ArchNet.org) is the world’s largest on-line resource on architecture, urbanism, landscape design, and related issues with a particular focus on the Muslim world. The creative global community that ArchNet represents, with over 6,000 members from 110 countries, joins together the academic and professional resources of two prominent universities and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.


"Not only is ArchNet a means by which we share information on architecture and design," said the Aga Khan, "it is also a very real attempt to build an architecture of understanding between those regions of the world that might benefit from a better understanding of each other." "I think there is a consensus that we need that now more than ever. ArchNet’s particular importance lies in the way it informs the debate on what sort of world we seek to build." The Aga Khan also underlined the importance of locating it at "an institution whose technological competencies would underwrite its capacity to serve decades into the future."


With nothing more than a personal computer and an Internet connection, people anywhere in the world can take advantage of this extraordinary online repository. Students, faculty and architects from Cairo to Kuala Lumpur, Ahmedabad to Ankara, and Damascus to Sarajevo are among those in some eight countries where partner institutions contribute research, images, projects and monographs to ArchNet. Noting that about 70% of ArchNet’s users were under the age of 35, the Aga Khan described it as "an extraordinarily powerful resource at a global scale which will be an ongoing living encyclopaedia of knowledge for the younger generations in the Islamic world."


"ArchNet fulfils the original promise of the Internet," said President Vest of MIT. "It provides accessibility to teaching resources that are currently unavailable to many universities, while creating a worldwide on-line community that is constantly enriching the contents of the catalog. Everyone benefits. At MIT, we benefit from the upload of unique resources from ArchNet partner schools, while schools around the world have the opportunity to choose teaching materials from the combined resources of MIT, Harvard, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, and other partner schools."


Concern for "the world in which all of our children will live" said President Summers of Harvard University, "makes it essential for universities like Harvard and MIT to not just deepen our own understanding, but to deepen our contribution to the understanding of things Islamic, to truly globalise what we are all about, because there is very little else that is as important."


"As trustees of God's creation," observed the Aga Khan, "we are instructed to seek to leave the world a better place than it was when we came into it. If ArchNet can help bring values into environments, buildings, and contexts that make the quality of life better for future generations than it is today, it will have served its purpose." Pointing to environmental design and landscape architecture, an area in which he said "historically, the Islamic world has stood out," the Aga Khan acknowledged the commitment of the Harvard Design School to the academic program that he had endowed in these fields.


"MIT has a distinguished history of educating design and planning professionals and working with institutions in the developing world," said William Mitchell, Dean, School of Architecture and Planning at MIT. "We are proud to continue this tradition through the support we offer ArchNet's electronic community."


ArchNet is an example of MIT’s OpenCourseWare initiative that makes course materials available on the World Wide Web, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world. Schools in the developing world suffer continuing cost pressures, the perennial lack of teaching materials and very limited access to publications, images, and research. ArchNet provides myriad ways of leapfrogging beyond cost or other constraints including the provision of hardware and software, training, and infrastructure support. Participants establish "workspaces," facilitating the sharing of projects and research. Other site features include job listings, a digital calendar of events and directories.


For further information, please contact: The Information Department Aiglemont 60270 Gouvieux France Telephone: +33.3.44.58.40.00 Fax: +33.3.44.58.11.14 E-mail: info@akdn.org Website: www.akdn.org


Shiraz Allibhai Managing Director, ArchNet Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Telephone: +1.617.452.2292 Fax: +1.617.452.2846 E-mail: shiraz@mit.edu Website: www.archnet.org


Notes: The Aga Khan is the 49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims and a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). A Harvard graduate in Islamic history, the Aga Khan, 65, succeeded his grandfather as Imam of the Ismailis in 1957. He has established and leads a number of private, international, non-denominational development agencies, collectively known as the Aga Khan Development Network. The Network’s agencies seek to empower communities and individuals, often in disadvantaged circumstances, to improve living conditions and opportunities. Active in over 20 countries, the Network’s underlying impulse is the ethic of compassion for the vulnerable in society and its agencies and institutions work for the common good of all citizens, regardless of origin, gender or religion.


ArchNet’s emphasis on improving the built environment echoes the multiple mandates of the Aga Khan Development Network. More specifically, ArchNet reflects the goals of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, which include creating greater awareness and appreciation of the diversity and pluralism of Islamic cultures — within the Islamic world itself as well as in the West; increasing cross-cultural understanding of Islamic architecture and the intimate connection between architecture and culture in Islamic civilizations; and improving the training of architectural professionals for work in the Islamic world. ArchNet builds on and complements the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Program, established under an endowment from the Aga Khan over two decades ago, encompasses professorships, academic courses, research grants and archival collections aimed at enhancing the understanding of Islamic art, architecture and urbanism in light of critical, theoretical and developmental issues.


Related To This

Tags

United States of AmericaAga Khan Trust for CultureArchitecture
News Releases

Latest news

See More

No Result Found
No Result FoundNo Result Found

See Also

akdn_footer_1a.pngakdn-footer-1c.png

The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is dedicated to improving the quality of life of those in need, mainly in Asia and Africa, irrespective of their origin, faith, or gender. Our multifaceted development approach aims to help communities and individuals become self-reliant.

Contact Us
sm-facebook-grey.pngsm-twitterx-grey.pngsm-instagram-grey.pngsm-youtube-grey.pngsm-linkedin-grey.png

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign UpContact Us
sm-facebook-grey.pngsm-twitterx-grey.pngsm-instagram-grey.pngsm-youtube-grey.pngsm-linkedin-grey.png

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign UpContact Us

Quick Links

Frequently Asked Questions

Our Stories

Work with AKDN

Donate

Who We Are

Founder & Chairman

Our Partners

Awards

Fact Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact Us

What We Do

WHERE WE WORK

Our Agencies

AKHS Aga Khan Health Services

AKAH Aga Khan Agency for Habitat

AKF Aga Khan Foundation

AKS Aga Khan Schools

AKU Aga Khan University

UCA University of Central Asia

AKTC Aga Khan Trust for Culture

AKAM Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance

AKFED Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development

  • Quick Links
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Our Stories
  • Work with AKDN
  • Donate
Who We Are
What We Do
WHERE WE WORK
Our Agencies

© 1967 - 2023 Aga Khan Foundation, an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network. All rights reserved.

Terms & Conditions·Privacy Policy·Cookie Notice