by ArchitectureWeek

A diverse group of projects from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe have been honored with the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture for 2007. This year, nine projects were recognized for architectural excellence in places where Muslims live.

The triennial award program was established by His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Islamic culture as expressed through architecture. The independent jury for the 2007 award program placed special value on meaningful collaborations and exchanges of ideas.

School in Bangladesh

The School in Rudrapur, Bangladesh, exemplifies the Aga Khan Award's emphasis on projects that use local resources and appropriate technology in an innovative way, and that are likely to inspire similar efforts elsewhere. Traditional methods and materials were adapted for the project and combined with new techniques.

The two-story village primary school, run by the Bangladeshi non-governmental organization Dipshikha, was constructed by hand in four months out of materials such as loam, straw, bamboo, and nylon lashing. Two architects from Austria and Germany, Anna Heringer and Eike Roswag, engaged local craftsmen in the project, helping them to refine processes and learn new techniques that they might then be able to apply to other local projects, such as housing.   >>>

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Colorful cotton drapes in doorways add visual softness to the mud-walled rooms of the School in Rudrapur, Bangladesh, which recently received the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Photo: Birol K.S. Inan Rhythmically spaced vertical bamboo trusses create a textural contrast with horizontal bamboo slats on the School in Rudrapur, by Anna Heringer and Eike Roswag. Photo: Birol K.S. Inan Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.