AGA KHAN AWARD FOR ARCHITECTURE There's probably more raw creativity, inspiration, and charm in this collection of relatively humble projects than in a typical dozen starchitect masterpieces. Near Córdoba, Spain, stand the extensive remains of Madinat al-Zahra, a tenth-century Islamic palace city. — Published 2011.0112
	ROYAL GOLD MEDAL FOR I.M. PEI The RIBA Royal Gold Medal for 2010 goes to an architect whose renown has been built over several decades of consistently producing a very particular kind of structure — often aspired to, rarely achieved. The characteristic buildings of I.M. Pei stand serene with the elemental dignity of high modernism, while at the same time expressing both the dynamism of muscular structural sculpture and the deep subtle touches of sensitivity to context. — Published 2010.0210
	AUSTRALIAN GOLD FOR RICHARD JOHNSON Over the course of his 38-year career, Richard Johnson, designer of many major cultural buildings in Sydney, has worked on scales ranging from exhibit design to urban design. His projects have included world expo pavilions, museums, embassies, schools, office buildings, hotels, master plans, and landscape design, many with his current firm, Johnson Pilton Walker of Sydney. The Australian architect has been awarded the 2008 Gold Medal for Architecture by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA). — Published 2008.0423
	POSTCARD FROM CORDOBA Dear ArchitectureWeek, The Great Mosque of Cordoba, Spain (also known as La Mesquita) is a famous architectural and cultural collage. It is a dizzying blend of Moorish arches and Gothic spires, frequently illuminated by the flashbulbs of hoards of tourists. — Published 2006.0118
	MODERN MOSQUE "It doesn't look like a mosque," said the Muslim woman when I asked for street directions to the Assyafaah Mosque in Singapore. Designed by Singapore-based Forum Architects, the mosque's architecture breaks with tradition. "It's modern," said the woman. — Published 2005.0803
	AGA KHAN AWARD FOR ARCHITECTURE 2004 Made of mud, sand, stone, glass, and steel, scaled from tiny to immense, designed for living, working, learning, and worshipping, a select collection of projects reveals a "comprehensive approach adopted to discover, understand, and explain the challenges of architecture in the Muslim world as it confronts modernity in all its diversity." — Published 2004.1201
	VILLA MODA'S INTERNATIONAL CHIC Surrounded by shipwrecks from the Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s, an unused dockland area on the outskirts of Kuwait City is an unlikely setting for one of the Middle East's most luxurious fashion stores. But adjacent to industrial shipping containers is a place where Kuwait's wealthy come to buy international chic. — Published 2003.0423
	AGA KHAN AWARD FOR ARCHITECTURE Special architecture from all over the world, united by the common thread of serving Islamic peoples through design excellence, was honored in November at a ceremony held in Syria at the historic Citadel of Aleppo. His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, announced the nine recipients of the 2001 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. A special Chairman's Award was presented to the Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. — Published 2002.0109
	FAITH IN ARCHITECTURE Each year, Faith & Form magazine and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, & Architecture recognize outstanding design in completed projects through the Religious Art & Architecture Awards program. This year's winners, marking the start of the new millennium, reflect the wealth of activity in the design and construction of sacred spaces throughout the United States for faith traditions well established in this country, as well as those just getting a foothold. — Published 2001.0905
	HISTORIC HOTELS OF EGYPT One of the fascinating achievements of British influence in many former colonies of the British Empire is that the past has almost been frozen in time. While the British themselves were quick to shed the garments of the Victorian tradition and embrace the modern age, the former colonies, because of either financial difficulties or a sort of nostalgia, have preserved the era. — Published 2001.0905

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