Head of the Graduate School of Architecture (GSA) in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (FADA) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), Prof Lesley Lokko, has been selected as Master Juror for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) 2016 award jury.
Prof Lokko travelled to Geneva in January 2016 to join jury members and His Highness The Aga Khan, in a three-day jury session.
“It really showed the breadth and diversity of projects across the Muslim world, from skyscrapers to restoration projects, landscape projects and almost every scale in between,” said Prof Lokko on the intensive jury sessions, the first of two this year. “It wasn’t easy to select just 20 projects from a list of over three hundred, but the conversation and perspectives that followed were incredibly enriching.”
“It’s a unique and stimulating experience to assess the entries for the award. I was particularly impressed with the work coming out of Iran and Bangladesh, especially the work of young women architects.”
Established by Aga Khan IV in 1977, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture is given every three years to projects that set new standards of excellence in architecture, planning practices, historic preservation and landscape architecture. With a monetary award and prizes totalling US$ 1 million, the award aims to identify and reward architectural concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Islamic societies in the fields of contemporary design social housing, community development and improvement, restoration, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscape design and improvement of the environment.
On the AKAA Master Jury 2016, Prof Lokko is joins: Saud Amiry: Founder, Riwaq Centre for Architectural Conservation, Ramallah; Emre Arolat: Founder EAA-Architects, Turkey; Akeel Bilgrami: Sydney Morgenbesser Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University, New York; Luis Fernàndez-Galiano: Editor, Architectura Viva, Madrid; Hameed Haroon: Chief Executive Officer of Herald Publications, Karachi; Mohsen Mostafavi: Dean Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge; Dominique Perrault: Founder, Dominique Perrault Architecture, Paris; Hossein Rezai-Jorabi: Director of Web Structures, Singapore.
For more information, visit: www.akdn.org/architecture/.
