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Reflections on the 1986 Aga Khan

Awards for Architecture


The 1986 Aga Khan A wards for Archi- groupings in 1983 or 1986, yet they con- seen as representing attempts to assimilate
tecture mark the end of three full award stitute an initial precedent and are general new technology with existing traditions
cycles and nearly ten years of intense, enough to provide us with an indication in a creative manner. From a theoretical
sustained efforts to encourage and to re- of the directions in thinking pursued by point of view, one might say that reliance
ward excellence in contemporary build- successive Aga Khan juries. upon strictly indigenous sources had been
ing in Muslim societies. This year's re- A multiplicity of awards then was jus- superseded by efforts to innovate with
sults undoubtedly signify a tuming point tified with the following words: "We traditional values and imagery in har-
in the award-giving process itself, pri- found our task a difficult one ... Muslim mony with modem technical needs and
marily because of the challenges to the culture is slowly emerging from a long resources. Sherefudin's White Mosque
profession raised by the Jury. A star- period of subjugation and neglect in from the 1983 A wards probably fits most
studded cast of jury-members, most of which it had virtually lost its identity, its adequately into the line of thinking
them professional architects themselves, self-confidence, its very language ... The "Search for Innovation," and while one is
abdicated their responsibility to deal with present is a period of transition ... " Of the tempted to situate the Haj Air Terminal,
the crucial issue of innovative design in a seven headings, three of them had three Jeddah in the same category, it is our
complex 20th century world. winners each: Search for Consistency feeling that it comes closer to the criteria
Was it out of temerity, ideological with Historical Context, Restoration, spelled out previously in "Search for
bias, or lack of consensus that brought and Search for Contemporary Use of Appropriate Building Systems". Its at
them to decisions which, though fasci- Traditional Language. Other categories least partial replicability, in technical
nating in their own for the subjects dealt had one or two prize-winners. In all 15 terms, has already been manifested else-
with, have perturbed more than one cri- cases in 1980, professionals of one kind or where in that country and elsewhere in
tic by what they left out of consideration. another, architects, planners, or tech- the region.
And, it took the Jury twenty-five pages nicians were involved in the projects, and Once the relative distribution of win-
of explanatory preamble to attempt to could be identified as having brought re- ners within the grid formulated by the
justify why they came (or did not come) cent theory and technology to bear in first Jury has become apparent, the pur-
to the selections they did. It is this written solving a building task. pose of our exercise should be clearer: to
document that reveals the greatest num- While no single theory, of architec- illustrate rather pointedly where the big-
ber of inconsistencies, preconceptions ture, of planning or of restoration, was gest gaps are to be found. Discounting
and contradictory points of view on given preeminence six years ago, all pro- the facile reproach that with only six win-
architecture and the profession in the real jects demonstrated the importance which ners this year it would be impossible to
world today. Before trying to grasp the the Jury attached to the role of tradition in fill seven classifications, it should be noted
essence of this document, an under- formulating new "identity", "self-confi- that the 1986 Jury not only avoided the
standing of how the 1986 winning pro- dence" and "language". If there were no crucial subject of contemporary pro-
jects fit into an overall picture of previous new doctrines premiated, the Jury dis- fessional contributions but created a new
laureates may be gleaned from the cerned at least "searches", which implies "category" with distinctly "populist"
schematic chart presented at the begin- critical thinking. However, three of the overtones. While exercising its legitimate
ning of this essay. 15 winning projects, the Halawa house, prerogatives, this Jury has confused archi-
An openness and flexibility charac- the Mopti clinic, and the building system tectural debate on historical, and above all
terises the procedures established for dis- applied in Senegal can be related to the theoretical levels for some time to come.
covering worthy candidate-buildings, theories and architectural production of An award-giving exercise, like a di-
and for the attribution of awards by a Egyptian Hassan Fathy. And, the latter ploma jury or a written examination in
different jury every three years. (A per- received a special award that same year any other field, is an educational enterprise
manent staff is charged with information from the Chairman of the A ward Steer- of the highest order, and should be inter-
gathering and processing this prior to ing Committee (Chairman's Award) for preted as making an evaluation at a par-
presentation to the jury). Hence, the 1980 his lifetime contributions to the field. To ticular moment in time. The results
Jury six years ago was not presented with this extent, a trend towards encouraging should not be construed as being final,
a series of set categories (e.g. housing, indigenous building (types, materials, absolute, complete; but they ought rather
public buildings, etc.) to fill; they were systems) could be perceived, reinforced to reflect what progress has been made to
allowed - as others have been subse- by the Indonesian Kampong and pesantren date. Unfortunately, one of the leitmotifs
quently - to determine their own winners which depended heavily on running through the 1986 Aga Khan
criteria for selection, within the frame- community participation. Jury's report is that Islamic societies are
work of the basic aims and goals of the It can be said, purely for purposes of going through a "transitional" stage, are
Aga Khan A ward. As it was emphasised the present discussion, that this particular in a period of "crisis", "dilemma" and
at the time, the 1980 awards were con- emphasis upon local models and re- continuous "transformation". Such re-
sidered for the most part to exemplify a sources, called "Search for Contem- marks, read in the light of the choice of
search in a direction that merited acknow- porary Use of Traditional Language", winners, suggest that they are offered as
ledgement or encouragement. No one gained further ground in the 1983 an excuse for not grappling with the real
project, and there were fifteen, was sing- A wards when five of eleven projects fell problems of new architecture in urbanis-
led out as representing the highest possi- into this grouping. ing, industrialising ~ocieties. Each award
ble achievement in anyone of the seven The most troublesome area for the cycle should be an assesssment of pro-
classifications (see above) they created for 1980 Jury was that of a "Search for Inno- duction at the time.
their own purposes. These were not, vation". Watertowers in Kuwait and the In addition, the repeated reference in
moreover, suggested or imposed as hotel! conference centre in Mekkah were the report to "external", "Western",

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"foreign aid" elements as threatening 'populist' attitude subscribed to by some,
cultural continuity in the whole of Asia but not all, jury members.
and Africa seems to be the perennial "The Award JUlY felt that the quality of
'whipping boy' trotted out to assuage the Awards might be enhanced by producing a
guilty consciences in some sectors. We wide-ranging list of recommendations that
don't live anymore in a world that is takes into account the vitality of the "popular}}
made up of isolated, polarised cultures - movement in architecture. There is an architec-
in spite of extremism in some parts - ture which is expressive beyond our rational
and the notion of "identity" (especially as logical understanding. One of the respon-
relates to architecture) is pretty much of a sibilities of the Award Jury was not to impose
'mixed bag' of influences. Rear facade of the Bhong Mosque in Pakistan. but to be alert and observant to what is there.
The personalities, architectural ambi- Populist architecture at its most exuberant and un- Given the range of achievements in the world
tions and ideological biases of individual critical best. it is important for everyone to learn to adjust
jury members this year coloured the re- Photograph: Jacques Betant, AKAA. his values to be able to experience the full
sults in unexpected ways - yet now, benifzts of creative variety in each country and
with retrospect, not so surprisingly. The region ... Architecture has a central role in
non-architects, caught in crossfire, seem creating and keeping alive a high level of taste.
to have succumbed to the professional But this "popular}} taste which is kept alive by
architects' ideological propensities and per- the ingenuous craftsman may have equal signi-
suasive capacities. Similarly, one might ficance for future vitality in he creative m1s. In
surmise that the non-Muslims left it to the other words, there is a dualistic element of
Muslim interpreters of the Faith to judge creativity in indigenous societies in the Third
the importance or relevance of a given World that has tended to be eliminated by its
project to modem Islamic culture. On the Western-oriented component. Diversity is a
other hand, all seemed to have joined necessary element for regeneration, reinter-
hands to settle certain accounts with the pretation and creation.}}
"modem movement" (which means the 'Populism' as a term has historically
West of course), something which is very specific origins and connotations,
already "in the past", not to say out of apart from general association with
fashion, in most critical circles today. For popular forms of expression: born of a
example, they state in their report: political movement in 19th-century
"At the same time the Award Jury was View of Dar Lamane housing, showing articula- America, its use today retains impli-
aware that schemes might justify an award for tion of the reinforced concrete facades and the exten- cations of rurality, conservatism and
quite different reasons. For instance, by serving sion (planned) of apm1ments over the street. Both anti-intellectualism. Moreover, the anti-
as an example of the evolutionary process, or features are common in older, incrementally-bllilt urban connotation of populist sentiments
urban environments in North AJi'ica.
alternatively by serving as an example of a should not be forgotten.
Photograph: Christian Lignon, AKAA.
revolutionary process when appropriate. In the 1983, an Aga Khan Award was
Throughout, the Jury placed emphasis in attributed to a master mason for the con-
making its assessments on basic elemental struction of a mosque in Niono, Mali; the
architectural qualities, versus the over- 1986 jury has not only made a com-
simplistic, bombastic, or ideological qualities parable award to the Niono Mosque
that are sometimes lauded in contemporary and (Yaama Mosque) but gone a step further,
"vernacular}} architecture alike. In making its with the Bhong building: it is not simply
judgement the Jury was concerned to note con- traditional, vemacular architecture receiv-
flicting philosophies between the approach of ing recognition, it is glorifying a building
the "modern movement}}, which is often con- Facade of the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. conceived, and paid for, by a person lack-
cerned with the search for a logical language of Photograph: Jacques Betant, AKAA. ing any pretensions of theoretical back-
clarity and unity which might be universally ground in a society with architects,
applied, and the results of the continuing evo- schools of architecture, and long, distin-
lutionary process, which are frequently more guished history of great building. That
concerned with diversity and vitality, with joy the patron at Bhong employed some of
and engagement.}} the best local craftsmen to execute parts
Indeed, we are brought back again to of the building is beside the point; it is, a
a veiled excuse for not having picked a project which does little to advance the
truly contemporary building. debate on architectural theory, economic
It is perfectly logical within this line of and social dimensions of building in
reasoning to tum instead to buildings Pakistan, or even in the nebulous realm
which express "naive vitality" and "truly of popular taste. In the end, one must
celebrate devotion, contemplation or. deduce that partisans on the Jury of cer-
commemoration", as the Jury did. What Towers of the mud brick Yaama Mosque appear tain 'post-modem' trends in international
is ultimately most alarming, particularly over the dwellings of the village. architecture combined forces with advo-
in the case of the Bhong Mosque, is the Photograph: Kamran Adle, AKAA. cates of indigenous building materials and

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COllserlJatiofi qf
Mostar Old TOllJII
Mostar, Yugoslavia

Social Security Complex
Istatlblll, Turkey

.
Restoratiofl of rile Al Aqsa A10sque
Al Harnm al-SlwriJ,Jernsalem

Dar Lamalle Housillg Complex
Casablatl[Q, Morocco
Bh ollg Mosque
Pakistall

Yaama Mosque
Niger

craftsmanship to send a populist 'mes- economic and organisational planning of


sage' to the world. those responsible for achieving Dar The 1986 Master Jury was composed ofthe
A dissenting minority on the 1986 Lamane than for the excellence of the following individuals:
Jury has registered (in a separate report) design. Again skating close to the edge of
their objections to the abovementioned populist attitudes, the Jury Citation reads:
trend, reflected in certain of the winning ((The developing aesthetic of the project
projects, and also expressed regret that can be observed in the vital activity from with-
some entries, such as the Sher-e-Bangla in, even if the visual aspect which is an out-
Nagar, Bangladesh, by Louis Kahn (see come if the construction process has not yet DomkPamir Abdel Wahed
MlMAR 6), were set aside on a technical- found its definitive expression. It will be the El-Wakil
ity. However, there was reportedly product if the people who inhabit it because it
unanimity on the Jury for the one build- has been conceived as an open system."
ing by a contemporary architect that de- In other words, the people's subse-
monstrated excellence in adaptation to an quent treatment of the houses will deter-
existing historical context: the Social mine (or not) whether the Jury was right
Security complex by Sedad Eidem, Soedjatmoko Zaheer-ud-deen
which dates from 1970. While it was an For all their individual, and collective, Khwaja
incontestably modem solution at the time merits, the 1986 winners leave us with a
~:~v"
~
it was conceived, and one which is highly yearning - even more so than in pre-
respectful of the traditional buildings sur- vious years - to know the full range of / ,. ... ;
rounding it, the sense of history and the nominees for this cycle, precisely because
theoretical tenets embodied in the build- of the 'voids' in our retrospective chart.
ing have been developed and applied else- As far as building-types are concerned,
i J

where since then. The Jury skirted the where are the schools, universities, hos- Fumihiko Maki Hans Hollein
issue of truly contemporary design pitals, factories, public administrations,
irmovation by focussing on what they or more rarely, the gardens and monu-
term a 'contextual' approach to new ments of our time? Distinguished as this
building but in a previous era. Jury has been in its composition of mem-
The other modem complex among bers, its deliberations and selections will
the six wirmers that had involvement by undoubtedly prove to be a watershed:
professional designers is the 4000 units of future juries will face the challenge (and Robert Venturi Mahdi Elmandjara
mass housing in Morocco: Dar Lamane, meet it) of recovering contact with the
Casablanca. Responding to the Award mainstream of the profession in countries
Steering Committee's statement that "It with significant Muslim populations, and
follows that the single most important their progressive efforts to forge a super-
criterion in assessing the viability of a ior production based upon theoretical re-
scheme dealing with the problem of mass flection encompassing traditional values
housing for the poor is its replicability on and contemporary requirements. Ronald Lewcock
a sufficiently large scale," the Jury has
cited this project more for the technical, Brian Brace Taylor

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