A Lebanese guesthouse, a Bangladeshi refugee space, a Senegalese school and a museum in Iran are among the winners of the $1 million Aga Khan Award for Architecture, now in its 45th year.
The six award winners will share the prize pot, one of the largest in architecture, for an award that was established in 1977 by the Aga Khan to reward building projects and designs that address the needs of communities with significant Muslim populations.
Tripoli guesthouse
The renovation of Lebanon's Niemeyer Guest House in Tripoli is one of the projects. It “is an inspiring tale of architecture's capacity for repair, at a time of dizzying, entangled crisis around the world, and in Lebanon in particular”, the jury said.
On the outskirts of the city, the building stands inside an entrance to the Rachid Karami International Fair, a project by architect Oscar Niemeyer that has been left derelict and unfinished after the country's civil war halted it in 1975.
The 10-hectare fair site is a widely celebrated example of Modernist architecture in the Middle East.
The single-storey guesthouse, transformed by East Architecture Studio, appears windowless from the outside and yet is flooded with light via a central atrium and two courtyards.
Community spaces in Bangladesh
Bangladesh's Urban River Spaces, a former dump site that has been transformed into a multifunctional space used by communities in Jhenaidah, is part of an initiative to clean the Nabaganga River.
“As such, the project managed to reverse the ecological degradation and health hazards of the river and its banks and induce effective ecological improvement of the river in one of the most riverine countries on earth,” an extract from the jury citation said.
Future plans at this project include the introduction of walkways, gardens, cultural facilities and efforts to increase biodiversity in the area.
Six temporary community spaces of the Rohingya Response programme in Cox's Bazaar also received the award, as they provide “dignified, sensitive and ingenious response to emergency needs”.
These comprise a women-friendly space that encompasses psychosocial support, a breastfeeding area and a courtyard for women and girls to play. Another zone offers space for Rohingya women to craft products and sell them to visitors, while a third serves Hindu Rohingya communities with domestic violence issues.
An airport in Indonesia
In Indonesia, the Banyuwangi International Airport in East Java, designed by architect Andra Matin, caught jury members' eyes. It is described as a “game-changer in airport architecture”.
It was inspired by the houses of the local Osing tribe and features two pitched-roof structures covered in grass and crowned with timber-frame, asymmetrical pyramidal skylights that pay homage to the traditional Banyuwangi headdress.
“Arising from a sea of a paddy fields, the building extends the language of the landscape into a concentrated event that coalesces architecture, functionality and setting in a seamless yet discernible disposition,” the jury said.
Tehran museum and Senegalese school
In Iran, the Argo Contemporary Art Museum and Cultural Centre has also received international recognition.
The jury described it as an “untypical” reuse and conservation project, as it transformed a former brewery into a private museum for contemporary art, with spaces for exhibitions, talks and film screenings across four floors.
The project retained the “full integrity and raw beauty of the historic building”, judges said, through the use of steel columns, reinstated brickwork and a white concrete staircase, as well as a brass public bar. Five pitched-concrete roof structures “appear to float above the building — a 'tip of the hat' symbolising its return to life”.
The final winner is the Kamanar Secondary School in Senegal, a complex that “addresses the multiple scales of urbanism, landscape, architecture and building technologies with equal commitment and virtuosity”.
The site's topography and flora, which includes a grid of classroom pods centred around pre-existing foliage, are especially striking features.
2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture
These winners were chosen from a shortlist of 20 projects, which in turn were whittled down from a pool of 463. On-site reviews by a team of experts were undertaken to devise the final list.
“We wanted our collective message to reflect the extraordinary times we are living in, from Covid and climate change to social polarisation, poverty, inequality and conflict,” the master jury report said.
“To that end, we sought to identify exemplary and transformative practices that address these particular challenges.”
The jury looked for “quality, not only of the architectural space, but the quality of life and social relationships facilitated by architecture — the generosity and beauty that architecture can strive to make more accessible”.
Jury members this year included architects Nada Al Hassan and Lina Ghotmeh, artist Kader Attia and professor Amale Andraos.
An award ceremony will soon take place in Muscat, Oman, in conjunction with the Aga Khan Music Awards.
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Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
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Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
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More Expo 2020 Dubai pavilions:
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday Benevento v Atalanta (2pm), Genoa v Bologna (5pm), AC Milan v Torino (7.45pm)
Sunday Roma v Inter Milan (3.30pm), Udinese v Napoli, Hellas Verona v Crotone, Parma v Lazio (2pm), Fiorentina v Cagliari (9pm), Juventus v Sassuolo (11.45pm)
Monday Spezia v Sampdoria (11.45pm)
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The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
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Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
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Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
