Prince Aga Khan presents awards for architecture
Prince Aga Khan presents awards for architecture
By Harry Bhaskara
SURAKARTA, Central Java, (JP): Prince Karim Aga Khan presented
the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture to representatives of 12
winners in a ceremony at the Susuhunan Palace here on Saturday
evening.
The winning projects are the landscaping integration of
Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport; the restoration of Bhukhara Old
City in Uzbekistan; the conservation of Old Sana'a, Yemen; the
reconstruction of Hafsia Quarter II in Tunis, Tunisia; the Khuda-
ki Basti Incremental Development Scheme, Hyderabad, Pakistan; the
Aranya Community Housing in Indore, India; the Great Mosque of
Riyadh; the restoration of the Old City Center in the Saudi
capital; the Menara Mesiniaga building in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
the Kaedi Regional Hospital in Mauritania; the Mosque of the
Grand Assembly and the restoration program of the Middle East
Technical University in Ankara, Turkey; and the Alliance Franco-
Senegalaise building in Kaolack, Senegal.
Aga Khan Awards for Architecture have been conferred on 69
projects in various countries, including seven in Indonesia.
The Aga Khan Award is the world's biggest architecture prize,
with awards totaling US$500,000.
The ceremony was attended by Minister of Education and Culture
Wardiman Djojonegoro, Minister of Tourism, Post and
Telecommunications Joop Ave, Surakarta's King Sri Pakubuwono XII
and former Armed Forces commander Gen. (ret.) L. B. Moerdani.
In his speech Aga Khan said the jury's choices of this year's
winners convey a message of hope to both the Moslem and the non-
Moslem world.
The choices acknowledged, he said, how the Moslem world has
inherited cultural talents, ethical vision and artistic, ethnic
and geographic plurality which could "once again represent a
significant contribution to world culture."
Other questions facing the Moslem world, Aga Khan said, could
be addressed in the spirit of the Award, which he described as "a
trust in pluralism, a confidence in unfettered debate, a
rejoicing in innovation, a deep respect for cultural and physical
resources". He added that these characteristics "could well be
the basis for developing new approaches to other central needs in
these same societies."
"I have in mind such issues as the appropriate role of civil
society or the desirable size and qualities of modern pluralistic
government or the establishment of new premises for ethical,
social and economic attitudes in the world's free market
economies of tomorrow," he said.
Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman in his speech at
the ceremony called for an expanded dialog between architects and
Islamic scholars.
He said that there has been an increasing gap between
architecture and Islam, caused in part by secularization.
"When architects struggle to find contemporary expressions of
Islam," he said, adding that "it is the responsibility of Islamic
scholars to constructively engage in dialog."
Wardiman also called for three other measures to address the
problem. First, expanded research of a multi-disciplinary nature,
involving, not only architects and Islamic scholars, but also
representatives of other sciences.
Second, he called for the institutionalization of
professionals. He cited the Indonesian Institute of Architects as
an example in Indonesia.
"Such steps may among others include establishment of self-
imposed and voluntary rules of behavior and codes of conduct, to
assure and strengthen the relationship between architecture and
cultural heritage," he said.
Third, Wardiman called for the establishment of standards of
acceptable behavior through laws and judicial procedures.
A highlight of the award-presentation ceremony were
performances of traditional Javanese dance and music.