Bangladeshi Marina Tabassum named in Aga Khan jury board

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture has announced the members of the Steering Committee for the 2020-2022 cycle.

Marina Tabassum, principal at Marina Tabassum Architects in Dhaka made it to the Steering Committee which will be chaired by Aga Khan, reads a press release.

The other members of the Steering Committee are:

• Sheikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, president, Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, Manama.

• Emre Arolat, founder, EAA- Emre Arolat Architecture, Istanbul.

• Meisa Batayneh, principal architect, Founder, maisam architects and engineers, Amman.

• Sir David Chipperfield, principal, David Chipperfield Architects, London.

• Souleymane Bachir Diagne, director, Institute of African Studies, Columbia University, New York.

• Nasser Rabbat, Aga Khan professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.

• Sarah M Whiting, Dean, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge.

• Farrokh Derakhshani is the director of the Award.   

For more information about the Steering Committee, including biographies, please see the 2022 Steering Committee page.

The Steering Committee is the governing body of the Award. Perhaps one of its most important tasks is to select an independent Master Jury which, in turn, selects the award recipients from the nominated projects. 

It is also responsible for establishing the eligibility criteria for project nominations, providing thematic direction to the Award, and developing plans for its cyclical and long-term future.

Established 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. 

The Award seeks projects that represent the broadest possible range of architectural interventions, with attention given to building schemes that use local resources and appropriate technology in innovative ways, and those that are likely to inspire similar efforts elsewhere. 

Projects can be anywhere in the world but must successfully address the needs and aspirations of societies in which Muslims have a significant presence. Over 9000 projects have been documented.

Ceremonies to announce the winning projects and mark the close of each triennial cycle are always held in settings selected for their architectural and cultural importance to the Muslim world.  

Previous venues for Award ceremonies encompass many of the most illustrious architectural achievements, including Shalimar Gardens in Lahore (1980), Topkapi Palace in Istanbul (1983), the Alhambra in Granada (1998), Emperor Humayun's Tomb in Delhi (2004), the Musa Jalil Tatar Theatre and the Kazan Kremlin in the Russian Federation (2019).

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture has a prize fund of US$ 1,000,000. The rigour of its nomination and selection process has made it, in the eyes of many observers, one of the world's most important architectural prizes.