At one with the environment: Eco-friendly buildings awarded

The Arcadia Education Project in South Kanarchor, Bangladesh. PHOTO | AKDN

KAZAN, RUSSIA

Architecture’s unique power to unite cultures came alive in this uniquely placed Russian city as the world celebrated six projects for winning the prestigious $1 million (Sh104 million) Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

The projects were celebrated for their architectural splendour and beauty in form and hue, but also for the deeper symbolism they held in a world wrestling with climate change and a climate of hate. The projects – in Senegal, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Russia and Bahrain – emerged winners after a three-year judging process. They took the top prize for the unique ways in which they have embraced and conserved the environment.

The ceremony was presided over by the Aga Khan and Mintimer Shaimiev, the state counsellor of Tatarstan, at Kazan’s Musa Jalil State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.

Senegal’s Alioune Diop University was on the mark for a building that creatively adapts to Africa’s abundant sunlight. An amphibious building, the Arcadia Education Project in Bangladesh, won for allowing a school to operate in a swamp during both wet and dry seasons.

Read the full story here.