Category Archives: Archnet News

Rifat Chadirji, one of the “most influential shapers of modern Baghdad,” dead at 93

The staff of the Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT Libraries (AKDC@MIT), is saddened to learn of the death of the great Iraqi architect Rifat Chadirji (December 6, 1926-April 10, 2020). Chadirji was “a thinker, author, critic, & rationalist architect with a refined aesthetic sensitivity, he devised a particular approach to architecture that he called international regionalism,” according to Nasser Rabbat, Aga Khan Professor and the Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT Rabbat went on to characterize the deceased architect as “one of the most influential shapers of modern Baghdad and an original theorist of architecture […]

Archnet in March 2020

54,086 visitors from 187 countries and territories consulted Archnet in March, for a total of 272,731 page views. By far the most downloaded publication continues to be Charles Correa, a volume edited by Hasan-Uddin Khan, surveying the work of the great Indian architect who received his master’s degree from MIT in 1955. Other popular publications included the article “Design Guidelines for Ablution Spaces in Mosques and Islamic Praying Facilities,” a Floor plan and elevation of Bali Pasa Mosque in Istanbul, and Urban Form in the Arab World – Past and Present by Stefano Bianca. The most watched videos were this […]

Resources for teaching and studying architecture during COVID-19 closures

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, many educational institutions are moving classes online, a development that is very likely to accelerate the growth of online education and the need for open access pedagogical materials. If you are an educator who has to move your teaching about architecture, urbanism, or other aspects of the built environment online, Archnet resources may be helpful to you. You may want to start by exploring the Archnet Pedagogy Collection where you’ll find resources that can easily be integrated into an online teaching platform. Our teaching collections, donated by scholars in a variety of fields, […]

AKDC and Department of Islamic Art of the MET sign MoU

The Department of Islamic Art of the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the AKDC@MIT have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) trough which the Department of Islamic Art will transfer digital images and date from their archives to AKDC for publication on Archnet.org. Look for them soon!

AKDC@MIT and A3 receive a grant to document Nigerian architecture

The Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT Libraries and A3: Archives of African Architectures have been awarded a grant from the General Seed Fund of the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) to pursue their project “Prototypes for the Digital Documentation of Nigeria’s Build Heritage.” The goal of the project is to document significant historical and contemporary architecture in Nigeria to be hosted simultaneously on Archnet.org and on a web site to be developed by A3. Students, researchers, practitioners, and faculty from Nigeria and MIT will participate in all aspects of the project. The project, initiated by Nigerian architect Baba Oladeji […]

Happy New Year from ARCHNET!

Happy New Year from all of us who work on Archnet.org. We wish all our users, donors and contributors a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2020! 2019 was an eventful year for us. Archnet moved to a new platform and a new provider in 2020 without causing significant disruptions to our users. In addition we made available records for over 6,500 images, 170 new sites, 90 publications, and 45 authorities. We brought you documentation of the shortlisted and recipient projects in the 14th-cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. We also launched new collections of abstracts from Cities as Built […]

Most accessed Archnet resources in November

The audience of Archnet.org continued to grow in November 2019, up 7% over October and 4% over November last year. Throughout that time, and indeed since his death in 2015, a book length study of the work of Charles Correa has been among the most downloaded publications, but in November the section on the Kovalam Beach Resort in India was also one of the most visited pages on Archnet. There are a few other surprises in our lists of the top ten publications, videos, pages and searches last month. Click here to see to see them.

AKDC at the 1st Annual Conference & Exhibition of Electronic Resources & Libraries – Middle East Chapter

The 1st Annual Conference & Exhibition of Electronic Resources & Libraries – Middle East Chapter (ER&L-Middle East) takes place October 9-10 at the InterContinental Hotel in Festival City, Dubai, UAE. AKDC@MIT will be represented in the vendor fair by Interim Program Head and Archnet Co-Director, Dr. Michael A. Toler. He will be demonstrating Archnet and other AKDC online presences in the ER&L – Middle East Exhibition. Stop by with your questions, comments, and suggestions about Archnet or any other AKDC services. I would be particularly interested in ideas for collaboration that might help us provide Archnet users with more comprehensive […]

See what was most popular on Archnet in September

Our most accessed resources lists were shaken up a bit in September by two things: publication of recordings of Moroccan music made in 1959 by Paul Bowles in town of Ouezzane at the base of the Moroccan Rif Mountains and, even more so, by the announcement of the six projects to receive the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in the 14th triennial cycle of the prestigious award. The 2019 Award Recipients collection was made available to Archnet users the very day the announcement was made in Kazan, Tatarstan. As has been the case for more than a year now, a […]