Category Archives: Archnet News

Happy Birthday Michel Écochard

It he were alive today, architect and urban planner Michel Écochard would be celebrating his 114th birthday. Born March 11, 1905 in Paris, he went to work for the Colonial Antiquities Service of Syria and Lebanon almost immediately after graduating from the École des Beaux-Arts. By the time of his death on May 24, 1985 he had received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) for the restoration of the Azem Palace in Damascus, and carried out projects in Cameroon, the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Guinea, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Senegal, Syria, and Turkey. In the mid-1980s Écochard donated […]

Archnet sites now available on Hoverpin

AKDC is partnering with Hoverpin to make selected Archnet content available on their AI based app. Hoverpin allows users to create personalized maps based on their interests by surfacing and aggregating location-based content from a range of topics onto a single screen. Currently the Archnet layer on Hoverpin gives you a map-based view of sites from 3 collections–Mosques of North America, Islam in Europe, and the Islamic Heritage of Bangladesh–as well as examples of significant architecture in Morocco. These sites were chosen for this pilot project, but look for more content soon. Users who allow the app to access their location will […]

AKDC Collaborates on Timeline Travel Project

In fall of 2018, the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT had the opportunity to contribute to an exciting new digital humanities project titled Timeline Travel. The aim of the project is to create an alternative teaching and learning tool for architectural history that taps into the visual learning capacities of today’s students. The Timeline Travel tool features online interactive timelines and maps for various historic cities, where visitors can explore monuments and learn more about their histories through descriptions and images. The project currently features timelines for Istanbul, Ravenna, Edirne, and Gaziantep, and will be available in Turkish, English, […]

World Interfaith Harmony Week on Archnet

Since 20 October 2010 when the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/65/5, the first week in February has been designated World Interfaith Harmony Week. The week is intended to promote harmony between all people regardless of their faith. In its statement setting “Sustainable Development through Interfaith Harmony” as the 2019 theme, the UN page points out the importance of peaceful relations between faith traditions providing for the well-being of people around the world. At the core of all the faith systems and traditions is the recognition that we are all in this together and that we need to love and support […]

Archive of John and Caroline Williams

In 2017 AKDC@MIT received over 18,000 slides taken by John A. and Caroline Williams, author of Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide. The images in the collection document sites in Egypt and across the Islamic world over multiple decades. Currently a sampling of about 700 are available online, with more are coming soon. Of course the entire collection is available the Aga Khan Documentation Center for consultation, research, or use in publications. Learn more about the collections of the Aga Khan Documentation Center on our website.

AKDC accepts Tamayouz Mohamed Makiya Prize at ceremony in Amman

On December 8 at a ceremony in Amman, Jordan, Michael A, Toler, Interim Program Head and Archnet Content Manager, accepted the Mohamed Makiya Prize of the Tamayouz Excellence Awards on behalf of the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT.” Several hundred people attended the ceremony hosted by the Iraqi Business Council in Jordan (IBC Jordan) under the patronage of H.E. Dr Omar Al-Razzaz, the Prime Minister of Jordan, at the Grand Millennium Hotel in Amman. The Mohamed Makiya Prize is an annual prize open to both individuals and organizations who promoted, encouraged, campaigned or influenced directly or indirectly the advancement of architecture […]

New developer for Archnet

A new development firm has taken over responsibility for the maintenance, hosting, and future development of Archnet. The new company, Performant Software Solutions LLC is a software company based in Boston, MA and Charlottesville VA, with a specialization in Digital Humanities software projects and technology consulting. The fact that they have a passion for, and a great deal of experience in working with cultural heritage collections, scholarly and visual archives, manuscript and textual studies, and historical and archaeological data projects makes them a particularly good fit for Archnet, a collaboration between the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Aga Khan […]

Important Notice: Archnet offline Friday morning (UPDATED)

UPDATE 9:32 am–Due to unexpected server issues Archnet remains unresponsive. It should be available again very soon. We are working to bring you some major enhancements in Archnet speed and reliability early in the new year. In preparation for these changes, rolling out early in the new year, Archnet.org may be offline for up to 1 hour between 2-4 am EST (7-9 am UTC) for behind-the-scenes server maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Watch this page or subscribe to our RSS feed to follow updates.

AKAA Shortlisted Projects on Display in Rotch Library

Panels from the “Design for Diversity: The Aga Khan Award for Architecture” exhibition are now on display in Rotch Library. The panels are selected from a larger exhibition highlighting the 13th Cycle (2014-2016) of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture that was on display at the Boston Society of Architects from May 26 to September 23, 2018. The exhibition highlighted 19 projects shortlisted from over 300 submissions. Curated by the Aga Khan Council for the United States of America, Design for Diversity presented “architectural works that provide for people’s physical, social, and economic needs, while responding to their cultural expectations. Buildings […]

Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT wins the Mohamed Makiya Prize for Architecture

The Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT (AKDC@MIT) is honored to be chosen recipient of the Mohamed Makiya Prize, part of the Tamayouz Excellence Award programme. 44 entries from 11 countries were submitted for this year’s prize. Michael Toler, Interim Program head, noted that the award is especially meaningful given the caliber of the three other projects shortlisted for the award: the Arab Center for Architecture (Beirut), Michael Rakowitz (New York) and Rana Beiruti (Amman). “It is a great honor to even be nominated alongside such prestigious organizations and individuals,” he said. Toler added that the AKDC@MIT is a collaborative endeavor. “We […]