Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

Zahid Sardar, Chronicle Design Editor - As the nation's attention focuses on war with Iraq, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (the triennial equivalent of the Pritzker Prize) helps to build a deeper appreciation of large and small structures from the Islamic world. The award, now in its ninth cycle, was begun in 1977 by the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of a small sect of Muslims, and is now run under the aegis of his Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Geneva. Typically, such internationally renowned architects as Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Charles Correa, Ricardo Legorreta, Kenzo Tange, Peter Eisenman or artist Mona Hatoum join the Aga Khan's steering committee or master jury, giving the hefty prize, totaling $500,000, worldwide visibility and credibility. The 2004 nominees are being interviewed by a steering committee that includes Jacques Herzog of Herzog & de Meuron, architects of the new M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco.