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

Sited near the low-lying Buffalo Bayou in Houston and featuring complex landscaping and extensive concrete work, the first Ismaili Center in the U.S. has required an intense ;commitment to precision from its owner and design and construction team. Building the LEED Gold-targeted campus for the branch of Shia Islam began in 2021 and is set to finish in 2025.

I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude for the overwhelming support we have received for this project.

This includes the steadfast backing from the State of Texas, Mayor Turner, the City of Houston and its residents, including those in attendance here today.

As we share this moment today, in your eighth and final year as Mayor of Houston, I want to express to you on behalf of myself personally and on behalf of the Ismaili community, that the legacy you leave in the City of Houston and the State of Texas will be celebrated for decades to come.

The Ismaili Center Houston achieved a significant milestone today with a special ‘topping out’ ceremony attended by Prince Amyn and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EqlNwTtSkM

To acknowledge his support in the planning and construction of the first Ismaili Center in the US, the event included a luncheon in honor of Mayor Turner, at which elected officials, civil society leaders, and friends and partners of the Jamat were present.

Today, Toronto’s Mayor honoured humanitarian His Highness the Aga Khan with a Key to the City, at an event at the Ismaili Centre. Accepting the Key on his behalf was Prince Amyn Aga Khan, His Highness’ brother.

The City of Toronto has also renamed the portion of Wynford Drive, between Don Mills Road and the east side of the Don Valley Parkway overpass, to Aga Khan Boulevard. This is in commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the Aga Khan’s accession as the 49th hereditary Imam of Shia Ismaili Muslims and 50 years since the Ismaili community settled in Canada.

Prince Amyn Mohammed displays the silver trowel after [lacing the last brick at the "topping out" ceremony at the Ismaili Centre in London on 12th May, 1982, As Guest of Honour at the ceremony held on the roof of the nearly completed Ismaili Centre in central London, Prince Amyn Mohammed said that the Centre has "the difficult vocation" of bridging East and West, of bringing together strong and brilliant cultures. Mr.

Houston: The Ismaili Center Houston’s architecture and gardens will set a new bar in a city increasingly devoted to modern design and lush green spaces.

His Highness the Aga Khan commissioned the center as place for civic outreach and multi-cultural understanding.

HOUSTON — Houston is soon to be home for the first Ismaili Center in the U.S.

Plans for the center were unveiled on Monday by world-renowned architect Farshid Moussavi. It's set to be built on Allen Parkway and Montrose Boulevard with commissioning from His Highness the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. Once it's complete, it'll join its counterparts in London (UK), Lisbon (Portugal), Dubai (UAE), Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Vancouver and Toronto (Canada).

Houston Ismaili Centre will be the seventh centre worldwide

Prince Amyn visited the Ismaili Center in Kensington, London for the occasion of "topping out" ceremony. Prince Amyn placed the last brick as guest of honour at this ceremony held on the roof of the nearly completed Ismaili Center in central London.

Prince Amyn said that the Center has "the difficult vocation of bridging East and West, of bringing together strong and brilliant cultures".

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim.

Your Excellencies,
Your Worship,
Distinguished Scholars and Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Madam Prime Minister,
Your Excellencies,
Your Worship the Mayor,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a very great pleasure for us to welcome you, Madam Prime Minister, and so distinguished a gathering for a ceremony which is a most significant one for the Ismaili community: significant because this is the first cultural and religious centre in the Western world to have been built specifically for the community's requirements.

Ismaili Muslims hire rising architect Farshid Moussavi to design first U.S. cultural center in Houston

Molly Glentzer Feb. 6, 2019 Updated: Feb. 6, 2019 6:52 a.m.

The vacant lot along Montrose Boulevard at Allen Parkway is planned as the future site of the Ismaili Center near downtown Houston along Buffalo Bayou, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019.Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Your Excellency President Rahmonov,
Your Worship the Mayor of Dushanbe,
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,

Today's ceremony represents a milestone in the history of the Ismaili Muslim community's presence in Central Asia, a presence which dates back to the second century of Islam. For me personally, as the 49th hereditary Imam of the Ismailis, this is a day of great happiness.

It is also fitting that the Foundation Ceremony of a landmark cultural and religious centre should coincide with the celebration of the one thousandth anniversary of the birth of Syedna Nasir-i-Khusraw.

His Highness the Aga Khan at the Opening Ceremony of Ismaili Center Dushanbe

Bismi-Llahi-R-Rahamani-R-Rahim

Your Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum
Your Excellencies
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am deeply honoured by your presence this morning.

Nestled in one of Bur Dubai's older districts is one of the emirate's best kept architectural secrets: the Ismaili Centre of Dubai. It is a 13,000-square-metre structure designed by the Egyptian duo Rami El Dahan and Soheir Farid, who drew inspiration from Cairo's Fatimid mosques.

The structure was inaugurated in 2008 by Prince Karim, the Aga Khan, in the presence of senior UAE officials. A 3,000-square-metre public neighbourhood park was also created on parts of the land based on Islamic garden themes. The architecture is an amalgamation of everything that is beautiful in Islam.

An artist's rendering shows the pools in the formal garden.