Seven projects win 2023-25 Aga Khan Award for Architecture

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture has announced the winners for its 2023-2025 award cycle. Seven winners from six countries were selected from a shortlist of 19 projects published by Archinect and Bustler in June; themselves selected from 369 nominations. The seven winners will share a $1 million prize, considered one of the largest in the architecture world.

“Architecture can – and must – be a catalyst for hope, shaping not only the spaces we inhabit but the futures we imagine,” said Farrokh Derakhshani, director of the award. “In an age defined by climate crisis, resource inequality and rapid urbanisation, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture celebrates projects that unite society, sustainability and pluralism to empower a more harmonious and resilient world.”

Below we have listed the seven projects honored as winners for the 2023-2025 cycle. You can compare the selection to earlier editions by reviewing our ongoing coverage of the award here.

Khudi Bari, Bangladesh by Marina Tabassum Architects

Description: A replicable solution built with bamboo and steel for displaced communities affected by climatic and geographic changes. The Jury recognised the project’s deep ecological framing, contributing to the global advancement of bamboo as a material.

West Wusutu Village Community Centre, China by Zhang Pengju

Description: A centre built from reclaimed bricks that provides social and cultural spaces for residents and artists, while addressing the cultural needs of the local multi-ethnic community, including Hui Muslims. The Jury noted that the project generates a valuable shared and inclusive communal microcosm within a rural human macrocosm.

Revitalisation of Historic Esna, Egypt by Takween Integrated Community Development

Description: A project that addresses cultural tourism challenges through physical interventions, socioeconomic initiatives and innovative urban strategies, transforming a neglected site into a prospering historic city. The Jury acknowledged the ways the project is stimulating a historic urban metabolism to cope with the contemporary challenge of improving human conditions.

Majara Complex and Community Redevelopment, Iran by ZAV Architects / Mohamadreza Ghodousi

Description: A colourful complex whose domes reflect the rainbow island's ochre-rich soils, providing sustainable accommodations for tourists who visit the unique landscape of Hormuz Island. The Jury described the project as a vibrant archipelago of varying programmes that serve to incrementally build an alternative tourism economy.

Jahad Metro Plaza, Iran by KA Architecture Studio

Description: A once dilapidated station transformed into a vibrant urban node for pedestrians. The Jury highlighted the use of local handmade brick as strengthening the connection with Iran’s rich architectural heritage, while its warm subtle texture emphasises the station’s status as a new urban monument.

Vision Pakistan, Pakistan by DB Studios / Mohammad Saifullah Siddiqui

Description: A multistorey facility boasting joyful facades inspired by Pakistani and Arab craft, while housing a charity that aims to empower disadvantaged youth through vocational training. The Jury noted that the building not only contains a new type of education, but is full of light, spatially interesting and economically efficient.

Wonder Cabinet, Palestine by AAU Anastas

Description: A multipurpose, non-profit exhibition and production space built with the input of local artisans and contractors, to become a key hub for craft, design, innovation and learning. The Jury found that the building provides a model for an architecture of connection, rooted in contemporary expressions of national identity, and asserts the importance of cultural production as a means of resistance.