Review by Joan Conway of Financial Times
Under The Eaves of Architecture. The Aga Khan: Builder and Patron
By Philip Jodidio
FT Bookshop price £30
Under The Eaves of Architecture celebrates The Aga Khan’s 50 years as the spiritual guide to the world’s 15m Ismaili muslims and explores how his religious role has contributed to his work as a leading patron of architecture and building preservation.
He has commissioned structures from North America to south-east Asia and set up the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, which seeks to re-establish Islamic culture and recognise projects incorporating distinctive design, restoration, community development and sustainability.
The book features universities, restoration programmes, housing schemes in Bangladesh, the Kaedi Regional Hospital in Mauritania and the Institute de Monde Arabe in Paris, a building of unique design that acts as an intermediary between the Middle East and the west.
However, of particular note is the Hajj airport terminal in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which sees a million pilgrims annually trek to Mecca. It is inspired by tents but is also contemporary. The very lightness of the construction, as well as its vast size, sets it apart.
While supported by beautiful pictures, the text in this book gives the impression an academic paper. Sharper editing would not have gone amiss.
Ismailimail 