“ … after 1972, we decided to build new spaces for the gathering of our communities and for the practice of our faith in the countries that were welcoming us … Structures where we could receive other communities and institutions in a dignified manner, and where we could demystify our faith.”
– The Aga Khan, the hereditary Imam of the Ismailis
By Lev Bratishenko of ICON – INTERNATIONAL DESIGN, ARCHITECTURE AND CULTURE magazine
Feature Story: The Secret Lives of Museums (Presenting the Aga Khan Museum amongst the North American Museums)
… the AKDN’s investment in international dialogue based in Toronto is praiseworthy before we even get to the architecture …
… The two buildings in Toronto both appear to reference the Delegation [of the Ismaili Imamat in Ottawa] …
… The formal garden is remarkably peaceful considering its proximity to traffic …
… Religious organisations have always made arrangements for themselves, but Ismaili Centres are unusual in their dual purpose as diplomatic and religious buildings. …
… Seen from Wynford Drive the museum’s fortress profile is initially deceptive. It stands guarded, set back in a landscape lesson in modernist planning …
… Two crucial decisions dramatically improve the approach to the site. Both were expensive. A 600-car garage was built underground and more than 1,000 mature trees have been planted …
… The 350-seat auditorium itself is a marvel, a geometric fantasy in teak that rises to a tessellated white dome …
… Joining double-glazing on the outside and triple-glazing on the inside [of the Ismaili Centre, Toronto] with a truss in between required a test assembly of the entire roof in Germany. It gives the prayer hall dome a remarkable meditative quality; a sense of movement and of the sky invited in …
Click here to read at the source: http://www.iconeye.com/architecture/features/item/11105-aga-khan-museum-toronto-act-of-faith
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Aga Khan Museum Inauguration – Media & Press Coverage
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