Image taken from a cover of IJIA

Three weeks left to submit for Tamayouz’s Architectural Personality of the Year Prize

Less than a month remains for those who wish to send in nominations for Tamayouz Excellence Award’s Architectural Personality of the Year Prize, also known as the Mohamed Makiya Prize.

There are three weeks left to submit for Tamayouz Excellence Award’s Architectural Personality of the Year Prize, which recognises individuals and organisations that have made great contributions towards the advancement of architecture between January 2017 and July 2020. The winner will be celebrated during the annual Tamayouz Excellence Award ceremony.

Part of Tamayouz’s seven-award programme, which includes two student awards, two annual thematic competitions, an award for women in architecture and a lifetime achievement award, the Architectural Personality of the Year Prize is also known as the Mohamed Makiya Prize, named after the prolific Iraqi architect Dr Mohamed Makiya.

Registration for the prize is free and simple: participants need only to visit Tamayouz’s website and submit nominations via the award’s page HERE. Nominations are open to organisations of any type, such as governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, academic institutions, cultural centres, unions and architectural or non-architectural companies; as well as individuals of any occupation who have directly or indirectly influenced or contributed to the advancement of architecture. This can be architects, designers, educators, government employees, activists, planners, conservation specialists, curators and more.

The winners receive a medal designed by Dr Makiya himself, as well as a travel scholarship to attend Tamayouz’s annual award ceremony. Deadline for submissions is 1 July, 2020.

Please visit Tamayouz’s website to submit for the Mohamed Makiya Prize.

Meet the past winners of the Mohamed Makiya Prize

The founder of IJIA, Mohammad Gharipour, accepting his award
The International Journal of Islamic Architecture – 2019

Since its establishment in 2012, the International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA) has been a purveyor of innovative and progressive research on architecture in the Middle East, and parts of Africa and Asia. The journal, which features various sections including Design in Theory, Design in Practice, Architectural Spotlight and Reviews, encourages the exchange of ideas across borders and disciplines. Its content explores important topics, such as heritage, cultural destruction, curation, expertise and immigrant architecture, as well as provides a resource of current publications, exhibitions and conferences. Last year, its position in the academic world was cemented by its acceptance into the highly competitive and rigorous Web of Science: Art and Humanities Citation Index.

IJIA was founded by Mohammad Gharipour, and its first issue was released in January 2012. It produces two issues per year: once in January and once in July. In the nearly eight years since its launch, 19 scholars have participated on IJIA’s editorial team, approximately 200 authors and reviewers have written for it, and more than 400 scholars and practitioners have served as reviewers for papers.  

AKDC@MIT’s interim programme head, Dr Michael Toler, accepting the award
The Aga Khan Documentation Center @ MIT – 2018

The Aga Khan Documentation Center was recognised for its role in supporting the teaching of, and scholarship on, the history and theory of architecture, urbanism, environmental and landscape design, visual culture and conservation, as well as the practice of architecture in Muslim societies, with a focus on the research and teaching activities of the faculty, students and post-doctoral fellows at AKPIA. Situated within the MIT Libraries, AKDC@MIT, a part of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture (AKPIA) at MIT and Harvard, and was established in 1979 as a gift from His Highness the Aga Khan. AKDC@MIT is also responsible for the curation of the intellectual and content core of Archnet, a globally-accessible, intellectual resource focused on architecture, urbanism, environmental and landscape design, visual culture, and conservation issues with a focus on Muslim cultures and civilisations.

The Aga Khan Documentation Center team at MIT comprises:  Dr Michael Toler (interim programme head), Betsy Baldwin, Dr Matt Saba and Dr Sharon Smith (founding head of the programme who left the AKDC in August 2018 and who had a key role in the Aga Khan Documentation Center’s growth and success).

Dr Khaled Al-Sultany receiving his award
Professor Khaled Al-Sultany – 2014

Architect, author and academic Dr Khaled Al-Sultany was given the Mohamed Makiya prize in 2014 as the inaugural laureate for his documentation of modernist and post-modernist architecture in Iraq through his books, articles and essays, as well as his talks and speeches. His research over the past three decades and his books and articles published in Arabic have successfully preserved the architectural linguistic heritage with the use of contemporary vocabulary of architectural development.

Dr Al-Sultany is a published, award-winning architect and academic who received his PhD in architecture from the Moscow Architecture Institute. 
He worked as a professor of architecture at Baghdad University in Iraq and Al-Balqaa Applied University in Jordan. He also headed the Institute for Islamic Art and Architecture Al AlBayt University in Jordan. Dr Al-Sultany has also designed several buildings in Iraq and Jordan, and from 2012 to 2014, he was a researcher at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Denmark.