Hanif Kara – författare

The contents of the book will highlight the differences between the design and engineering disciplines – strengths and flaws. It will also illustrate examples of interdisciplinary interactions. Any false dichotomies will be revealed and the many non-linear processes borne out of challenging conventions between traditional and new modes of practice will be revealed. Projects based on a body of experience spanning many years will be selected to support experimentation that goes beyond an undisciplined search for originality, innovation and creativity. In addition to writings from Hanif Kara and Daniel Bosia contributions will be sought from specialists in the field who have played a role in the operations of P.art® at AKT II – past and present – qualifying them to disseminate and distribute a particular form of ‘knowledge’. Features work of architectural practices: Adjaye Associates, Foster + Partners, Heatherwick Studio, HOK, Serie Architects, Wilkinson Eyre Architects and Zaha Hadid Architects.In addition to AKT II, it will encompass the work of engineers and engineering consultants such as: Arup, Cecil Balmond, Buckminster Fuller, Buro Happold, Pier Luigi Nervi and Peter Rice.

This book weaves a much needed and transformational narrative about making architecture through paying close attention to cross-laminated timber as a material for today. The material becomes the site of experimentation, innovation, and research in search of specific meanings of CLT in architecture at various scales by selecting the “CLT Blank” as the building unit. The structure of the book brings together work and texts from a diverse group of theorists and practitioners, who make material central to their inquiry, to suggest design approaches that will broaden the cultural, spatial, and technological significance for architecture, education, engineering, and industry. The outcome focuses on materiality through fast slippages between art, architecture, and science, that we hope will invigorate and expand new discourse to act as an antidote to the current conversations about the material, that is fixated on its making and mass production, disappointingly portraying it as a bland and lifeless product—a notion we want to be distant from in preference to seeking areas we feel were not yet conceptualised or theorised. The potential to see the spatial properties of its use and what kind of world that might suggest is shown in the book, with selected striking visual materials, to reposition its architecture though new forms of representation and responses that continue to stay in touch with pragmatics. Aesthetics of CLT with a connection to wood and art practice is a central thread though the book.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2019The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is one of the most prestigious and renowned awards for architecture worldwide. Since 1980 the Award has been given every three years to projects that combine social and ecological aspects and translate them into innovative and exemplary design. The Award seeks to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of societies across the world, in which Muslims have a significant presence.This publication presents the shortlist of the 2017–2019 award cycle. From a group of almost 400, 20 projects have been shortlisted by the Master Jury and evaluated by an expert group of technical reviewers. Some of these projects have been honoured with the Aga Khan Award. In addition to detailed descriptions of all projects, this book gathers a series of personal statements from the members of the Steering Committee and the Award’s Master Jury on key issues that were crucial in the discussions for the final selection and assignment of the award recipients. Assembled together, this book presents a selection of the outstanding examples of sustainable and socially relevant architecture in the world today and opens up fundamental perspectives for the planning of the future.

Since the firm's founding twenty-five years ago, AKT II have forged an international practice that unifies the cultures and disciplines of architecture and structural engineering. This book is an engine for critical reflection on the scope, potential, and limits of what they have come to define as design engineering. Structured into five discursive domains—scale, variability, attitude, reverse engineering and the craftsmanship of engineering—the book presents a robust selection of the firm's endeavours. Common among them is a desire to understand and reshape the boundaries of the discipline of structural engineering, along with its links to fields such as philosophy, computer science and geography. Interlaced with the projects, texts by contributors from varying fields engage the theoretical discussions and social conditions that bind contemporary practice. Matters of Engineering Design: AKT II balances structural concerns that require an equilibrium of internal and external forces, a clear understanding of boundary conditions, and knowledge of the properties of material with the overarching challenges that society faces today, including advances in technology, changing economic orders, and ecological responsibility. With contributions by William Baker, David Basulto, Hanif Kara, Jayne Kelley, Priya Khanchandani, Adrian Lahoud, Lesley Lokko, Ibrahim Mahama, Stephen Parnell, Vicky Richardson, and Ellis Woodman.

The volume Optimism and Architecture presents the awarded and shortlisted projects for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2025. The book explores the ways in which optimism and hope are linked to better design outcomes, highlighting architecture's capacity to serve as a catalyst for pluralism, social transformation, cultural dialogue, and climate-responsive design.Unpublished material offers deep insights into the broad social, political, and cultural contexts that shape our built environments. The publication sheds light on the extensive jury and in-depth review processes for which the Award is renowned. Through essays and conversations, this volume examines how architecture can reinvigorate tradition through thoughtful innovation, connect local practices with global conversations, touch the earth lightly yet profoundly, and create inclusive spaces where diverse cultures and histories converge. Architecture is considered not only as a physical structure but also as a cultural practice that shapes public life, sparks social engagement, and reimagines heritage and identity in a rapidly changing world. This publication provides an optimistic and vivid portrait of contemporary architecture's role in fostering more inclusive and interconnected futures. With contributions by Azra Akamija, Lucia Allais, David Basulto, Farrokh Derakhshani, Yvonne Farrell, Hanif Kara, Yacouba Konaté, Lesley Lokko, Raafat Majzoub, Deen Sharp, and Cristina Steingräber.