2 Buildings in Africa among 5 of the world’s best

{{Two building projects in Africa have emerged among five of the world’s most compelling in terms of their architecture’s ability to grow social bonds and protect heritage.}}

The winners were announced at Lisbon’s Castle of São Jorge on September 6, this year at a gala jointly presided over by President Aníbal Cavaco Silva of Portugal and the award scheme’s founder, the Aga Khan, who is the spiritual leader of the Ismailia Muslims.

The projects in Sudan and Morocco were picked from dozens across the globe by a team of nine eminent scholars and renowned architects together with three others in Iran, Palestine and Austria to be recipients of this year’s $1 million Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

The winners – found to most embody architectural excellence while ensuring a positive impact on quality of life – were selected from 20 finalists.

In Khartoum, the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery impressed the judges for its welcoming architecture that “provides an exemplary prototype for the region as well as for the field”.

They found that the centre meets the high technical demands of a hospital with complex functions, including three operating theatres, while providing a number of eco-friendly solutions to common problems. Its mixed modes of ventilation and natural light enable all spaces to be homely and intimate.

In addition to solar panels and special insulation techniques, its architects reused 90 six-metre (20-foot) containers that had been discarded after being used to transport construction materials for the Centre.

In Rabat-Salé, Morocco, the Urban Infrastructure Project linking Rabat and Salé cities to form an urban hub was born out of a new vision of large-scale regeneration, one in which improved transportation and mobility were to be priority components of the larger urban plan.

The judges found that the project combines exemplary bridge design, infrastructure improvement and urban planning. As a result, the Hassan II Bridge has become a new icon for Rabat-Salé, reinforcing a modern, progressive, twin-city identity.

The judges remarked that the project was “a sophisticated and cohesive model for future infrastructure projects, especially in places of rapid urbanisation”.

{Above: Tanzania’s Parliament building. The piece of architecture is considered as being one of the best in East Africa. Two buildings in Africa have emerged among five of the world’s most compelling in terms of their architecture’s ability to grow social bonds and protect heritage.}