NEW DELHI, OCT 8: The Vidhan Bhavan building in Bhopal, the slum networking scheme of Indore and the Lepers Hospital in Chopda taluka have been awarded the Agha Khan awards for architecture for 1998.These are the three Indian projects among the seven recipients of this year's awards, which are selected by a distinguished international jury with Agha Khan as its chairman. The $500,000 triennial prize fund makes it the world's largest and most prestigious architectural award. Some 424 projects were reviewed by the jury before making the final selection.The slum networking scheme of Indore was commended by the jury as an example of an exceptional departure from the conventional approach to upgrading. The scheme reclaimed community space from growing social and physical environmental degradation. The landscaped river banks with pedestrian pathways overlook a clean river which formerly was grey and filled with sewage and garbage.The Lepers Hospital in Chopda taluka is a long, rectangular building builtentirely of local material - slate and steel from Rajasthan, sandstone quarried from adjacent hills and bricks purchased from nearby villages. The jury felt that the hospital is sensitively designed to respond to the needs of lepers, who are treated as outcasts, providing them with shelter and hope while using minimal resources. Its architectural form is unpretentious, but its proportions and concepts are of the highest order.The Vidhan Bhavan of Madhya Pradesh was regarded by the jury as very significant in the continuous process of evolving contemporary architectural vocabulary. The circular, sandstone wall encloses and unifies a variety of open spaces and forms that house the state Assembly.The other prize-winning projects this year are: the rehabilitation of Hebron old town; Salinger Residence, Selangor, Malaysia; Tuwaiq Palace, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Alhamra Arts Council, Pakistan.The Agha Khan award for architecture was established by the Agha Khan in 1977 to identify and encourage buildingconcepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies. It recognises examples of architectural excellence throughout the Muslim world.The awards are a part of the Agha Khan development network, which is a group of institutions working to improve living conditions and opportunities in specific regions of the developing world. The network's work ranges from the fields of health and education to architecture, rural development and the promotion of private sector enterprises.
