Continuing its crusade to honour architectural excellence, the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) has announced seven winners for its 16th cycle (2023-2025). Platforming voices from Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan and Palestine, the selection echoes the architecture award’s commitment to diversity and belief in the discipline’s role in strengthening society. From housing and adaptive reuse solutions to educational and cultural centres, the projects—identifiable as contextual dialogues—”do not merely facilitate a social programme, they demonstrate generosity on the part of architects, clients, and communities,” mentions the jury citation.

The Steering Committee comprising His Highness the Aga Khan, Meisa Batayneh, Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Lesley Lokko, Gülru Necipoğlu, Hashim Sarkis and Sarah M. Whiting, together with the Master Jury which includes prominent names such as Azra Akšamija, Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop, Lucia Allais, Yvonne Farrell and Kabage Karanja, whittled down a diverse pool of over 369 nominated projects to a shortlist of 19 before selecting the final recipients.

Beyond an aesthetic value, the winning projects explore architecture’s capacity to serve as a catalyst for pluralism, community resilience, social transformation, cultural dialogue and climate-responsive design. “Architecture can—and must—be a catalyst for hope, shaping not only the spaces we inhabit but the futures we imagine. In an age defined by climate crisis, resource inequality and rapid urbanisation, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture celebrates projects that unite society, sustainability and pluralism to empower a more harmonious and resilient world,” Farrokh Derakhshani, director of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, says in an official statement. Speaking with STIR just yesterday, Derakhshani discussed the approach to selecting the winners through every award cycle, saying, "When we give an award to a project, we say that this building should be completed for a minimum of one year, and maximum six years...It's not about the idea, but how a project or a problem is approached. A building is a living creature, it's not something that is static."

Spanning diverse geographies and typologies, the seven winning projects for the 16th cycle—listed below—embody the award’s ethos, empower societies, and inspire hope.

Khudi Bari, Bangladesh

Architect: Marina Tabassum Architects

Catering to communities affected and displaced due to climate change and frequent flooding in Bangladesh, Khudi Bari (Bengali for ‘little house’) by the eponymous studio of architect Marina Tabassum is a lightweight, flexible and self-building housing solution made using bamboo and steel. The structures are easy to assemble, dismantle and relocate, offering families both shelter and security. Vernacular techniques, local craftsmanship and ecological sensitivity guide the modest interventions and their palpable social impact. The project stood out to the jury for advancing bamboo as a globally recognised sustainable material while addressing the urgent challenges of displacement, migration and environmental vulnerability with a humane architectural response.

West Wusutu Village Community Centre, China

Architect: Inner Mongolian Grand Architecture Design Co., Ltd

With the West Wusutu Village Community Centre in the Chinese city of Hohhot, the Inner Mongolia-based practice has transformed a rural settlement into a social and cultural infrastructure for residents and artists. Built using reclaimed bricks, the revitalisation project intertwines sustainable construction with local traditions to yield inclusive spaces that can accommodate community gatherings, events and exchanges, strengthening the identity of the Hui Muslim population in the region. “By integrating diverse users and embracing a high multifunctional articulation through its fluid spaces, the centre has generated a valuable shared and inclusive communal microcosm within a rural human macrocosm,” acknowledged the jury.

Revitalisation of Historic Esna, Egypt

Architect: Takween Integrated Community Development

Cairo-based Takween Integrated Community Development has revived what was once a neglected town into an animated historic hub through conservation, socioeconomic initiatives and urban strategies. Heritage-led strategies used in the project become propellors for economic growth in the region, attracting visitors and investment while enhancing local lives through restoration of key monuments, improvement of infrastructure and upliftment of local craftspeople. "The project clearly shifts the paradigm of urban conservation to another level, prioritising the role of residents’ collective intelligence in transforming their challenging and derelict built environment," cites the jury.

Majara Residence and Community Redevelopment, Iran

Architect: ZAV Architects

A vibrant troupe of colourful domes on Iran’s Hormuz Island echoes the region’s ochre soils and natural landscapes. Designed by Tehran-based ZAV Architects, Majara Residence strives to provide sustainable tourist accommodation, support the local economy and augment the island’s identity. The architects blend playful forms with ecological consciousness, fueling the dome-like structures with local materials and labour. The jury recognises the intervention “as a vibrant and colourful archipelago of varying programmes that serve to incrementally define a truly alternative model for tourism in this context and beyond.”

Jahad Metro Plaza, Iran

Architect: KA Architecture Studio

KA Architecture Studio breathes life into a dilapidated metro station in Tehran, moulding it into a striking urban node for pedestrians. The Jahad Metro Plaza, defined by interlocking barrel vaults, open plazas, shaded walkways and carefully crafted brickwork, emerges as an inviting junction in the cityscape, bridging commuters, residents and visitors. Functionality and symbolism reside in equilibrium in the brick architecture that draws from Iran’s rich heritage, while at the same time, the evocative plaza asserts itself as a new urban monument. The jury recognises the project for its 'subtle strength, attention to heritage and craft, and its aim to revive pedestrian space and social interaction', adding that it 'exemplifies the role of architecture in shaping public spaces as living dialogues between history, people, and ideas'.

Vision Pakistan, Pakistan

Architect: DB Studios

"Two people – one an experienced educator, the other a young practising architect – work together and invent a new wellspring of respect, a new skills training centre, a place where young people feel that they matter, where not-yet-discovered talents will be trained and encouraged," states the AGAA jury about Vision Pakistan—an uplifting, multi-storey education and training facility in Islamabad, Pakistan. Designed by DB Studios, the building empowers disadvantaged youth through vocational programmes. Its colourful facade design, inspired by Pakistani and Arab crafts, create a striking urban landmark that radiates optimism and joy. Inside, bright, flexible spaces support a variety of learning and training activities, combining efficiency with spatial richness. The success of the educational architecture in integrating social purpose with inventive design—housing a transformative education model within an economically efficient structure—inspires both students and the wider community through an architecture of care.

Wonder Cabinet, Palestine

Architect: AAU Anastas

Wonder Cabinet by AAU Anastas is a multipurpose non-profit exhibition and production space built to harbour craft, design and learning in Bethlehem. Built with the input of local artisans and contractors, the flexible spaces within the facility house exhibitions, learning programmes and collaborative projects, offering a stage to local craftsmanship and creating a contemporary cultural infrastructure. The jury spotlights the project for being a model of connection—linking traditions with present creativity and future aspirations.

The 2025 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, through its winning entries, establishes a sense of urgency and the need for ecological sensitivity, inclusivity and cultural vitality to respond to the contemporary challenges. This year’s recipients—from resilient housing in Bangladesh to cultural infrastructure in Palestine—illustrate how architecture can bridge history and modernity, community and individuality. As His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V, AKAA Steering Committee Chair, states in an official statement, these projects serve as “quiet acts of resilience that grow into spaces of belonging, where the future may thrive in dignity and hope."