AKTC Work in the world

Any Institutional activities in the world
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kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

Goldasta Mosque Opening

U.S. Embassy Press Release


May 19, 2010

Goldasta Mosque Opening

Kabul, Afghanistan, May 19, 2010 – Minister of Information and Cultural Affairs Sayed Makhdoom Raheen, Minister of Religious Affairs and Hajj Khawas Khan Niazi, and U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry celebrated the restoration and opening of the Goldasta Mosque in ceremony today. Several Afghan officials and members of the community were present to witness the ceremony.

“The process of restoring Goldasta Mosque not only brought a new community facility back to life, but it has contributed to the revival of traditional building crafts such as joinery and plastering,” said Ambassador Eikenberry. “Dozens of skilled workers and craftsmen worked on the project; the mosque is a great example of their remarkable talents.”

The Goldasta Mosque is fine example of late 19th century religious architecture that incorporates a range of regional decorative influences. While badly damaged in the fierce fighting that raged throughout the old city of Kabul in 1993, it is testament to the quality of the builders of the Goldasta mosque that enough of the structure was still standing to allow restoration of the building to bring it back to useful life. Thanks to the efforts of residents of the surrounding neighbourhood, the wooden columns and marble panels of the building were protected.

The U.S. Embassy partnered with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) on this project. In addition to resorting an architecturally significant religious building, the project provided jobs to community members in Kabul’s Tandoorsazi area.

Since 2001 the U.S. government and American institutions such as the National Geographic and National Endowment for the Humanities have spent over $4 million on cultural heritage projects in Afghanistan. Included in this is the restoration of 8 historic buildings throughout the country.

On-going project include Shish Nal Mosque in Herat, Ulya Madrassa in Kabul, Noh Gonbad Mosque in Balkh and the Qala Ikhtyaruddin citadel in Herat. Completed projects include the Goldasta Mosque which was opened today, as well as the Khoja Rokhband Cistern in Herat and the Mullah Mahmud Mosque in Kabul.

http://kabul.usembassy.gov/pressrelease-20510.html
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18 families moved to restore Nizamuddin complex
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Email Author
New Delhi, June 02, 2010
First Published: 00:55 IST(2/6/2010)
Last Updated: 00:58 IST(2/6/2010)


As part of the on-going restoration and conservation work at the Nizamuddin dargah and the nearby baoli (stepwell), 18 families were shifted from the dargah’s surrounding area.

The 14th century baoli (step well), built by Hazarat Nizamuddin Auliya and "believed to have medicinal properties", had borne large-scale damage to its surrounding walls because of seepage from these houses.

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), which has been working for the restoration and conservation in the heritage precincts for several years, are carrying out the conservation work in the area, with the help of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in partnership with Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and the MCD.

"The restoration and conservation work for the baoli would continue for another year," an AKTC official said.

During the conservation, five perennial underground fresh water streams that fed the baoli, and a passage linking the water point to the mosque, were also discovered. The AKTC is also funding the relocation of the families.

However, the families are not keen on relocation. "I don't want to go that far as my school is here. I will stay here with my dadi," said Shahnaz Khatoon, a Class VII student. Shahnaz's family was one of the 18 evacuated on Monday. Their houses were demolished by the MCD.

"All these families have been given rented accommodation at Sawda Ghewra near Nangloi by the MCD. A permanent accommodation will be provided later," said Shahnaz's uncle Mohammed Rizwan, a photocopy machine operator. His house, being a little away from the boundary, was not part of the demolition.

The MCD is undertaking this conservation project to improve streets and toilet blocks in the congested Hazrat Nizamuddin area, which is expected to draw a large number of visitors during the Commonwealth Games.

"The Nizamuddin basti area is a densely dense populated area and is visited by over a million national and international tourists and pilgrims every year. It is expected to draw large number of footfalls during the Games so there is a need to improve it," a senior MCD official said. The area houses the Hazrat Nizamuddin dargah, Mazar-e-Ghalib, Humayun's Tomb and other historical and archaeological sites.

As the time is short, the MCD decided to prepare estimates for various lanes separately for early execution of work.

The AKTC will carry out community consultation process as part of its non-profit partnership with the MCD for the project.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/18-famili ... 51900.aspx
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AKTC - AFGHANISTAN NEWSLETTER # 24 March / April 2010

http://www.akdn.org/publications/2010_a ... _march.pdf
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VIDEO

Let the Beauty we Love Be What We Do: A Profile of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

Various locations
34mn 38secs (154MB)


A film on the projects and activities of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture: Ancient villages and historic cities restored... Abandoned monuments given new life... Old skills relearned and new discoveries made... Economically depressed communities revived... Music and verse, once forgotten, performed again... Masterpieces of Islamic art on display for the first time.

http://www.akdn.org/podcasts.asp?id=764
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Forodhani gardens - Park - in Zanzibar

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/no ... a-tanzania
Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 24 November 2009 09.00 GMT


Tanzania: is Zanzibar an urban idyll?

Guardian Weekly reader Dolar Vasani describes a visit to Zanzibar's Forodhani Gardens – a seafront sanctuary filled with walkways, benches and food stalls.

Dhow, Zanzibar, 2005 Dhow, Stone Town, Zanzibar, 2005. Photograph: Remi Benali/Corbis

Zanzibar is hot and sticky. It is the prelude to the long rains. In the evenings, I find myself looking to escape the stuffiness of my hotel room. Within a short walk, past the madrasa, are the Forodhani Gardens, a seafront sanctuary filled with walkways, benches and food stalls.

This rehabilitation project spearheaded by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture has restored a variety of sites that mark Zanzibar's rich history. Only men in white aprons and chef hats manage the many stalls of the night market, known for its shellfish, meat kebabs, fruit, freshly pressed sugarcane juice and, of course, the local Zanzibar pizza.

Young and old, local and tourists gather here every evening to enjoy the views across the aquamarine Indian Ocean on the one side and the House of Wonders on the other.

The atmosphere is relaxed, or hakuna haraka (no hurry). It's a wonderful place to sit on a bench and watch the world go by. As a woman alone in Stone Town, the place is safe. In general, spaces between men and women, especially in public, are defined as distant. However, it is not uncommon for a stranger to strike up a conversation. Warmth and hospitality remain a strong brand.

The green lawn, trees and children's play area gives it the look and feel of a real park. Juma, a trader selling Zanzibar pizza, is happy with the location. He particularly enjoys the cool breeze of the ocean and access to water for cleaning, though he's disgruntled with the exponential increase of kodi (rent) when moving from old and shabby to new and expensive. He feels the government doesn't care much about retention – there are plenty of others who can take his place.

Rehabilitation projects can be ugly and out of sync with the local environment. These gardens blend in well with the local architecture and culture and seem to be appreciated by all.

My colleague, Steve from Malawi, goes there most evenings to eat roasted mhogo (cassava). After endless meetings, the gardens offer respite. Luckily, the culture of malls with walls and electric fencing remains distant. And for now, the Forodhani experience – a meal with a drink and a great view – can be enjoyed for less than $3. These gardens may also offer a formula from which other urban centres could glean a lesson or two.
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Post by kmaherali »

US Ambassadors Fund AKTC Herat Project

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/06/143356.htm

Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC

June 18, 2010

The preservation and protection of the early 18th-century Amarbayasgalant Monastery in Mongolia is one of four large-scale efforts among 63 cultural heritage preservation projects to receive financial support from the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) in 2010. Established by Congress in the fall of 2000 and celebrating its 10th year, the AFCP awards grants for the preservation of cultural sites, cultural objects and collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression in more than 100 countries. The AFCP has demonstrated America's respect for the cultural heritage of others by supporting more than 640 preservation projects worldwide.
The Amarbayasgalant Monastery was once the most important center for Buddhist learning and culture in Mongolia and is a rare survivor of the Soviet-controlled government-ordered destruction of Buddhist monasteries in the 1930s. The monastery's wooden main temple and other buildings are magnets for pilgrims and tourists and are highly vulnerable to damage and theft. The $575,000 AFCP award to the Arts Council of Mongolia will support preservation and protection measures to reduce the risk of fire and theft at this site.

The three other AFCP awards for large-scale projects in 2010 are:

$625,000 to the World Monuments Fund for the conservation of the remains of the 11th-century Surp Prikitch (Church of the Holy Redeemer) at the medieval Armenian site of Ani in eastern Turkey;
$850,000 to the Department of Archaeology and Museums of Pakistan, for the restoration of the early 17th-century Sheikhupura Fort, an impressive red brick fort built by the Mughal emperor, Jahangir, as part of the royal hunting estate of Hiran Minar; and,
$450,000 to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, for ongoing restoration of Qala Ikhtyaruddin, the 15th-century citadel of Herat, Afghanistan.

AFCP also awarded $3.4 million in grants for projects to preserve cultural heritage in 52 countries and the West Bank.
Cultural heritage endures as a reminder of the historical experiences and contributions of mankind. By supporting the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide, the AFCP helps extend its value as a vital and defining element of communities and nations and helps ensure its use, enjoyment, and relevance both today and for generations to come.
The Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation is administered by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Cultural Heritage Center, which supports the foreign affairs functions of the U.S. Department of State that relate to the preservation of cultural heritage. The Center also administers U.S. responsibilities relating to the 1970 UNESCO Convention to reduce pillage and illicit trafficking in cultural property.
Media Contact: Catherine Stearns, (202) 632-6437 or StearnsCL@state.gov
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Art & About: Aga Khan’s vision
2010/06/26

IT would be hard to think of a spiritual leader who has made as big a difference to the arts as Aga Khan IV.

If one trawls far back enough into the history of a religion such as the Catholic church, it is possible to find popes who were more interested in culture than in punishing the insufferable Galileo, but their efforts tended to be almost entirely in their own Roman backyard. For several generations, the Aga Khans have perhaps benefited from not having an obvious backyard. They have become true citizens of the world.

Matching the dynasty’s geographical diversity is the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). This is not one of those networks that involve the occasional breakfast meeting to discuss new contacts for advertising-flyer campaigns. The AKDN has cast its net wider than just about any organisation on the planet, including the United Nations. Next weekend, in its Heritage Heroes’ series, BBC World will be presenting an account of a recent project undertaken by one of the AKDN’s most active subdivisions — the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. In this documentary, the spiritual leader gets to express himself on the subject of heritage in the once-dismal surroundings of Forodhani Park, Zanzibar. Free of the parochial blinkers that tunnel the vision of every preservation-minded government around the world, his mission is broad in concept and vigorous in execution. In his visionary world, the built environment is not a pay-to-enter pastiche of the past. Buildings are there to accommodate life: “They are not frozen, paralysed historic assets. They are assets that can actually contribute to the quality of life of the people who live in those contexts.” It’s a stirring message, delivered in some unlikely locations. The latest beneficiary on a large scale is Toronto. On this occasion, the Aga Khan is nourishing his own roots, the Ismaili Imamat. Last month, he launched the construction of a substantial complex in Canada’s biggest city. The site will comprise an Ismaili centre, a park and a museum. Astonishingly, the museum will be the only such Islamic-art institution in North America. Closer to this part of the world, the Aga Khan’s great contribution to culture is his architecture awards. Once again, Malaysia has made it to the final nominations within the three-year cycle, and not with one of those faux-cultural projects beloved by state governments. On previous occasions it has been landmark buildings such as Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS or, going back even further, the delightfully scenic Tanjong Jara Resort in Terangganu. This year, the Malaysian contender is an old rubber smokehouse in Kedah. This is the type of unpredictable choice that makes these awards so distinctive. The concept of smoking rubber might conjure up images of Vin Diesel and The Fast & the Furious. For the nation’s younger generations, it will resonate to the same extent as tin dredging. These were the activities that put Malaysia on the global map of primary producers but the tin-mining ponds have mostly been turned into new townships. Rubber, however, is still going strong — and flexible. As Malaysia is the world’s No. 3 producer of rubber, it seems justifiable to preserve the industry’s heritage. Among the more attractive relics is the Rubber Smokehouse in the small town of Lunas. This corner of Kedah also happens to be the home town of Laurence Loh, the architect behind the initiative. Being from the neighbourhood, Loh had a vision. This is unlikely to have been shared by out-of-towners, who would have shuddered at the sight of a large abandoned shed that is now a monument to civic pride and an almost forgotten past. It has become the premises of DIGI Communications, which has resisted the temptation to adorn the place with their trademark rotund “yellow men”. In fact, everything looks authentic except for the massive splash of colour that occupies one side of the building. “Funky” would probably be the word used to describe this feature. It certainly gives a youthful vigour to the place, which appears to have become a magnet for the community, drawing together its disparate elements into the very model of 1Malaysia. It’s an original choice for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture committee. The awards go to a wide array of worthwhile efforts, but in this part of the world the winners are usually pretty. A prime example would be the Green School in Bali. This is much more than a school — it is an eco-community which includes that essential ingredient of modern life, a gym. Never before has bamboo been used so extensively and effectively. The pioneers behind it have gone as far as giving bamboo seedlings to farmers in the neighbourhood to keep the green, sustainable message alive.


The other Southeast Asian competitor for the latest award is near Yogyakarta in Indonesia. Unlike Lunas, it is one of those idyllic locations that embody a long-standing fantasy of the Malay Archipelago. Miraculously, a village of 65 houses was put up in less than three months, thanks to the solidarity of the community. The reason the village had to be rebuilt provides a reminder of how fortunate Malaysia is in many ways. The original village was obliterated during an earthquake in 2007, along with 140,000 other homes in the district and almost 6,000lives. They probably deserve the award.

Lucien de Guise is curator of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia. You may write to him at luciendeguise@yahoo.com

Read more: Art & About: Aga Khan’s vision
http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Art_ ... z0s1TmM5GM
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Heritage Heroes

VIDEO

http://www.heritageheroes.org/series/se ... c10a62fae5

Zanzibar / Norway / China

Airing BBC World 03-07 @ 0130, 0830 GMT and 04-07 @ 1430, 2030 GMT
[For broadcast times in your time zone look up www.bbcworldnews.com]


Zanzibar, Tanzania
Hero: The Aga Khan Trust for Culture

Zanzibar’s Forodhani Park was shabby and decrepit until the Aga Khan Trust for Culture decided to restore it to its former condition.

The project was one of a series of investments undertaken by the organisation over two decades to revive the ancient architecture of Stone Town.

In his address at the opening of the park, the Aga Khan explains to Zanzibaris why preservation of the area’s urban inheritance is so important.

“We undertake these projects in part because they can reinforce a sense of identity within proud communities, providing gateways to cultural understanding of the local citizens and visitors alike.”

The revival of Zanzibar’s Stone Town has seen the trust commit millions of US dollars to revive traditional building skills, create jobs and stimulate the local economy.

Speaking at the end of Heritage Heroes, the Aga Khan says: “What I’m hoping to achieve is the notion that these historic sites are potential economic and social dynamos.

“They are not frozen, paralysed historic assets. They are assets that can actually contribute to the quality of life of the people who live in those contexts.”
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World’s Largest Museum of Islamic Art Re-opens

Posted in: News
Sabina Giado | Aug 19, 2010 | 5:37 AM


Museum of Islamic Art. Photo: Wikipedia
http://www.illumemag.com/zine/articleDe ... pens-13240

Rare copies of the Qur'an and a key to the Kaaba in Mecca inlaid with gold will be on display

After a $10-million restoration project that lasted 8 years, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt officially reopened the world’s largest Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo on Saturday, August 14, 2010.

The Museum restoration project has been hailed as a feat of cross-cultural collaboration, bringing together experts from the Islamic Department of the Louvre of Paris, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the nation’s own Supreme Council of Antiques (SCA).

Erected to protect the artifacts from looters, the original museum was designed by Italian architect Alfonso Manescalo and completed in 1903. Even though the Museum housed over 3,000 relics representing the country’s Pharonic, Coptic and Islamic heritage, tourists used to largely ignore the institution, located in the heart of busy Cairo, favouring the usual attractions instead.

Officials soon realized that the poor lighting and organization of the relics were to blame. Moreover, the walls were beginning to crack due to earth tremors. In 2003, the Ministry of Culture began the process to restore the museum to its former glory.

The Museum has been closed to the public since 2006 to implement extensive overhauls in interior and display design. The new Museum is now brighter, cleaner and less cluttered and divides 2500 relics into two wings.

The first wing displays materials from Egypt’s own Islamic history in chronological order Umayyad, Abbasid, Tulunid, Fatimid, Ayubid, Mameluke and Ottoman. The second wing houses artefacts from other nations, such as calligraphy, manuscripts, incense burners, dated to various periods in Islamic history and organized according to chronology, provenance and material.

Rare copies of the Qur'an and a key to the Kaaba in Mecca inlaid with gold will be on display. Other exhibits include Ottoman-era ceramics, ancient instruments used in astronomy, chemistry and architecture and the oldest Islamic dinar ever found, traced back to the year 697.

The Museum’s operations will also expand to include all members of the public. The new design includes a children’s museum and educational programmes are planned for the general public and young adults.

Prior to the opening, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni and Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Secretary-General Zahi Hawass conducted an extensive tour of inspection. Speaking to Al Ahram Weekly, Hawass called the renovation an “extraordinary achievement”.

“Now that the Museum of Islamic Art meets the international standards set out by the International Committee of Museums, it is in a position to compete with its counterparts in Europe and America,“ he said. “Following its re-opening, the museum will once again stand as proudly as it ever did.”
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Post by kmaherali »

BAMAKO URBAN PARK

Revitalisation of Bamako Urban Park

CLIENT: Aga Kahn trust for culture

LOCATION: Bamako, Mali

DETAILS: Implementation of new tourist facilities including gateways, sports facilities and restaurants

COMPLETED: 2008 - present

http://www.munnikvisser.co.za/public-bu ... -city-mali

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STONE TOWN ZANZIBAR

Revitalisation of the Historic Stone Town precinct
CLIENT: Aga Kahn trust for culture

LOCATION: Stone Town, Zanzibar

DETAILS: Renovation and new works in and around the Forodhani Park incuding kiosks, public ablutions and park facilities.

CONTRACTOR: Seyani Brothers & co.

COMPLETED: 2004 - present

http://www.munnikvisser.co.za/public-bu ... n-zanzibar
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New open air theatre and teahouse

CLIENT: Aga Kahn trust for culture

LOCATION: Khorog City, Tajikistan

DETAILS: Design of new open air theatre and teahouse

COMPLETED: 2007 - present

http://www.munnikvisser.co.za/public-bu ... tajikistan

*****
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Post by kmaherali »

Fastest Growing City in Africa Gets 103-hectare Urban Park

President of Mali and Aga Khan Inaugurate National Park of Mali as part of events to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Malian Independence

Please also see: Related Material, Discours en français, Version française

Mali Projects 2004-2010
(Click on the image to download the brief)

Bamako, 22 September 2010 - President Amadou Toumani Toure and His Highness the Aga Khan inaugurated the new National Park of Mali in Bamako today. The 103-hectare Park was created under a public-private partnership between the Government of Mali and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC). The Aga Khan is in Mali along with Heads of State from across Africa for the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Malian Independence.

The Park creates a permanent green space in one of the fastest growing cities in Africa. Under the terms of the public-private partnership, the Government asked AKTC to concentrate on the Park’s 103 hectares (250 acres), a large, semi-circular canyon of protected forest that lies beneath the Koulouba plateau, between the National Museum and the Presidential Palace Complex. The Park is part of a larger protected forest reserve of 2,100 hectares (5180 acres).

In keeping with AKTC’s philosophy that a Park without a long-range plan for maintenance and development could simply become a burden on the city, AKTC earlier signed a 25-year agreement with Mali’s Minister of Culture and Minister of the Environment and Sanitation for the maintenance and further development of the Park. AKTC’s park projects, notably in Delhi, Cairo and Zanzibar, all have provisions for the long-term sustainability of the parks.

The Park is designed to offer large open spaces for leisure and educational activities for the general public, school groups and tourists. Bringing together the National Museum and the existing Botanical Garden and Zoo into a single cultural/ecological park, the Park features a comprehensive pedestrian circulation network and formal promenades throughout. It contains fitness, jogging, cycling and mountaineering tracks of varying difficulty and diverse interpretive awareness trails for botany, birds and nature. The garden spaces feature indigenous flora in varied settings, from open lawn areas to flower gardens, wooded areas and a medicinal garden. Interpretive educational signs and displays and the development of trained guides are expected to offer new educational experiences for visitors.

Phase 1 included the rehabilitation of 17 hectares of open spaces and the redevelopment and integration of eight existing facilities. The architect Diébédo Francis Kéré, an Aga Khan Award for Architecture recipient in 2004, was commissioned to design a primary and secondary gate, an entry building, a youth and sports centre, a restaurant, public toilets and several kiosks.

The Park development is part of a broader programme of urban revitalisation efforts undertaken by AKTC at World Heritage sites within the country. As part of its Earthen Architecture Programme, AKTC has also undertaken large cultural, social and economic projects in Mopti, Timbuktu and Djenné.

The programme began in 2006 with the restoration of the Great Mosque of Mopti, which had been at risk of collapse. AKTC then implemented an urban regeneration programme that aimed to raise the standard of living for residents in the Komoguel area. Water points were established to increase access to safe, clean drinking water; an underground sewerage system was built with connections to individual households in the area; a treatment facility for raw sewage was installed; 4500 square metres of streets were paved with locally manufactured bricks (made from recycled polythene bags and sand) and a system for collection of solid waste was introduced. A flood barrier built to withstand periodic flooding was constructed. A visitor centre housing the Centre for Earthen Architecture, a community centre and public toilets were also constructed. In the process, 345 people were trained in construction techniques, plumbing, masonry, brick manufacturing, carpentry and metal work.

Following the work in Mopti, AKTC initiated comprehensive conservation works on the Djingereyber Mosque in Timbuktu at the end of 2006. The mosque, built in the 14th century, is the oldest earth construction building in sub-Saharan Africa. Officially listed as part of the Mali’s cultural heritage, it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988.

AKTC’s work in Djenné began in 2006, when a preliminary study of the Great Mosque revealed that despite its well-known annual maintenance process, the Great Mosque of Djenné was at risk of collapsing. AKTC’s conservation of the Mosque, which began at the end of 2008, encompassed the complete rehabilitation of the roof, restoration of the mud-brick load-bearing wall structure and the complete replacement of the interior lighting, ventilation and sound systems. As in Mopti, Djenné’s Phase 2 will encompass the improvement of public spaces, the installation of water and sanitation and other measures designed to improve the quality of life in the area.

For more information, please contact
Réseau Aga Khan de développement (Mali)
Immeuble Niangado, sis quartier du fleuve
B.P.E 2998, Bamako-Mali
Mali
Tél: +223.20.22.08.63/20.22.06.95
Fax: +223.20.22.34.66
E-mail: info.mali@akdn.org
http://www.akdn.org/Content/1013

Also
http://www.akdn.org/publications/2010_mali_aktc.pdf

*****
Also reported in the Saturday Nation:

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/New ... index.html
Last edited by kmaherali on Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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AKCSP receives Unesco Award of Distinction for restoring Gulabpur Khanqah

SKARDU (September 30, 2010) : The Gulabpur Khanqah in Shigar valley, Skardu, Baltistan was recently awarded the 2010 Asia-Pacific Award of Distinction in Cultural Heritage by Unesco. For nine consecutive times, the Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan (AKCSP), which is the operational arm of the Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme (AKHCP) of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) in Pakistan, has won a Unesco Asia Pacific Cultural Heritage Award for its conservation efforts in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The more prominent awards won earlier being for Baltit Fort in Hunza and Shigar Fort in Baltistan. A total of 33 entries, from 14 countries in the region, were submitted for consideration. The conservation project entries included museums, hotels, cultural institutions, educational institutions, religious sites, industrial sites, public institutions, residential buildings, urban districts and islands.

From 2008 to 2009 the conservation and rehabilitation of the Gulabpur Khanqah was carried out by the Gulabpur community who contributed around 40 percent of the total costs in cash and kind, with AKCSP providing technical advice. Financial assistance was provided by the German Embassy in Islamabad.

The conservation project of Gulabpur Khanqah - a mosque with meditation chambers - has saved a unique historic monument which served as the long time centre of social, cultural and religious activities for the surrounding communities. The project demonstrates the inclusion of yet another building typology in the grassroots conservation movement already active in Shigar. "A great sense of commitment was demonstrated by the Gulabpur community, which makes the project an exemplar of community-led architectural restoration undertaken with a view toward sustaining living cultural traditions," said Salman Beg, CEO - AKCSP upon receiving the award.

The 331 year old Gulabpur Khanqah is located in Gulabpur village sited on the western bank of Shigar river about 10 km upstream of its confluence with the river Indus near Skardu. The monument is accessible through the link road of Arandu valley, which is the main tourist attraction due to the Chago Lungma Glacier and the Golden Peak.

The Khanqah displays typical architectural features of Baltistan, among which the double roof with the classical Tibetan tower on top is most salient. The building is characterised by cribbage walls, as well as impressive wooden pillars and a painted wooden ceiling inside the prayer hall.-PR
http://beta.brecorder.com/section/37/1/ ... anqah.html
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The roof of the Gulabpur Khanqah is supported by wooden pillars. Photo: Express/File
ISLAMABAD: Conservation and rehabilitation efforts for the culturally and historically significant Gulabpur Khanqah, first started two years ago, were recognised by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) early in September, said an Aga Khan Foundation’s press release on Wednesday.

UNESCO awarded The Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan (AKCSP) the Award of Distinction in the 2010 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation. The awards recognise the achievements of individuals and private organisations “in successfully restoring structures of heritage value in the [Asia Pacific] region”.

The 331-year-old Gulabpur Khanqah, which is a mosque with meditation rooms, is located in Gulabpur village near Skardu, on the western bank of Shigar River, about 10km upstream of where it meets the river Indus.

The monument, a popular tourist attraction and accessible through the link road of Arandu Valley, has the typical architectural features of buildings in Baltistan, such as the double roof with a classical Tibetan tower on top. The building features an impressively-painted ceiling supported by wooden pillars. For over three centuries the Khanqah has served as the hub of social, cultural and religious activities for the local communities, according to the press release.

Khanqah is a building where people can go for spiritual retreat and character reformation.

The Gulabpur community teamed up with AKCSP between 2008 and 2009 for the conservation and rehabilitation project. The local community contributed around 40 per cent of the total costs in cash and materials, while the remaining finances were contributed by the German Embassy in Islamabad. AKCSP provided technical advice.

“A great sense of commitment was demonstrated by the Gulabpur community, which makes the project an exemplar of community-led architectural restoration [to sustain] living cultural traditions,” said Salman Beg, CEO of AKCSP, upon receiving the award.

This year, 33 projects from 14 countries in the Asia Pacific region were submitted for the awards’ consideration. These projects included conservations of museums, hotels, cultural institutions, educational institutions, religious sites, industrial public institutions, residential buildings, urban district and islands.

The Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan, which is the operational arm of the Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Pakistan, has won this award for nine times in a row now.

The press release said that some of the prominent award-winning AKCSP projects in the past were the Baltit Fort in Hunza and Shigar Fort in Baltistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2010.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/56511/inter ... n-project/
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Post by kmaherali »

SLIDESHOW

Slideshow: National Park of Mali Opens in Bamako

http://www.akdn.org/slideshow.asp?Sid=167

National Park of Mali Opens in Bamako
September 2010 - The population of Bamako, the capital of the Republic of Mali, has risen rapidly in recent years, now numbering over one million inhabitants. Population growth has driven the demand for housing and public facilities. In this context, the need for far-sighted urban planning has been crucial. The Government of Mali responded by outlining the boundaries of the National Park of Mali, a space of 103 hectares within a larger protected forest reserve of 2,100 hectares that forms a significant greenbelt in the city of Bamako. Under the terms of the public-private partnership, the Government asked the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) to concentrate on a 103 hectares area that incorporates a large, semi-circular canyon of protected forest that lies beneath the terraced outcrops of the Koulouba plateau, between the National Museum and the Presidential Palace Complex. The slideshow offers a view of the construction of the Park and its completed state.
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BLOOMING GARDEN

Look for the blooming of the University of Alberta Devonian Gardens into a major regional attraction. Not that it isn’t already, but given its low profile, most of you likely have not visited the beautiful gardens, north of Devon, on Hwy. 60.

Putting the gardens on the map will be the regal and majestic Aga Khan Islamic- style garden. Now in its design stages, the garden was a multi-million-dollar gift from the Aga Khan, the global leader of the Ismaili Muslim community. It was announced when the Aga Khan received an honorary degree from the U of A in 2009.

There are several other botanical projects in the works, giving the visitor much more to do and see.

The gardens’ administrative setup is being restructured, to be less of a University of Alberta appendage and more of an independent body, with its own board of governors. Hence the new emphasis on the gardens as a tourist attraction.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/columni ... 95911.html
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Obama to visit Humayun’s Tomb

New Delhi, Oct 28 – Barack Obama will visit the Humayun’s Tomb here, becoming the first US president to see the 16th century monument, an official said Thursday.

‘I don’t think any US president has visited Humayun’s Tomb in the last 20 years. But the visit depends on security arrangements,’ Archaeological Survey of India Joint Director-General B.R. Mani told IANS.

The ASI has not drawn up any special plans for the tomb in view of Obama’s visit, Mani said.

According to Ben Rhodes, Obama’s official speech-writer and spokesperson, ‘the tomb is one of the great cultural marvels in New Delhi’.

‘The president felt it was important, given the rich civilization that India has, to pay tribute to it through this stop,’ Rhodes said.

Obama is arriving in Mumbai Nov 6, and will fly to Indonesia after a four-day visit of India.

The Humayun’s tomb was commissioned in 1562 AD by the emperor’s wife Hamida Banu Begum and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, a Persian architect.

It was the first garden tomb in the sub-continent with landscaped lawns and orchards.

Built in red sandstone and marble, it is located in Nizamuddin East. The Humayun’s Tomb was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1993.

‘The ASI is renovating the tomb with the Aga Khan Trust. The first phase of the project that envisages to revive the ancient water channels in the mausoleum complex is nearing completion,’ Mani said.

‘The second phase will focus on the domes and the main tomb structure while the third phase will refurbish the complex and the surrounding areas. Architects will revive the ancient connection between the Nila Gumbad (a blue domed mausoleum located adjacent to the complex) and the main tomb,’ Mani said.

The ASI hoped to complete work by next year, Mani said.

The renovation work is spearheaded by conservation architect Ratish Nanda from the Aga Khan Trust.

http://www.indiatalkies.com/2010/10/oba ... -tomb.html
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President Amadou Toumani Touré Opens Centre for Earthen Architecture in Mali

On 29 October 2010, President Amadou Toumani Touré officially opened the new Centre for Earthen Architecture in Mopti, Mali. The centre, located in the city’s Komoguel district, includes an exhibition space designed to present Mali’s rich heritage of earthen architecture to the public, a community centre with public toilets and showers, a cafeteria and a park.

This project is the outcome of a public-private partnership between the Ministry of Culture, the municipality of Mopti and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. The restoration of the Great Mosque in Komoguel, which opened in 2008, was followed by regeneration work across a substantial area of the Komoguel district, including street paving, with the aim of improving living conditions for local residents.

The partnership between the Ministry of Culture and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) aims to revitalise the tradition of earthen architecture in Mali. Its initial phase saw the restoration of several mosques, including the Komoguel Mosque in Mopti, the Djingereyber Mosque in Timbuktu and the Great Mosque of Djenné. Providing professional training in traditional construction methods has been a key component of these projects, which have proved to be an invaluable source of technical, organisational and relational learning in the wider context of preserving Mali’s earthen buildings. The second phase of the earthen architecture restoration programme will include further major projects involving Mali’s rich heritage and public spaces in various regions of the country.

The centre was opened to the public on 1 November 2010.

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is the cultural agency of the Aga Khan Development Network. Through its programmes the AKTC promotes debate on built environments, offers models and solutions to contemporary design challenges, and plays an active part in the physical and social revitalisation of communities in order to improve their quality of life.

For further information please contact:

Réseau Aga Khan de développement [Aga Khan Development Network](Mali)
Immeuble Niangado, sis quartier du fleuve
B.P.E 2998, Bamako-Mali

Tel: +223 20 22 08 63/20 22 06 95
Fax: +223 20 22 34 66
E-mail: info.mali@akdn.org

http://www.akdn.org/Content/1023
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Post by kmaherali »

City park set for Sh 1b facelift

By CHURCHILL OTIENO in DohaPosted Friday, November 26 2010 at 21:00

The Government is working with the Aga Khan Development Network to restore and improve Nairobi’s City Park at a cost of nearly Sh1billion.

Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi that AKDN would help revitalise the park on a public-private-partnership basis and that a Cabinet
approval was all that was pending.

“Improving facilities at the park will make it safer for Nairobi dwellers and making it environmentally friendly will see to its sustainable use for research and tourism,” he said.

Mr Mudavadi, who is also the Minister for Local Government, spoke on the flanks of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture seminar in Doha, Qatar.

He said City Park would be restored and improved along the lines of similar projects undertaken by AKDN in eight other cities including Cairo and Bamako.

“Kenya would benefit greatly in AKDN’s technical expertise and experience in rebuilding and running similar projects elsewhere in the world. Current plans show that work on City Park will cost no less than US$10 million,” he said.

He said the project will also involve the Nairobi City Council as the host authority and the National Museums of Kenya since City Park is a gazetted site of national heritage.

Mr Mudavadi held several bilateral meetings with officials of the Qatari government, including the Minister for Energy, Dr Mohammed bin Saleh al Sada and the chairman of the Qatar Investment Authority, Mr Jassim bin Jabber al Thani.

Mr Jabber said his government was interested in investing in some of the Kenyan parastatals currently lined up for privatisation.

Dr Saleh expressed his government’s willingness to invest in Kenya’s geothermal power generation if a technical partner was identified.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/City%20par ... /o0va5k/-/
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Post by Admin »

This is just opposite the Aga Khan Hospital and our Darkhana on Limuru Road. There is also a market beside. I think there will be also some work done at the Market there in due time.

Presently monkeys from the forest behind rundown city park come to the Market, even cross the road and steal some food from time to times from Hirani Estate [that is an Ismaili Estate with about 49 houses] on 3rd Parklands Avenue in Nairobi.

Monkeys are quite an attraction and it is indeed surprising to see so many of them in the area. The Park will be a success for sure!

Limuru road is on the way from city center to the Unep headquarter in Gigiri.

The whole are of Parklands will see its value enhanced with the creation of a proper secure park.

I can see in the future people going there even at night eating miskaki and other food in a secure environment, Forodhani style - that would be a first in our city named Nairobery :lol:
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Post by kmaherali »

Islamic Art Museum Cairo

The work was carried out jointly with the Islamic Department of the Louvre in Paris and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, which helped with the restoration of several larger items.

Video and Edit by Rachel Beth Anderson, Music by Esthema

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent ... media.aspx
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Aleppo, Syria - AKTC Projects - Park

Post by Admin »

http://www.dp-news.com/pages/detail.asp ... leId=67954

Preserving Heritage
27/12/2010
(Nicolai Ouroussof | DP-News- The New York times)

ALEPPO— At first glance it seems an unremarkable scene: a quiet plaza shaded by date palms in the shadow of this city’s immense medieval Citadel, newly restored to its looming power. Foreign tourists sit side by side with people whose families have lived here for generations; women, both veiled and unveiled, walk arm in arm past a laborer hauling tools into an old government building being converted into a hotel.

But this quiet plaza is the centerpiece of one of the most far-thinking preservation projects in the Middle East, one that places as much importance on people as it does on the buildings they live in. The project encompasses the rebuilding of crumbling streets and the upgrading of city services, the restoration of hundreds of houses in the historic Old City, plans for a 42-acre park in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods and the near-decade-long restoration of the Citadel itself, whose massive walls dominate the skyline of Aleppo, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and a gem of Islamic architecture.

The effort, led by a German nonprofit group and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture working with local government, is the culmination of a major philosophical shift among preservationists in the region. It seeks to reverse a 50-year history during which preservation, by myopically focusing on restoring major architectural artifacts, sometimes destroyed the communities around them. Other restoration efforts have also sparked gentrification, driving the poor from their homes and, at their worst, fostering rage that plays into the hands of militants.

By offering an array of financial and zoning incentives to homeowners and shopkeepers, this approach has already helped stabilize impoverished communities in a part of the world where the most effective social programs for the poor are often still run by extremist organizations like Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood.

“The project in Aleppo is quite an exceptional model,” said Daniele Pini, a preservationist who has worked for Unesco, the United Nations cultural arm, throughout the region. In places like Cairo and Jordan, he said, those who would restore historic buildings and those who live in them are often at loggerheads. The Aleppo plan, he said, “allows people to adapt the old houses to the needs of modern life.”

Correcting Past Blunders
The role of postwar urban planning in the rise of fundamentalism is well documented. In the 1950s and ’60s nationalist governments in countries like Egypt, Syria and Iraq typically viewed the congested alleys and cramped interiors of historic centers not as exotic destinations for tourists but as evidence of a backward culture to be erased. Planners carved broad avenues through dense cities, much as Haussmann had before them in Paris. Families that had lived a compartmentalized existence — with men often segregated from women in two- or three-story courtyard houses — were forced into high-rises with little privacy, while the wealthy fled for villas in newly created suburbs.

But while preservationists may have scorned Modernist housing blocks, they were often just as insensitive to the plight of local residents who got in their way. Even as they worked to restore architectural monuments in the Muslim world, they could be disdainful of the dense urban fabric that surrounded these sites. Neighborhoods were sometimes bulldozed to clear space around landmarks so they would be more accessible to tourists.

Agencies like Unesco often steered governments toward a Western-style approach to preservation. Traditionally a family might have built onto a house to accommodate a newly married son, for instance, adding a floor or a shop out front. But those kinds of changes were often prohibited under preservation rules.

“The word ‘athar’ — ‘antiquities’ — became a horrible word because it meant preserving our houses but not our traditions,” said Omar Hallaj, the chief executive of the Syria Trust for Development and a preservationist who has worked in Syria and Yemen.

These tensions grew with the boom in global tourism, as cities around the world sought to give travelers the “authentic” experience they craved, but in a safe, tidy and germ-free environment. The Old City of Damascus, for example, has in the last decade become a major draw both for the international tourist set and for Arabs who began traveling closer to home after Sept. 11. According to informed estimates, the number of foreign visitors to Syria has quadrupled over the last five years.

Even as the city government races to preserve its character, its courtyard houses are being converted into boutique hotels and fashionable restaurants. Many 20th-century structures — including impressive examples of early modern architecture from the time of the French mandate period — remain unprotected. The city has introduced incentives to keep some homeowners, but many preservationists think it’s too late.

Militant Islamic hardliners, meanwhile, have had equal disdain for both the modernizers and for the preservationists, many of them Western, who followed them.

“I remember when we first moved into the city of Zabid in Yemen, the local imam started going to the mosque saying, ‘The Germans are here to transform your towns into cabarets and brothels,’ ” Mr. Hallaj said.

What many militant extremists are fixated on is a utopia of the past: a vision of Islam in the era of the Prophet. Not only Western influence, but also three centuries of Ottoman rule — the period when the fabric of most Arab cities was created — is seen as a form of corruption.

“What is interesting about this whole argument between the modernizers on the one hand and fundamentalists on the other is that it all happens on the level of ideology,” Malise Ruthven, a historian who has written books on Islamic fundamentalism, said in a recent interview. Mohamed Atta, the central planner of the 9/11 attacks, once wrote an urban planning thesis on the Old City of Aleppo in which he said he wanted to tear out centuries’ worth of buildings, Mr. Ruthven said. He dreamed of “an Islamic city that was pure and unchanged — frozen in aspic.”

Benefits for Residents
At first sight the plan for Aleppo’s rehabilitation may not seem a radical departure from preservation as usual. Led by GTZ, a nonprofit organization owned by the German government, it began with a two-year analysis of the city’s historic structures that included hundreds of interviews with residents.

With GTZ’s guidance the government began laying more than 323 miles of sewage and water pipes, removing the webs of dilapidated electrical wiring that stretched across its alleyways and replacing missing cobblestones. To encourage building owners and their tenants to stay, the group set up a pilot program that offered interest-free construction loans. For those who accepted, it helped ensure that any renovations followed preservation guidelines.

“The rationale was that if the state is forcing preservation on people,” Mr. Hallaj said, “then the state has a responsibility to pay for that burden. So if they want a historical hand-carved window instead of an aluminum one, the state pays the difference.” Other incentives were put in place to encourage local businesses to stay — the kind of small neighborhood commercial establishments whose importance was championed by urban thinkers like Jane Jacobs.

What makes the project such an auspicious model for the region, though, is its clear grasp of how architecture can both shape and define relationships among social groups. Long before developers got an inkling of what was going on, GTZ and its government partners divided the Old City into zones, with new hotels and restaurants confined to two areas, one around the Citadel and the other in the Jdayde neighborhood. (GTZ describes Jdayde as an area of crooked streets and tiny shops with a large Christian population that would be more accepting of tourists than some of the more heavily Muslim areas.)

These zones, in turn, are being anchored by increasingly ambitious — and often architecturally magnificent — public spaces. The first, Al-Hatab Square in Jdayde, is a small patch of stone shaded by a few trees. Once partly built over with squalid sheds, the square has become a vibrant mix of Syrian families and foreign tourists, framed by old jewelry shops, fish markets and cafes.

It has been a decade since the Aga Khan Trust for Culture began its meticulous restoration of the Citadel. Its enormous moat was cleared of garbage and lined with low-growing plants. The ruins of houses and shops built by Ottoman soldiers stationed here in the 18th century, and destroyed in the 1828 earthquake were torn down. The mazelike interior walls — a monument to medieval paranoia designed to keep invaders from reaching the court’s inner sanctum — were cleared of rubble.

Just as important is the social vision behind it. The road surrounding the Citadel, which choked it with cars and exhaust fumes, has been replaced by a pedestrian walkway bordered by the newly landscaped moat on one side and scattered historical buildings on the other. Many of these are being beautifully restored, including a palatial 1930 neo-Classical structure that is being transformed into a hotel by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development. But if some of them — former government ministries built during the early half of the 20th century — are being turned into luxurious hotels for the wealthy, it is the buildings, not the public, that seem to be confined behind iron gates.

What’s particularly striking is the sense of shared ownership and belonging. The poor seem as comfortable strolling along the Citadel’s paths as the rich, which is all the more striking given that Syria is controlled by the authoritarian government of Bashar al-Assad and the ruling Baath Party. It is a expression of how public space, when thoughtfully designed, can promote a more egalitarian vision of civic life.

This atmosphere filters into the surrounding streets. The cobblestones look freshly scrubbed; the heavy wood shutters that front the old shops have yet to acquire the patina of age. But the clash of historical styles and eras that shaped Aleppo — and that made it one of the world’s great cosmopolitan centers — have not been smoothed over. And for the moment at least, you get the encouraging feeling that it is possible to push back at the forces of displacement. It’s a city being adapted for human beings, not for some abstract vision of a global consumer.

There is more to come. A few months ago the Aga Khan Trust for Culture began building the foundations for the 42-acre park in an impoverished neighborhood just outside one of the gates of the Old City. This hilltop site is now strewn with garbage. A sprawling asphalt parking lot borders it on one side; crumbling modern apartment blocks — the kind that 9/11’s mastermind envisioned demolishing — and decrepit 19th-century houses line the other.

The project, which is being modeled on an earlier one in Cairo, Al-Azhar Park, will feature rambling walkways and gardens with views over the Old City to the refurbished Citadel. The trust plans to train local people in traditional crafts like carpentry and stonecutting so they can take part in the park’s construction.

In a speech he gave in Aleppo two months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Aga Khan described his mission as creating an intellectual garden “where there would be no possibility of suffocation from the dying weeds of dogma” and “beauty would be seen in the articulation of difference,” a statement crystallizing what preservationists hope will happen now in Aleppo.

A Search for Continuity
The tricky question — and the one that may have the most longstanding impact for the Middle East — is whether Aleppo can carry its vision of social and historical continuity into the future. The government recently started an architectural competition for a new cultural complex that will include a 1,600-seat opera house, library and exhibition space in an area built during the French mandate.

And the city’s mayor, Maan Chibli, said that he recently asked GTZ to help plan for the redevelopment of the informal ramshackle settlements that have sprouted on Aleppo’s outskirts.

“These settlements date from the 1970s,” Mr. Chibli said. “They are part of a social pattern that leads back to the old villages. Someone arrives, then his brother follows. So the idea, as before, is not to destroy these areas. It is to begin by providing them with infrastructure and services, then work programs.”

But how to make the final link between historic preservation and the creation of a contemporary city remains blurry. Many preservationists working here, including some at GTZ, see the last 70 years as unworthy of their interest. And most contemporary architects, whose clients are almost uniformly drawn from the global elite, are out of touch with the complex political realities of the poor in the region.

These are not merely esoteric issues. They have to do with the real lessons that cities like Aleppo and Damascus can teach. Their power is not just the beauty of historical layers. It is that the coexistence of those layers, often piled one on top of the other, embodies a world in which every generation — including ours — has the right to a voice and individual creativity triumphs over ideological difference. It is the point at which tradition and modernity are no longer in violent conflict.
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Post by kmaherali »

Historical Qazi Garden To Be Restored In Old Kabul

December 27, 2010 by ismailimail Leave a Comment

In humanitarian news, the United States donates US$533,000 to restore a historic Afghan garden. The US Agency for International Development is collaborating with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Kabul Municipality to complete phase two of the project to replenish Kabul’s historic Baghe Qazi garden.

http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2010/1 ... ilimail%29
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Nizamuddin area to get a facelift
Jyoti Rai
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 26
The Hazrat Nizamuddin area may soon see a makeover as the streetscaping, electricity and water plans for the area that houses many of the Capital's historical monuments are finally under the planning stage.

The initial proposal floated by the Aga Khan Trust Foundation has been approved and the details are now being worked upon by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. As per the memorandum of understanding (MoU), the urban renewal project of the area is being jointly looked after by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), MCD and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

The area was supposed to get a facelift for the Commonwealth Games, but the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was unable to finish the project on time. Now, the task has been taken up again and is likely to be completed by the next year. If all goes according to the plan, the project would ensure better footpaths, greener roads, an enhanced storm water drainage system and cleaner community toilets.

The Hazrat Nizamuddin area is broadly classified into three zones: the Nizamuddin Basti, Sunder Nursery and the Humayun Tomb. The basti has been a challenging area as it required strong cooperation amongst all the MoU partners and after a lot of consideration, the plans have taken off.

"The MCD held consultations with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture before going ahead with the project. The Nizamuddin Basti sees thousands of visitors every day and it is necessary for the place to be restored in a way that would make the visitors and the residents feel comfortable," said Farhad Suri, councillor of the area.

The first phase, which would take five months for completion, would comprise hard landscaping or concrete work on Dargah and Market Street, Ghalib Road, Plaza and Baoli Gate.

According to the redevelopment plan, the MCD will construct toilets, special parking and foothpaths. In the first phase, all the overhead cables in the area will be made underground.

"We have paid Rs 50 lakh to BSES for this work. They are likely to start the work sometime next week. Once this is over, we will start the streetscaping project," said Suri.

"The basti has a dense population and attracts even international visitors and pilgrims every year. In order to improve the quality of life of the residents, it was necessary to carry out a major street revamp by providing interlocking tiles and relaying of storm water drain wherever required," said a senior MCD official.

Added Ratish Nanda, project head, Aga Khan Trust Foundation, "One has to cross the basti to reach the dargah or other important historical monuments. There is a need to beautify all the five approaches to the dargah and for this the MCD has given approval of Rs 9 crore for the project."

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20101227/delhi.htm#8

*****

Nizamuddin gets a makeover
February 03, 2011 9:00:26 PM

Architect Archana Saad Akhtar has designed digital photo prints and paintings to highlight the restoration work at the heritage sites in Nizamuddin. Ila Sankrityayan reports

Huge wooden frames with an explanatory notes on history, architecture and restoration work undertaken at the heritage sites are greeting the visitors walking past the Humayun Tomb these days. The wooden projections specially designed by architect and designer Archana Saad Akhtar are installed at the tomb under the programme Site Exhibit.

The frames use digital prints to showcase the restoration work and the ongoing projects undertaken by Aga Khan Trust for Culture at the heritage sites in Nizamuddin. The objective of the entire programme is to give the visitors and tourists information about the Mughal architecture and culture. The digital prints of photographs, paintings and bilingual text explain the character, rise and reign of emperor Humayun.

“We need to know about the history of our monuments and we should be aware of the work being done by the Trust to protect these sites. I was always interested in historical interpretation and wanted to do something for preserving the heritage. Besides the restoration work being done at the tomb, the project includes the development work at Hazrat Nizamuddin basti and Sunder Nursery,” informs Akhtar.

The restored cells on the ground floor of the west gateway of the tomb have been used to install this exhibition. 12 panels and an architectural model in the north wing contain text and pictures related to Humayun’s Tomb while eight panels on the south side explain the ongoing Urban Renewal Partnership project. “The exhibition was installed following cultural Secretary’s direction, issued to provide more information to the visitors,” says Akhtar.

The conservation work highlighted in the exhibit includes removal of 20th century cement and replacement with lime plaster, restoring hand crafted sandstone screens and providing new sandstone flooring.

The exhibit also features heritage conservation, socio-economic, urban and environment development.


Heritage Conservation

Exhibit highlights conservation work at Humayun’s Tomb complex, Sunder Nursery monuments and Hazrat Nizamuddin basti. “The mausoleum of Humayun was built in 1565 AD and established the paradigm for Mughal architecture in the context of setting and craftsmanship. Its peripheral buildings were found to be in urgent need of conservation, and preservation works are now being carried out on the main mausoleum and other buildings within the complex such as the monumental gateways and pavilions,” explains Akhtar.

The conservation of Sunder Nursery, that stands on the Grand Trunk Road and is home to several significant monuments dating from the 16th century, is also a part of the exhibit. The next part is the conservation of Nizamuddin basti that falls on the west of Humayun’s Tomb and is a store of landmark structures built during the Mughal and pre-Mughal period.

Socio-Economic Initiatives

The exhibit also focusses on three major areas, urban improvement and health and education measures undertaken by Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). “Their goal is to offer a hygienic environment to those residing in the area. AKDN is aiming at lifestyle changes, accessible and improved health care for women and children in the area,” she elaborates and adds, “There are theatre, painting and craft workshops being organised for the awareness of youth in the basti.”

Environment Development

The environmental development initiatives include re-development of Sunder Nursery into an urban park with a significant ecological resource, the landscaping and ecological treatment of the Barahpulah nallah in Nizamuddin basti and the rehabilitation and development of the Nila Gumbad park besides landscaping of urban parks within the basti. “Work in Sunder Nursery and the development of urban parks in Hazrat Nizamuddin basti is already underway,” concludes Akhtar.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/313426/Niza ... eover.html
Last edited by kmaherali on Thu Feb 03, 2011 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Urban renewal through cultural revitalisation transforms Mughal monument into a locus of opportunity for residents

A view of the western facade of Humayun’s tomb after the garden restoration was completed. Conservation work on the mausoleum is ongoing. Photo: Courtesy of AKTC

Aftab Jalia works with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Delhi, and, as Project Architect for the Sunder Nursery, is part of an initiative to revitalise the area surrounding Humayun’s Tomb and Gardens and improve the quality of life of the residents in the neighbouring Nizamuddin district. A graduate of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT, he shares some insight on the progress of the project and its impact on the surrounding community.
» Also see related photo gallery

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of India’s independence, Mawlana Hazar Imam gifted the restoration of the gardens of Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — to the country. The 450-year-old Mughal monument is the resting place of the Mughal Emperor Humayun, and is popularly known as an artistic precursor to the 17th century monument the Taj Mahal. The success of the restoration — which was undertaken by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) in 2003 — led to a larger “Urban Renewal Initiative” in the neighbouring Nizamuddin District.

A young girl from Nizamuddin Basti cuts sanjhi patterns. Raising awareness among residents about the rich cultural heritage of the neighbourhood they live in is part of the conservation effort. Photo: Courtesy of AKTC


Initiated in 2007, the urban renewal aims to revitalise the cultural and built heritage on the site of the Tomb — the historic Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti, (which predates the Tomb by almost two centuries) and the adjacent Sunder Nursery. The project is visionary as it brings together five institutions: Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Archaeological Survey of India and the Central Public Works Department, the Aga Khan Foundation and AKTC in a public-private partnership. It is notable for combining conservation with environmental and socio-economic development, while working with local communities and stakeholders.

One of the initiative’s achievements is the organisation of a handicrafts exhibition by women of Nizamuddin Basti at Delhi’s renowned Dastkar Mela in October. Through a self-help group created by AKTC, the women produced exquisite paper products such as book covers, lanterns, lamp shades, greeting cards and wall hangings. In addition to generating a source of income, the group affords the women a creative outlet for expressing their ideas through this traditional Indian craft.

A dense ensemble of medieval Islamic buildings, the Nizamuddin Basti is the resting place of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, one of India’s most venerated Sufi saints. As part of the urban renewal initiative, young boys from the Basti received months of instruction about the rich cultural heritage of their neighbourhood and now conduct heritage walks. They have also benefited from English language and computer training programmes.

In March 2010, AKTC organised “Jashn-e Khusrau”, a festival of qawwali and other Sufi traditions of music and poetry that drew 10 000 people from across Delhi to the Nizamuddin Basti. Photo: Courtesy of AKTC

The initiative has gone even further: organising a festival of Qawwali and other Sufi music traditions that drew 10 000 people from across Delhi to the Basti; redeveloping a local primary school and enhancing its curriculum; and, improving sanitation and hygiene conditions through the construction of public toilet facilities, which are managed by residents who have been trained through the project.

“It is a remarkable initiative,” said Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Vice President of India during a visit to the Basti in February. “I had attended the first meeting when the idea of conserving the Tomb was conceived and I am glad to see the work done here. It is commendable and quite in keeping with AKTC’s work across the world.”

On the opposite side of Humayun’s Tomb and Garden complex, conservation work on the 70-acre Sunder Nursery is underway, which will see it transformed into a public park. When completed in 2012, the garden will contain over 300 species of plants and trees dotted with monuments. A nine-acre dedicated micro-habitat zone features plants and trees that can be found in the forests of Delhi and surrounding areas. A planned interpretation centre will invite students and nature lovers to further explore aspects of the park that are unique to the-region. Its proximity to Humayun’s Tomb is expected to make it a thriving hub of ecological and cultural activity for the citizens of Delhi and tourists alike.

Workers plant on the micro-habitat mounds in Sunder Nursery in March 2010. Photo: Courtesy of AKTC

Indeed, the rush of visitors has already begun. In November the President and First Lady of the United States, Barack and Michelle Obama, toured the Mughal monument for 45 minutes and were visibly impressed.

“Through the rise and fall of empires, Indian civilisation has endured and led the world to new heights of achievement,” wrote the President in the visitor's book. “The world owes a profound debt to India and its people.”

http://www.theismaili.org/cms/1134/Urba ... -residents

*****
December 30th, 2010 by Kavya

The Delhi Urban Platform in collaboration with the Aga Khan Development Network invites you to a discussion on-

Heritage and the City


4 pm, Saturday the 8th of January 2011, the South Gateway to Humayun’s Tomb

Humayuns-Tomb

Az naksh o nigar dar o divar shikasteh

Asar padidast sanadid ‘ajam ra

From the images and designs of the broken walls and gates

Are seen the traces of the noblemen of ‘Ajam (Persia)

n ‘Urfi (d. 1560)

This sh’er was used by Sayyad Ahmad Khan as the prelude to his magisterial book on the ruins of Delhi, the Asar-us-Sanadid (1847, 1854)

In Delhi we are surrounded by dar o divar shikasteh, the broken walls and gates of ruins and monuments, remainders (and reminders) of the city’s pre-modern past. A set of volumes that painstakingly documents these extant remains calls them the city’s “built heritage” – and a dominant understanding of these ruins sees them as Heritage. But the word itself seems to be little thought about in public discourse.

Heritage cannot be understood without the concept of inheritance. If we think of these buildings as heritage then what exactly is inherited through these buildings? And who is it that inherits? Is inheritance (and hence, Heritage) universal; or is it about individuals, families, communities? These questions become crucial in a city where the traces of the past are often enmeshed in legal, political and commercial struggles. Struggles which are not ends in themselves, but which determine how we relate to the city’s past, inhabit its present, and imagine its future.

To think through the problematics of heritage and the city, we bring together a panel consisting of archaeologists, conservationists, historians, journalists and religious leaders; who will approach the issue of heritage through their own experiences and engagements with the city and its pasts. The discussion will take place near the Southern Gateway of the Humayun’s Tomb Complex.

Panelists:

Ratish Nanda, Consevationist, Aga Khan Development Network
AGK Menon, Urban Planner and Conservation consultant
KK Mohammad, Director, Delhi Circle, Archaeological Survey of India
Sunil Kumar, Professor of History, Delhi University
Farid Nizami, Naib Sajjadah, Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin
Mayank Austen Soofj, Blogger, Writer and Journalist

Venue and Access:

The panel will be held in the South Gateway to Humayun’s Tomb. Access is through the conventional ticketed entry at the main gateway to the complex, and then walking into the Humayun’s Tomb enclosure through the western (standard) gate. Once inside the charbagh of the main tomb, the southern gateway is diagonally to your right, across the lawns.

As this is an ASI protected site, you will have to pay the entry fee to enter the site. While this is a nominal amount for South Asian citizens and Indian residents (10 rupees); it is a much higher charge for foreign visitors (250 rupees/5dollars). We apologize for this, and urge you to make the most of your money by coming in a couple of hours before the event and exploring the vast grounds of the complex and the many different structures present, and soaking in the January sun.

http://delhiurbanplatform.org/2010/12/h ... -the-city/
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Global Adviser
Five Reasons to Visit Aleppo: Silk Road Splendor
By Gail Simmons Thursday, Dec. 09, 2010

http://www.time.com/time/travel/article ... 01,00.html

In distant times, it flourished as one of the western extremities of the ancient Silk Road before being ransacked by Mongols and devastated by earthquakes. These days, however, the northern Syrian city of Aleppo is acquiring a renewed appreciation of its monumental past, sprucing up its historic Citadel and medina with the help of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Other aspects of this ancient city's allure — like the heady mix of cultures from Kurdish to Armenian and Circassian — have never changed. Here are five Aleppo essentials.
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3-year standoff ends, Nila Gumbad to be part of Humayun Tomb complex

New Delhi : A year and several frantic letters to the Prime Minister and senior Railways officials later, a plot of land surrounding the Nila Gumbad has been handed over to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). With this, the Mughal-era monument abutting the World Heritage Site of Humayun’s Tomb will finally be integrated with the Tomb Complex.

Following a three-year long standoff between the ASI and Railways, the two bodies have finally resolved the issue of land transfer. Sources said that the move came after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened and sought a status report on the issue following newspaper reports and letters from ministers and conservationists seeking his intervention.

“A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the ASI and Railways about two weeks ago. Land approximately 42 m on north and south and about 8 m east of Nila Gumbad has been transferred to the ASI for integration with the Humayun’s Tomb and development of the monument,” said a senior Railways official.

The ASI and Aga Khan Trust for Culture, which is working on the Humayun’s Tomb Complex as part of its urban renewal plan in the area, will now be able to integrate the Nila Gumbad with the Complex. The Mughal-era monument is said to be originally linked to the Humayun’s Tomb but was separated in the 1970s when a sewer line and a road cut through the plot. The integration, now, is expected to facilitate easy visitor access to the Nila Gumbad and also in re-develop the buffer zone of the World Heritage Site.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/732078/
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Burnaby mayor excited as Aga Khan park gift progresses

By KIM PEMBERTON, Vancouver Sun January 13, 2011

METRO VANCOUVER -- Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said the city is very excited they were chosen by the Aga Khan Foundation to receive a gift of a nearly 14-acre community park in central Burnaby, when typically Vancouver is chosen for substantial financial gifts of this kind.

Although Prince Aga Khan announced his intention to build a park for the community two years ago, on his 50th jubilee celebration, it is again in the news as nine public consultation meetings for it ended Thursday. (The public still has time to send in their ideas for the park directly to Burnaby Parks Department before the representative for the Aga Khan Foundation receives the information later this month.)

Corrigan said he had the honour of meeting the spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili people two years ago who told him "he's never forgotten Burnaby was the first site of a mosque in B.C. and welcomed the Ismaili community."

"He has built parks around the world. The most recent one in Cairo. This is a mandate he's taken on to create these oasises in different parts of the world," said Corrigan. "We're pretty honoured to be the city picked for this special gift. It will be a wonderful addition to Burnaby Lake Regional Park."

Corrigan added usually "Vancouver is always the place where all the focus goes so to have Burnaby chosen is a real feather in our cap."

The park will be on 13.7 acres of land, west of the Ismaili worship centre just east of Highway 1.

Corrigan said he suspects the park will be a passive recreation area that will focus on the environment — the natural birdlife and wildlife in the area. He said because it is near the Kensington Sports complex he believes many parents taking their kids there for sporting events would likely later enjoy a leisurely walk in the park with them.

He didn't know when the park would be completed, saying no timetable or budget has been made for it.

"We're in the first stages and starting to see plans coming together. I understand he (the Aga Khan) takes a direct hands-on approach. He has a love for architecture and landscape architecture.

"This is a very auspicious project and follows on the heels of the Ismaili Museum in Toronto. The Ismaili community believes strongly in Canada which is the model for multiculturalism."

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Burn ... z1B1ieYkqM


*****
Community 'honoured' to be site of Aga Khan park


By Kim Pemberton, Vancouver Sun January 14, 2011



Burnaby will be home to a large new swath of park land, thanks to the generosity of the Aga Khan Foundation.

Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan says he and his constituents are excited their city was chosen by the foundation to receive a public park in the heart of their community, particularly because Vancouver is often chosen for substantial gifts of this kind.

Prince Karim Aga Khan announced his intention to build a park for the community two years ago -- at his 50th jubilee celebration -- but it became more of a reality Thursday as nine public consultation meetings for the park wrapped up. (The public still has time to send ideas for the park directly to the Burnaby Parks Department before the representative for the Aga Khan Foundation receives the information later this month.)

Corrigan said he had the honour of meeting the spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims two years ago. He told Corrigan that "he's never forgotten Burnaby was the first site of a mosque in B.C. and welcomed the Ismaili community."

"We're pretty honoured to be the city picked for this special gift. It will be a wonderful addition to Burnaby Lake Regional Park."

Corrigan added, "Vancouver is always the place where all the focus goes, so to have Burnaby chosen is a real feather in our cap."

The park will be on about 5½ hectares (nearly 14 acres) of land, west of the Ismaili worship centre just east of Highway 1. Corrigan said he suspects the park will be a passive recreation area that will focus on the environment: the natural birdlife and wildlife in the area.

He didn't know when the park would be completed, saying no timetable or budget has been made for it.

kpemberton@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Community+h ... z1B1iU2Y4x
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Post by kmaherali »

There is a related video linked at:

http://www.nizamuddinrenewal.org/

Home
The Project

A landmark Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) project in New Delhi, India, the Urban Renewal Initiative is making enormous strides in revitalizing and unifying the three historical sites of Humayun’s Tomb, Nizamuddin Basti and Sunder Nursery into one unique heritage precinct. Powered by a non-profit public-private partnership between various agencies, the project is the first of its kind to combine conservation with environmental and socio-economic development while working with local communities and stakeholders. This initiative brings together world-class professional capabilities in all relevant areas and combines a visionary approach with local contexts and complexities. It is establishing an archetype for participatory conservation-led development of historic cities
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Global Adviser
Next Time You Are in ... Cairo

By Cathryn Drake Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011

A walk down the main thoroughfare of Darb al-Ahmar is a fascinating, raucous look at daily life in the Egyptian capital: you get honked aside by trucks and motorcycles, sideswiped by donkey carts and greeted enthusiastically by children. The area is home to the poorest population in the city, but these days many of its once decrepit mosques and palaces, from the Fatamid to the Ottoman eras, are being restored under the auspices of the Aga Khan Development Network's (AKDN) Historic Cities project.

The project has offered not only architectural but also social regeneration. Residents of Darb al-Ahmar are being trained at restoration sites as a way to revive traditional skills and ensure future maintenance of the monuments. "Crafts development is important to the economic sustainability of the people," AKDN preservation manager Dina Bakhoum says. A renovated square at the 14th century Aslam al-Silahdar Mosque allows neighborhood artisans to sell their wares. Local shopkeepers have also started stocking items catering to the burgeoning tourist trade, but the area's residential character is being strictly maintained. (See 50 essential travel tips.)

With a panoramic view of the Saladin Citadel from its gorgeous vernacular-style Citadel View restaurant, the tranquil Al-Azhar Park makes an ideal jumping-off point on this newly rich tourist itinerary. A pristine oasis built on a 500-year-old dump, Al-Azhar is the green heart of the new restoration work. One of its gates opens onto the famous City of the Dead (a vast cemetery whose mausoleums serve as makeshift homes to more than half a million living souls and their flocks of goats and cows) and, midway down the park's Ayyubid wall, a stairway in the Bab al-Mahruqi gate leads into Darb al-Ahmar and Aslam Square. This is the nexus for the principal sites of Old Cairo, with the Sultan Hassan Mosque and the Citadel to the south and Khan al-Khalili to the north.

Darb al-Ahmar's main street, Darb Shouglan, runs south past barbershops, mechanics and cafés lined with shisha smokers to the medieval Blue Mosque, so called for its colored tilework (final restorations are scheduled for completion in 2012). Farther on is the area's biggest concentration of renewed historic buildings: some Ottoman houses, the Khayer Bek Mausoleum and Mosque, the Alin Aq Palace and the Mausoleum of Tarabay al-Sharifi. From there, the intersecting Bab al-Wazir street leads straight to the massive 10th century Bab Zuweila gate, past the Bayt al-Razzaz palace (refurbished by the American Research Center in Egypt), the mosque and madrasah of Umm al-Sultan Sha'ban and the minaret of Zawiyyat al-Hunud — and beyond, to where the redesigned Islamic Art Museum has just opened to rave reviews.

The next phase of the AKDN project is the new Museum of Historic Cairo and commercial complex, which will connect to a promenade alongside Al-Azhar Park. All of this work is being seen as a prototype for similar AKDN projects in Muslim districts around the world, like New Delhi's squalid Nizamuddin Basti quarter (already initiated with the renovation of Humayun's Tomb and gardens, upon which the Taj Mahal is patterned). (See pictures of women in Cairo.)

As Darb al-Ahmar's cacophonous symphony of horns softens toward sundown and the calls to prayer crescendo and intertwine, it reveals a quieter face. "Welcome! Are you lost?" a café denizen calls out. When I smile and shake my head, he beams and answers his own question with "Not yet!" The warmth of the encounter reflects the work being done in Darb al-Ahmar. This is not a soulless tourist zone, but a heritage-rich city center, full of friendliness, vitality and a new pride.

Got an awful travel gripe? The Avenger may be able to sort it out for you. Click here to tell us your problem.


http://www.time.com/time/travel/article ... 37,00.html
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Pages from the diary of a mighty monarch


On a bright winter morning lines of plane trees and immaculately tended rose bushes fall away down terraces where men crash out on carpets and sheepish young couples sit as close together as they dare. The plants are fed by a central water channel, the signature feature of a Mughal garden. Below is the brown smog of Kabul; beyond, snowy mountains.

The tomb of Babur, the first Mughal emperor, blasted and pock-marked during the civil war of the 1990s, has been lovingly restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Some visitors come because it is now Kabul's most tranquil public space; some because Babur is emerging as an unlikely national hero in a country short of leaders worth admiring. People pray at the foot of his low, simple grave. One enthusiast sacrifices a buffalo to him every year and distributes the meat to the gardeners who tend the place.

Born far to the north of modern Afghanistan, Babur went to Kabul only because he had failed in Central Asia. It was Samarkand he dreamt of capturing. Yet when the demands of building an empire drove him south, he yearned to return to Kabul.

More....

http://gulfnews.com/about-gulf-news/al- ... h-1.753355
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BSES to remove dangling cables from Nizamuddin Basti

NEW DELHI: The heritage-rich Nizamuddin Basti area will soon sport a new look. As part of beautification plans for the area, power distribution company BSES Rajdhani will soon be starting the process of shifting all overhead dangling cables underground. Along with this, the conventional power sub-stations in the area will also be replaced with compact, packaged sub-stations.

The Nizamuddin Basti redevelopment plans are part of a MoU signed between the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). "Upto Rs 11 crore will be spent on the improvement of the basti which has been sanctioned by MCD and will be released in instalments. The first part includes shifting of overhead electric cables underground and about Rs 65 lakh has been sanctioned for this. After this, we will also start streetscraping - the first stretch being taken up being the road leading from Mathura Road to the Dargah,'' said councilor Farhad Suri, who is spearheading the campaign to improve quality of life in Nizamuddin Basti.

Nizamuddin Basti is listed as one of the five conservation areas in Delhi under the Master Plan 2021 and is unique because a number of centrally-protected monuments including Nizamuddin baoli, Bara Khamba, Mirza Ghalib's tomb, Atgah Khan's tomb, etc., can be found here. "After shifting of electric cables, we will also take up drainage work here. Construction of parking lots is also on our agenda and we have identified land where we will construct the first parking lot for upto 120 vehicles. A number of tourists visit the Dargah and parking is a hassle for them. Even residents of the basti do not have parking space,'' added Suri. Officials said that upliftment plans for the basti will take upto a year, following which Nizamuddin Basti will have a complete makeover. "Educational programmes for children and employment for women in the basti is already underfoot. While a number of women from the basti are self-employed into jaali making, kids are being trained to become tourist guides. This helps them have a better sense of belonging for the basti,'' said an AKTC official.

Officials from discom BSES Rajdhani said they, along with AKTC, had a site survey of the basti and demarcated areas where feeder boxes and new sub-stations would be installed. "We have completed the ground work and will begin implementation within a day or two. As per the initial ground work, we will put up 14 new feeder boxes and one model sub-station. The basti has three main lanes and a few artery lanes and we plan to complete the underground cable work by March 31,'' said a senior BSES official. Officials added that another advantage of shifting overhead cables underground was that it would stop any instances of power theft from the area. "The entire concept, however, can be implemented only with the support of the basti locals. Initially there was some resistance to the plans, but with time the residents have become very supportive and want to cooperate with betterment plans for the locality,'' said officials.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 414250.cms
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