AL AIN: A dome-less mos­que designed by a Bangla­deshi woman architect and a Beirut institute by the late Zaha Hadid were among six projects awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture on Sunday.

The prestigious prize was awarded at a ceremony in Al-Ain oasis city, in the United Arab Emirates, to the projects chosen from a list of 348 works.

They will share a prize of $1 million.

“Gone are the dome and the ever-prevalent minarets, the decorative panels of designed relief and calligraphy. In their place stand intricately structured brick walls that imbue the structure within a unique aura of spirituality,” said the jury descri­bing Dhaka’s Bait ur Rouf mosque designed by Marina Tabassum.

As well as Hadid’s Issam Fares Institute at the Ame­rican University of Beirut, the winning projects incl­uded Tehran’s Tabiat Pede­strian Bridge and Copenh­agen’s Superkilen kilometre-long urban park.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2016