Aga Khan Program Home

Publications

People & Events

Affiliated Students

Contact:

Aga Khan Program at the GSD
Harvard Graduate School of Design
48 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617-495-2984
Fax: 617-495-0446
Email: mmoran@gsd.harvard.edu

People and Events

Public Lectures

Every year, the Program sponsors one major public lecture at the GSD.

2007-2008: TBD

2006-2007: Sahel al Hiyari, Architect, Jordan, winner of the Rolex Award

2004-2005: Han Tumertekin, Architect, Istanbul, winner of the Aga Khan Award in Architecture

2003-2004: Zaha Hadid, Architect, London, winner of the Pritzker Prize

Student Activities

Reconstructing Identities, organized by MEDINA Club at the GSD, spring 2004

Dubai Conference, organized by MEDINA Club at the GSD, spring 2003
For further information see: http://studentgroups.gsd.harvard.edu/medina/

Conferences & Symposia

Desert Tourism Conference, March 2007, DESERT TOURISM: Delineating the Fragile Edges of Development

Deserts have lost their stigma as inhospitable, inaccessible places and are becoming an ever more popular tourist destination. However, the growth of this niche tourism is raising particular challenges. It jeopardizes their fragile ecosystem and strains their scarce resources, affecting both the landscape and the local population. In effect, the increasing popularity of desert tourism is paradoxically undermining the very notion of their allure, their position as a frontier.
In developing countries, those consequences are even more drastic as the local populations, gathered around oases, live in dire conditions, with scarce resources and insufficient infrastructure, rarely benefiting from tourism’s economic effects. Furthermore, in face of rampant modernization and migration, their cultural and Architectural heritage is decaying at an alarming speed while new infrastructural needs and settlement patterns are emerging.
This conference on desert tourism seeks to analyze the relationship between tourism and the sustainable development of the populations, Architectures and landscapes of arid regions. Its main purpose is to provide a meeting platform for students, academics, researchers, and organizations, which have studied or implemented tourist projects that integrate the development of their surroundings and to discuss issues raise by desert tourism.

Papers and proceedings from this conference will be published.

Desert Tourism Abstracts of Presenters
View Desert Tourism poster (pdf)
Desert Tourism Exhibit (pdf)

 

Dubai Workshop, March 20, 2006

A Turkish Triangle, Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir at the Gates of Europe, April 24-25 2005

Conference April 22-23 2005 Free and open to the public Harvard Design School George Gund Hall 48 Quincy Street Cambridge MA       Abstract

A Turkish Triangle Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir at the Gates of Europe HARVARDDESIGNSCHOOL | AGA KHAN PROGRAM OF ACTIVITES |MEDINA April 22 2:00pm Socio-Economic Background - Roger Owen, Harvard University, Moderator - Feroz Ahmed, Tufts University, on the Political Changes in Turkey since the Republic - Jenny White, Boston University, On the Informal Settlements in the Main Cities - Sibel Bozdogan, Boston Architectural Center, On Recent Suburban Developments 4:30pm - Keynote Address Ilhan Tekeli, Middle East Technical University, On Urban Historiography and the Case of Turkey April 23 11:00am Three Cities - Rodolfo Machado, Harvard University, Moderator - Cemal Arkon, Izmir YuksekTeknoloji Enstitusu, Izmir - Murat Guvenc, Middle Eastern Technical University, Ankara - Huseyin Kaptan and Zeeynep Enlil, Yildiz Techinical University, Istanbul 1:00pm - Lunch 2:30pm Contemporary Challenges to Planning and Design - Hashim Sarkis, Harvard University, Moderator - Mustafa Abadan, SOM - New York, On an American Firm’s Experiences in Turkey - Ebru Gencer, Columbia University, On the Impact of Earthquake Risks on Planning and Design - Tansel Korkmaz, Bilgi University, On Urban Renewal - Atilla Yucel, Bilgi University, On Contemporary Architecture in Turkey - Han Tumertekin, Bilgi University, Recipient of the Aga Khan Award for 2004 6:00pm - Reception Sponsored by: The Aga Khan Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design Co-Organized by: GSD Middle Eastern Design Student Association, CLUB MEDINA

Aleppo: New Perspectives on the Old City, April 13, 2005

The Mediterranean Cityscape, October 24, 2004

Landscapes of Development, October 2003

Courses | Studios

“Istanbul: The Urban Architecture of Mixed-Use” taught by Hashim Sarkis, fall 2007

“MakinaMedina: Fez Studio” taught by Hashim Sarkis with Aziza Chaouni, spring 2007

“Dubai Studio,” taught by Rodolfo Machado, spring 2006

“New Geographies: The Challenges of Shaping Context by Design,” seminar course, taught by Hashim Sarkis, fall 2006

“Intermodal Istanbul: On the possible intersections between an underground train, a ferry terminal, a train station, an archaeological park, and a public square in Sirkeci Square,” option studio; instructor: Hashim Sarkis with Pars Kibarer, spring 2005

“The Mediterranean Cityscape: The Case of Izmir,” workshop, Harvard Graduate School of Design; instructor: Hashim Sarkis; fall 2004

“Square One: Martyrs Square, Downtown Beirut,” option studio; instructor: Hashim Sarkis with Mark Dwyer; spring 2004

“Developing Worlds: The Challenges of Development to Urban Planning and Design in the Middle East and Latin America from the Truman Doctrine to the Present,” lecture course; instructor: Hashim Sarkis; fall 2004 and spring 2006

GSD Faculty Research:

Jorge Silvetti, Core History Course, research on Islamic Architecture

John Beardsley, Core History Course, research on Islamic Gardens

Robert France, Lakes in Central Asia

Eve Blau, Post-WWII Urbanism in the Balkan States

Virginie Lefebvre, Tourism in the Arab World

Visiting Fellows

Jala Makhzouni (fall 2007)

Tansel Korkmaz (fall 2007)

Aziza Chaouni (2006-2007)

Ahmed Kanna (spring 2006)

Pars Kibarer (2004-2005)

Panayiota Pyla (2003-2004)