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Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Award Ceremony for the 12th Cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture – Lisbon, September 6, 2013
06 September 2013

Please also see: AKAA Press Material, Press Release in English.

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Your Excellency President Cavaco Silva
Your Excellency Vice-Prime Minister Paulo Portas
Honourable Mayor António Costa
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Excellencies
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Lisbon, 30 April 2013 – The shortlist of nominees for the 2013 cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture was announced today at the Palacio das Necessidades (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs). The 20 nominees for the US$ 1 million prize range from a modern high rise apartment block to the revival of traditional building techniques. Shortlisted projects, which are selected by an independent Master Jury, are located in Afghanistan, Austria, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Thailand and Yemen. The shortlist includes:

Your Excellency the Minister of Solidarity and Social Security,
Your Eminence the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon,
Your Excellency Mr. Jorge Sampaio
Distinguished members of Parliament,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Professor Moreira
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour and pleasure to be here in Lisbon today. We all feel particularly graced by the presence of Dom Jose Policarpo who has been such a formidable ally and friend of the Aga Khan Foundation in Portugal. Your Eminence, thank you for presence and your kind words.

2007-2008: Portugal has issued stamps and first day cover to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of H.H. The Aga Kan. These are available from the Portugal Post up to 31st January 2008. [More to come]

2008, July 10: Portugal visit of H.H. The Aga Khan for Golden Jubilee from 10th to 14th July 2008.[Photos and News of the visit]

Thursday, 7 May 2009 -Lisbon, Portugal: Prince Aga Khan coming in Portugal for meeting with the Foreign Minister Luis Amado and the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, D. José Policarpo. On this occasion an agreement will be signed on religion, education and culture, to be followed by a working lunch. In the afternoon, Prince Aga Khan will be honored at the Academy of Sciences. mne.gov.pt - aeiou.expresso.pt [More]

2008, July 11: The Aga Khan (R), the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslim sect, shakes hands with Portugal's Prime Minister Jose Socrates before their meeting at San Bento palace in Lisbon July 11, 2008. REUTERS/Nacho Doce (PORTUGAL) - [More Photos][More] [Forum section.]

2008, July 12: Notícia Manuel de Almeida/Reuters - 12 Julho 2008 - 00h51 - EncontroJosé Sócrates recebe Aga KhanJosé Sócrates encontrou-se ontem em Lisboa com Aga Khan, líder da comunidade muçulmana ismaelita. Portugal assinou um acordo de cooperação com a rede Aga Khan para o desenvolvimento

The Aga Khan Foundation, which is involved in the fields of health care, education and rural development, chiefly in Asia and Africa, has now been registered in Portugal, Mowlana Hazar Imam announced during His Silver Jubilee Visit to that country in February, 1983.
The Foundation has branches and affiliates in Kenya, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Britain, Canada and the United States.

In February, Prince Amyn visited Lisbon, Portugal, in connection with important developments that will affect the future activities of the Aga Khan Development Net-work (AKDN) and of the jamat in Portugal.

The role of faith organizations in addressing development challenges and the principles underlying Portugal's draft law on religious freedom could yield model legislation for a more ethnically and religiously diverse Europe. Portugal's President Jorge Sampaio and His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, today echoed this shared sentiment at the inauguration of a landmark building for cultural and social interaction in the centre of Lisbon.

Prince Karim Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the world's Shia Ismaili Moslems, on Saturday opened a $30 million Ismaili centre in Lisbon to promote economic and social development programmes and cultural activities.

The building, which combines Islamic and Iberian architectural styles and is decorated with hand-painted tiles, has a prayer hall for Portugal's Shia Ismaili Moslems.

It also has classrooms, meeting rooms and exhibition spaces.

A similar centre is located in central London.

Your Excellency Mr. President of the Republic,
Your Excellency the President of the Parliament,
Your Excellency the Representative of the Prime Minister,
Your Worship the Mayor of the City of Lisbon,
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,

Durante una ceremonia celebrada en el palacio lisboeta de Bélen, el Presidente Jorge Sampaio de Portugal condecoró al príncipe Karim Aga Khan con la insignia de la Gran Cruz del Mérito. Al solemne acto asistieron la esposa del Presidente portugués, Maria José Ritta, y la del Aga Khan, Begum Inaara.

Le 11 juillet dernier, l'Aga Khan IV, chef spirituel de quinze millions d'Ismaéliens, et sa nouvelle épouse, la Begum Inaara, étaient à Lisbonne. Ils ont inauguré, en présence du président du Portugal, Jorge Sampaio, le Centre ismaélien de Lisbonne, premier du genre sur le contient européen. Hors sa vocation de lieu de rassemblement religieux, le centre accueille également le programme de développement du prince en faveur des déshérités.

The centre is a complex of buildings and gardens composed of three areas : institutional, community and religious. The centre was designed by the architect Raj Rewal in co-operation with the Portuguese architect Frederico Valsassina.

The complex covers an area of 18 000 square meters, of wich 5 500 square meters are built spaces and the remaining 12 500 is occupied by green spaces and gardens.

The Ismaili Centre assimilates in itself architectural styles and influences from Lisbon's Mosterio dos Jeronimos, India's Fatehpur Sikri and Spain's Alhambra.

1. RECEPTION

O arquitecto Geoffrey Bawa, do Sri Lanka, foi ontem distinguido com o Chairman's Award dos Prémios Aga Khan, numa cerimónia que decorreu na histórica cidadela de Aleppo, na Síria. Atribuído pelo Aga Kahn Trust for Culture a arquitectos que desevolvam conceitos de construção consentâneos com as necessidades e aspirações das sociedades islâmicas, foram ainda premiados nove projectos, dos 427 que se candidataram a estes prémios trienais.

A shared social ethic, underwritten by Africa's faiths, can help resolve many of the problems afflicting Africa today.'
In an address yesterday to a special session on 'Africa's Rebirth' at the XIIIth International Meeting of Peoples and Religions, His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims, underlined the need for a stronger basis for civil society to be able to address problems of conflict, corruption and the AIDS epidemic.

The Aga Khan criticises the international community for the creation of the Taliban and calls on the world to unite in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
The spiritual leader of the Shi'ite Ismailite Community made his declaration in an interview with the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Serra in which he said that the Taliban regime is a product of the civilized world and the international community.