AKM Collection reflects pluralism of the Muslim world and shared human heritage

New article on the AKM collection and the museum itself, just posted on TheIsmaili.org.

Below is an excerpt talking about the building. Click the link to read the rest of the article, which speaks more about the fantastic collection that will be housed in Toronto upon construction completion.

Excerpt from AKM Collection reflects pluralism of the Muslim world:
The Collection will ultimately find its permanent home at the Aga Khan Museum being established in Toronto. The first museum of its kind in North America, it has specifically been designed to showcase the art of the Muslim world. Its foundation ceremony is expected to take place at the end of May.

At the opening of The Path of Princes exhibition at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon on 13 March 2008, Prince Amyn expressed his aspirations for the Museum: “The Aga Khan Museum will help visitors to look on other human beings in other parts of the world with more comprehension. Ideally, a museum should allow those who view its collections to increase their knowledge. Every increase in knowledge increases one’s understanding.â€

Toronto — and indeed North America — has become home to a growing Muslim community, whose diversity is reflective of the broad plurality of traditions, interpretations and cultures that constitute the ummah. The cosmopolitan ethic of Toronto and Canada’s pluralist values provide a suitable backdrop for the new Museum and its Collection.

Like the caravans that criss-crossed the Silk Road centuries ago, museums and their collections have become crucibles of cross-cultural dialogue that can create greater understanding among peoples. In showcasing the artefacts of the Muslim world, the Aga Khan Museum will foster a greater appreciation of our collective human heritage and shared history.
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From the Sun:

Gift from the Aga Khan
By JENNY YUEN, Toronto Sun

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims, will put a shovel in the ground Friday, marking the start of construction of a $300-million development in the Don Mills Rd.-Eglinton Ave. area.

Plans call for the building of a museum named after the Aga Khan, an Ismaili Centre and the creation of a park. The massive project is slated for completion by 2013.

“These projects represent a major investment by His Highness in this country’s cultural fabric and are a reflection of the Aga Khan’s commitment to Canada, which serves as a beacon to the rest of the world for its commitment to pluralism and its support for the multicultural richness and diversity of its peoples,†said Farid Damji, of the Ismaili Council for Canada.

The Aga Khan Museum — announced in 2002 — will be built on a 7-hectare site on Wynford Dr. and is the first of its kind in the English speaking world. The 10,000-square-metre structure will house collections of Islamic art, including ceramics, metal work and paintings covering a 1,000-year period of Islamic history. The design was done by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki.

The second part of the project is the Ismaili Centre — a community centre that includes a place of prayer, library, youth lounge and public spaces for cultural activities. It will be located on the same spot as the museum and is designed by Indian architect Charles Correa.

The park on Wynford Dr. has been designed by award-winning Lebanese landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic. It will surround the museum and project a sense of a traditional Islamic garden.

“I’m excited this is happening because (the Aga Khan) is one of the few Muslim leaders who have reconciled with modernity,†said Tarek Fatah, author and founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress. “He offers a very clear alternative to the Islamism that is being spread by Jihadis. (People in the GTA) will get a view of Muslims and Islam without looking through the prism of Saudi or Iranian-tainted politics.â€

The Ismaili Centre Toronto is the second in Canada — the other was built in 1985 in Burnaby, B.C. and opened by prime minister Brian Mulroney in the presence of the Aga Khan. Other Ismaili Centres have been built in London, Lisbon, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Dushanbe.

Toronto was picked as the site of the museum because of the city’s cultural diversity.

Nearly 100,000 Ismailis are settled throughout Canada — more than 30,000 of them live in Toronto.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/05/24/14064286.html

AoD
 
Media advisory - Aga Khan to launch new institutions in Toronto, Canada

Foundation Ceremony for the Ismaili Centre, the Aga Khan Museum and Park to take place in Toronto, Friday

TORONTO, May 26 /CNW Telbec/ - On Friday, May 28, 2010, His Highness the Aga Khan will participate in the Foundation Ceremony to mark the beginning of the development of the Ismaili Centre, the first-ever Aga Khan Museum for Islamic Art and Culture, and their Park, in Toronto's Don Mills area.

The development of these projects, an initiative of His Highness the Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam of the Ismaili Muslims and Founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, seeks to foster knowledge and understanding both within Muslim societies and between these societies and other cultures. The Aga Khan Museum and its collection reflect the plurality of the Muslim world, while the adjacent Ismaili Centre will create spaces for interaction and dialogue. Together, they will offer platforms for the search for mutual understanding among all communities and cultures.

Situated on a 6.8 hectare site along a major artery of Toronto, the Don Valley Parkway, the buildings and park represent the Aga Khan's commitment to Canada and appreciation for the country's adherence to pluralism and cultural diversity.

WHAT: Foundation Ceremony for the Ismaili Centre, Toronto, the Aga Khan
Museum, and Park - invitation only event

WHEN: Friday, May 28, 2010 at 1:30pm (media are required to be in
position no later than 12:30 pm)

WHERE: 49 Wynford Drive

The Projects
------------

Designed by renowned architect Charles Correa, the Ismaili Centre, Toronto will be the newest addition to a network of Ismaili Centres worldwide, and will be the second in Canada after the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby which opened in 1985. The Centres are representational buildings for the Ismaili Muslim community, and will include a place of prayer, library and spaces for cultural activities. The Centre will host an active series of programming to engage a variety of stakeholders in dialogue, learning, and bridge-building. This is Correa's first commission in Canada.

The Aga Khan Museum, devoted to Islamic art, is an educational institution showcasing the intellectual, cultural, artistic and religious heritage of Muslim civilizations with their historic, cultural and geographic diversity. The Aga Khan Museum has been designed by the award-winning Japanese architect, Fumihiko Maki, who also designed the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat in Ottawa.

The two projects will be united by a new landscaped park, designed by Lebanese landscape architect, Vladimir Djurovic. The park will incorporate the Islamic "chaar bhag" or formal garden, and will include reflecting pools, walkways, and four-season components suited to the climate of Toronto. The Park will be open to the public and is intended to be a place of tranquility and contemplation.

For more information please visit:

www.akdn.org for information on the Aga Khan Development Network
www.TheIsmaili.org/ismailicentres for information on the Ismaili Centres
www.akdn.org/museum for information on the Aga Khan Museum

Media resources including background information and visuals will be made available upon request.

Media are required to register for this event in advance at Jennifer@akfc.ca . Media accredited with the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery will have access to the event. Non-gallery members must send a letter of assignment to Jennifer@akfc.ca. As space is limited, we apologize in advance for not being able to accommodate all requests.

Note that media parking on site is limited. Broadcast media planning live coverage can forward requests to the contacts below.

Registered media are required to arrive by the Wynford Drive entrance
no later than 12:30 pm.

For further information: Amyn Sayani, Aga Khan Council for Canada, (416) 893-1724, amyn.sayani@rogers.com; Laurie Peters, Aga Khan Foundation Canada, (613) 237-2532 ext 120, laurie@akfc.ca
 
Friend of mine out at Pearson confirmed that the Aga Khan's private jet arrived today at 4:50pm.....registration for the plane is A6-AAG, and what's interesting, it's a Canadian-built Canadair CL605 Challenger bizjet..
 
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UrbanToronto was very pleased to attend the Foundation Ceremony of the Aga Khan Museum, Ismaili Centre, and Park yesterday.

The following are photos taken during the event, without captions. A second post will follow shortly of renderings. An article will appear on the UrbanToronto Home Page with text but fewer images.

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The following is the complex at full resolution (3600 pixels wide). Subsequent posts will be scaled to fit the screen.

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Copyright: Imara (Wynford Drive) Ltd
 
Below is the rendering of the full 6.8 hectare site. At the top left is the Ismaili Centre designed by the distinguished Indian architect Charles Correa, at the bottom right is the Aga Khan Museum designed by the renowned Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki. The buildings are sited within a park designed designed by noted Lebanese landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic.

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The Ismaili Centre, the second in Canada and sixth in the world, will be a gathering place for prayer and a space for intellectual discourse through programmes ranging from lectures, and seminars, to exhibitions. The centre will also play host to cultural and social events. The intent is to create understanding of the values, ethics, culture and heritage of Ismaili Muslims, the work of the Aga Khan Development Network, and to search for mutual understanding among all communities and cultures.

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The prayer hall of the Ismaili Centre as seen from the formal gardens. When the prayer hall is lit, the glass roof emits a warm glow from within.

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The Aga Khan Museum as seen from the formal gardens.

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The Aga Khan Museum will be dedicated to the collection, research, preservation, and display of works of art, objects and artefacts of artistic, cultural and historical significance from various periods and geographic areas of the Muslim world.

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A gallery within the museum.

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The museum's auditorium.

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An example of art to be shown in the museum, this folio is from the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp, Iran, Safavid, c. 1540.

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For more information on the collections to be shown at the museum, please visit the Aga Khan Museum's website.


A view of the gardens in spring.

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A view of the gardens in autumn.

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The $300 Million complex is expected to be completed in 2013.

All renderings Copyright: Imara (Wynford Drive) Ltd. Folio photography by AKDN.
 
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The good news:

1. The damn thing is finally getting built
2. From the renderings, the gardens appear to be splendid
3. A global cultural institution like this one is really a boon for our city

The bad news:

1. The buildings don't really relate to one another
2. It is not inconceivable that the Bata building could have fit into these plans somehow - it might have actually related better to that sandstone auditorium + prayer hall than the white museum building itself
3. The design is still a bit too conservative - it kind of looks like late 90s Moshe Safdie which did not age as gracefully as I imagined it would back then.
 
yyzer said:
Friend of mine out at Pearson confirmed that the Aga Khan's private jet arrived today at 4:50pm.....registration for the plane is A6-AAG, and what's interesting, it's a Canadian-built Canadair CL605 Challenger bizjet..
Click to expand...

While I recognize this is off topic, I wanted to highlight that I do not believe the Aga Khan himself uses a CL605. His long-range travel is in a much more capable Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global Express XRS. It is also a Canadian plane of course. The XRS variant of the Global Express allows him to fly at 51,000 feet thus avoiding some flight planning complexities. It can also go over 11,000km without refueling and travel at 950km/hr.

From Race700 on Flickr:
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The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, an arm of the Aga Khan Development Network, owns several airlines, the Celestair Group, under it's aviation division. They use a number of different aircraft types across the spectrum of manufacturers. Most recent deliveries have been Canadian planes. Bombardier CRJ100/200s - a CRJ200 was just delivered a couple weeks ago to Air Burkina I believe and some were delivered previously to Air Uganda. Good customers.
 
Ismaili project something Toronto can be proud of

InsideToronto ...
http://www.insidetoronto.com/opinion/editorial/article/828968--ismaili-project-something-toronto-can-be-proud-of
Jun 04, 2010 - 11:12 AM

Ismaili project something Toronto can be proud of
As these types of events go, it was no ordinary groundbreaking.

Given the event's size, scope and honoured guests - not to mention it included the bestowing of just the fifth honourary Canadian citizenship since 1985 - it's fairly easy to see why. Last Friday, in the Eglinton Avenue and Wynford Drive area of the city, was the official groundbreaking of a $300-million Ismaili project. A development that's been in the works since 2002, it's set to open in 2013 on 17 acres of land.

Included in the site are the Ismaili Centre Toronto, a public park and the Aga Khan Museum. Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, was on hand to present the Aga Khan with the honourary citizenship. The Aga Khan is the 49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims and founder and chair of the Aga Khan Development Network.

For starters, the Ismaili Centre Toronto is just the second building of its kind in this country and sixth in the western world. Included is a place for prayer, a library, youth lounge and public spaces for cultural activities. The park will include reflecting pools and walkways surrounding the other two components.

As for the museum, it's absolutely noteworthy that this project is the first of its kind in the western world. Containing art and artifacts covering a 1,000-year period of Islamic history, the museum is intended to serve as an educational institution showcasing the heritage of Muslim civilizations and their attendant diversities.

This development is significant on several levels. At the most local of those levels and from a community development standpoint, the project will surely prove transformative to the area of the city it's situated in, the south-eastern reaches of North York.

Overall, for the city, which is already home to a vibrant and diverse artistic and cultural community, the project will surely continue to broaden and enhance that appeal.

Perhaps most importantly, however, it's also a fitting reflection of Toronto, one of the most diverse urban centres on the continent, and its people. Indeed, it's something for the city to celebrate and be proud of. Ultimately, the project has the strong potential to be one that honours the past, fits in to the present day, and hopefully looks forward to the future.

It only makes sense the makeup of Toronto and its component communities should be reflected in the places we live, work, play, worship and learn. We eagerly await the outcome.
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The gardens should be terrific, but there's an awful lot of grass around everything...space for future expansions, perhaps. The whole complex is attractive, but the site plan is more scattered and suburban than I expected and the grassy knolls punctuated by pine and miscellaneous trees that ring the site just entrench its highway-side character. Maybe the gardens and ponds will seem like that much more of an oasis, then, if the DVP and Eglinton are buffered. Those renderings are begging to have the Bata building photoshopped in where it stood, if only for what if?'s sake...maybe it'd be like the Registry building next to City Hall that was 'replaced' by a parking garage entry and some sidewalks and dead grass.
 
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