Aga Khan Program at MIT

04/17/2026

Dear AKPIA Community,

Please join us at the MIT Media Lab on Saturday May 23 for Critical Historiography as Method: A Symposium in Honor of Nasser Rabbat.

For more than 35 years, Nasser Rabbat’s work has critically challenged methodologies inherited from the study of Western art and architecture. His vocal interrogations of the status quo have influenced generations of scholars and practitioners to search for new ways of critically reconstructing history. To recognize Rabbat’s lifetime of scholarly achievements—including his impact in and beyond the field—a Festschrift is being organized in his honor. This symposium will gather some of the volume’s contributors, who will present their methodologically framed papers, demonstrating how criticality and a concern for historiography has oriented the research of Nasser’s students, mentees, and close colleagues over the years.

This event will not be live streamed, but a recording will be available online in the days following the symposium.
PLEASE REGISTER IN ADVANCE: https://sites.mit.edu/festschrift/register/

Full schedule can be found on the symposium website: https://sites.mit.edu/festschrift/schedule/

03/26/2026

Department of Architecture Public Lecture Series

April 16th, 6PM MIT Long Lounge (7-429) Live Stream Here: https://youtu.be/itACEAG1sAI

Ali Mangera

"Translocalism and the Construction of Identity"

Ali Mangera, MEng Dip Arch RIBA, Practice Director and Principal
Part of the Spring 2026 MIT Architecture Lecture Series.
Presented with The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Architecture has many perspectives. As we age, our cognitive experience of the city changes as we adapt to our newfound circumstances. Children see the world in different colours and at different scales, the elderly and those with mobility impairment define their engagement through parameters of accessibility.

Deeply rooted within MYAA’s practice ethos, we observe the world through a different lens; where we are both an insider and outsider, where we are ‘L'Étranger as Campus might say. As children of a diaspora, we explore architecture that comments on the status quo and enabling communities to reconnect through primeval issues of culture and identity.

Through a careful and considered approach, we seek to harness the power and possibilities architecture has to offer. In doing so, we address the many topical issues of our day; translocation, environment and collective engagement.

Ali’s talk at MIT will illustrate some of MYAA’s many projects, from Regenerative Urbanism in London, to Ecological master planning in the Middle East through to Academic buildings at different scales in recognition that architecture can lead to profoundly optimistic outcomes

Biography
Ali Mangera is an Architect-Engineer and co-founder of Mangera Yvars Architects (MYAA) with Ada Yvars Bravo. Ali studied Architectural Engineering at Leeds University, UK and Pennsylvania State University, USA completing a Master’s in advanced structural-environmental design before studying Architecture at the Architectural Association London. He worked at Skidmore Owings & Merril, Chicago and Zaha Hadid Architects, London before establishing MYAA. With offices in London, Barcelona and Riyadh, MYAA works on award-winning projects globally. Recent works include The Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, UNESCO Sagrada Familia, as well as Museums and Cultural buildings.

As an Architect and Engineer and is uniquely placed to understand the intricacies of collaborative design. Ali has helped shape MYAA’s focus on technology, the use of data, digital fabrication, and complex geometry through to sustainable earth construction and zero energy cities. Born in London, Ali’s family moved to the UK from South Africa during the apartheid era which made Ali acutely aware of contextual underpinnings, in particular, culture and identity which are embedded in MYAA’s work.

This lecture will be held in person in Long Lounge, 7-429 and will be streamed on YouTube.

Lectures are free and open to the public. Lectures will be held Thursdays at 6 PM ET in 7-429 (Long Lounge) and streamed online unless otherwise noted.

photo: Mangera Yvars Architects, Education City, Doha, Qatar

03/04/2026

Join us on Monday March 16th for the Aga Khan Program Spring 2026: An Evening With Lecture Series with Ahmed Abdelazim.

6 pm in MIT Room 3-133 or Live Stream here: https://mit.zoom.us/j/93558688031

Free and open to the public
In The Name of God And The People: The Mosque And The State In Socialist Egypt

Ahmed Abdelazim

Bio
Ahmed Abdelazim is the current Aga Khan Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research focuses on Egypt’s material, visual, and architectural culture in the second half of the twentieth century, with particular attention to the intersections of architecture, politics, religion, and everyday life.
Trained initially as an architect, Ahmed’s work is deeply interdisciplinary. He holds an MA in Islamic Art and Architecture and an MA in Cultural Anthropology from the American University in Cairo, in addition to formal training in Islamic studies. In December 2024, he completed his Ph.D. in Art History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His dissertation, From Nation to Sensation: Discourses on the “Islamic” in Egypt’s Contemporary Architecture (1967–2011), examines how architecture became a key site for negotiating religion, nationalism, and state power in modern Egypt.
Alongside his academic research, Ahmed has been actively involved in curatorial and archival work. He served as project coordinator for The Mashrabiya Project at the Museum for Art in Wood in Philadelphia, collaborated with the Arab Center for Architecture on the exhibition A Journey in Architectural Archives at the Sharjah Architecture Triennial, and worked with UNESCO on archiving the Hassan Fathy collection at the American University in Cairo.
Ahmed is also the author of Kanīs al-Kharāb (Architecture of Doom), an Arabic-language book that critically examines the role of architecture in the realization of the Zionist colonial project on the ground. His forthcoming book, Contemporary Architecture in Egypt, 1970–2010, to be published by AUC Press, offers the first comprehensive scholarly account of Egypt’s contemporary architectural production within its broader social and political contexts.
Today’s talk, “In the Name of God and the People: The Mosque and the State in Socialist Egypt,” draws directly from this long-term research agenda, exploring how mosque architecture became a charged site where religion, ideology, and state power converged during the Nasser era.

Abstract
Recent scholarship has underscored the centrality of architecture in materializing Egypt’s revolutionary political project, with infrastructural and mass-housing schemes operating as visual and spatial instruments of modernization. This process was accompanied by a deliberate and systematic marginalization of Islamic symbols and institutions from the public sphere. As this paper argues, this configuration, shifted decisively in the aftermath of the 1967 defeat in the Six-Day War. In response to the crisis of political legitimacy, the state recalibrated its ideological project through the selective reactivation of Islamic visual and material culture. Drawing on archival research and primary sources, this paper examines state-commissioned mosques and the mediated circulation of Islamic imagery in print culture as technologies through which national politics were rearticulated and authority was reconstituted.

02/26/2026

Chester Beatty Annual Lecture 2026 by Nasser Rabbat.
in Dublin, Ireland and online 2pm EST. Recording Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3Th8ph-OaM&list=PPSV&t=9s

Prof. Nasser Rabbat, Aga Khan Professor and Director of the Aga Khan Programme for Islamic Architecture at MIT In fifteenth-century Cairo—a city of

02/12/2026

Join us on Monday March 2nd
6 pm in MIT Room 3-133 Recording Here: https://mit.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=341fb83d-62c7-4c14-ab17-b4080161536d
For the AKPIA Spring 2026 Lecture Series: An Evening With
Free and open to the public.

“I Light Fire to the Tradition" – Radical Art Practices in 1960s Iraq
Elizabeth Rauh

Bio

Elizabeth Rauh is Assistant Professor of Modern Art History and Visual Cultures at The American University in Cairo (AUC). Specializing in the history of arts and visual cultures of Iraq, Iran, and the Persian Gulf, her scholarship examines modern artist engagements with Islamic traditions, popular image practices and technologies in the Islamic world, and arts of the 1960s “Shi‘i Left.” She also pursues research in ecological art practices across the Gulf’s biodiverse environments. She is a 2025-2026 Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Art & Architecture at MIT in support of her first book project, “Lighting Fire to Tradition: 1960s Artist Experiments in the Islamic World.”

Abstract

With the establishment of the Tehran Biennale in 1958 and the 1974 Biennale of Arab Art in Baghdad, artists in the region increasingly participated in transnational art movements at a time when Islamic artistic heritage was dissipating due to expanding modernization and foreign domination in the Middle East. Yet contrary to common assumptions, modern artists have steadily experimented with Islamic traditions to generate avant-garde artworks and radical concepts drawn from revitalizing historical and religious practices.

Following the 1963 Ba'ath Party-led coup d’état of the Republic of Iraq and assassination of Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim, artists in Iraq responded by producing new artworks and public events. Keenly aware of the powerful mobilizing forces and emotional resonances of Shi`i mourning ceremonies, artists in Iraq sought to wield popular religious mythologies into new symbolic registers and creative experiments in the face of entrenched colonialism and encroaching authoritarianism. Turning to sacred traditions, such as the Battle of Karbala, and popular votive materials, including amuletic motifs or depictions of the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey (miʿraj), artists enlisted Islamic traditions as critical grounds for artmaking and participating in both local political challenges and a globalizing art world. Such revival or “re-activation” of sacred content into contemporary artmaking reveals how political resistance comingled with Islamic traditions in 1960s Iraq.

Photograph by Elizabeth Rauh (2023) courtesy of the Iraq Ministry of Culture

02/11/2026

AKPIA Spring 2026 Lecture Series: An Evening With

02/10/2026

Dear Community

It is with heavy heart that I share with you the news of the passing of Andras Riedlmayer today, February 9, 2026, after a short stay at the hospital.
Andras was 79 years old. He was born in Budapest, Hungary and studied at the University of Chicago and Princeton University, In 1985 he became the Aga Khan Librarian and the director of the Documentation Center for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University's Fine Arts Library where he stayed until 2020.

Andras was expert witness for the prosecution on the systematic destruction of cultural heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 and 1996, and destruction of cultural heritage of Kosovo in 1999, at the ICTY in the trials of Serbian leaders in the Bosnian War. His advocacy for the preservation of the Bosnian and Kosovan heritage in the face of ethnic cleansing wars was relentless despite the dangers to his person and reputation. His pioneering work documenting how architecture was used as an instrument of genocide in Bosnia and Kosovo was crucial in establishing that architectural destruction constitutes a weapon of war, a recognition formalized through his testimonies in the ICTY. In fact, Andras was a committed and passionate defender of human rights and cultural preservation in many contexts in our sadly violent age: Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and elsewhere.

But above all, Andras was, in the words of Professor Azra Aksamija of MIT, "the most generous, kind, and humble genius who always shared his encyclopedic knowledge with everyone who sought his help.” She, like many of our graduates at both MIT and Harvard, remembers his “dedicated mentorship," which helped many anchor their research in its proper scholarly context. His formidable linguistic ability, vast scholarly knowledge in all things Islamic art and architecture, and above all altruistic attitude toward all who seek his advice were legendary.

I extend my and AKPIA’s sincerest condolences to Andras’s family. We will let the community know the arrangement for any memorial for him are finalized.

Nasser

01/30/2026

Professor Rabbat won the Arab Book Award 2025, Doha, Qatar, Second Prize, History Section for Taqiy al-Din al-Maqrizi: Wijdan al-Tarikh al-Masri.

01/13/2026

2026-2027 POSTDOCTORAL/POST-PROFESSIONAL FELLOWSHIPS FOR RESEARCH IN ISLAMIC ART, ARCHITECTURE, URBANISM, DESIGN, AND PRESERVATION The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT (AKPIA@MIT) is pleased to announce its call for applications for its postdoctoral / post-professional fellowship program for the academic year 2026-2027. The program is open to scholars with a Ph.D. and practitioners in any field related to architecture with at least three years of experience. Relevant fields include the history of art, architecture, landscape, and urbanism; as well as contemporary art, design, landscape, heritage studies, urban planning, anthropology, and archaeology. We seek applications from fields aligned with AKPIA@MIT’s core research areas, though we will consider applications from complementary fields that analyze contemporary crises and responses.

AKPIA’s core research areas are:
1. History and Historiography of Art, Architecture, and Urbanism in Islamic Contexts
2. Reconstruction and Resettlement after Conflicts and Disasters
3. Heritage Conservation and the Politics of Memory
4. Environmental Approaches to Architecture
5. Contemporary Art and Museology in Islamic Contexts
6. Craft Futures and Cultural Technologies

Eligibility criteria for practitioners include the completion of a terminal degree at least three years prior to the start date, along with evidence of research-informed practice. For postdoctoral applicants, the Ph.D. degree must be in hand before the beginning of the fellowship.

Applicants should describe the scope of their proposed research project and how they plan to engage with both AKPIA’s research priorities and the broader MIT academic community. Fellows are expected to conduct research supervised by an AKPIA faculty, deliver at least one public lecture, and submit an article, publication, or exhibition based on their work at the end of the fellowship. This work will be posted online and may be included in an AKPIA@MIT publication. Fellows are also expected to participate in the program's scholarly and academic activities during their stay at MIT.

One to three fellowships will be granted. The fellowship duration may range from three months to a maximum of two semesters (nine months) of residency at MIT, falling within the academic year (September to June). Summer fellowships are not permitted. Travel during the fellowship is restricted to attending conferences, job interviews, or family emergencies. The award consists of a monthly stipend ranging from $73,308 - $90,000. For more specific program details see link below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cflG0FgdIJRtjCE5IPGjRRFbxICz_MeE/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=115681069479263472880&rtpof=true&sd=true

Fellows are responsible for their own travel, housing, and health insurance, which are administered individually according to MIT’s institute-wide policies. Fellows may maintain insurance from their home institution or employer, or purchase it from a private vendor, provided it meets J-1 visa requirements. AKPIA will not reimburse fellows for health insurance purchased for the fellowship. Please review the Health Insurance Options for Certain Visiting Appointments and Other Affiliates on the Health Insurance Choices page:

https://ischo.mit.edu/pre-arrival-information/health-insurance-requirements-j-1-scholars-and-j-2-dependents

AKPIA will also provide library cards, email accounts at MIT, and, if available, a workspace in the AKPIA@MIT office shared with other fellows. Practitioners will be provided access to various fabrication facilities at MIT.

The deadline for application is March 31, 2026, and recipients will be announced by April 30, 2026. To apply, please complete the electronic form below, ensuring all fields marked with asterisks are filled. The form includes a field for uploading required documents, which must be formatted as a single compressed file or PDF less than 12 MB in size. This file must include a C.V., research proposal, substantial writing sample (required for scholars) and/or a portfolio (required for practitioners), and two letters of recommendation, in that order. Letters of recommendation may be sent separately to [email protected].

If health or other restrictions arise that prevent the fellow from coming to MIT, AKPIA reserves the right to suspend the fellowships at any time before the official start date. Remote fellowships are not permitted; should a suspension occur, fellows must resubmit their applications to a future cycle to compete with new applicants.

Applicants are encouraged to seek additional funding to supplement the fellowship award. Scholars on sabbatical or with their own financial resources are also welcome to apply. AKPIA reserves the right to prorate its fellowship stipend when combined with another grant or fellowship.

Apply here:
https://mit.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_74DitqUNZmYF6Jw

For further information, please email [email protected] or call 617-253-1400.

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01/09/2026

Professor Nasser Rabbat speaks about his new book in Cairo on January 16th.