America’s first Ismaili Center will be architectural jewel for Houston
The architecture and gardens of the Ismaili Center Houston will set a new bar in a city increasingly devoted to modern design and lush green spaces.
With a structure designed by British Farshid Moussavi and gardens by Thomas Woltz of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects – a renowned landscape architect known locally for his work on redesigning the Memorial Park – the new Ismaili Center will be about 11 acres on the southeast corner of Allen. extend Parkway and Montrose Boulevard. The President of the Ismaili Council, Al-Karim Alidina, unveiled his plans on Monday afternoon at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
The building, clad in Turkish marble, will be a cultural landmark that local and visiting Ismailis can worship and anyone can take part in cultural and educational events. The gardens on all four sides include terraced plantings and water features in a configuration that pays homage to ancient Islamic architecture, but with vegetation found in Texan ecosystems.
“It will be a welcoming place where everyone is welcome,” said Alidina.
Houston was selected by His Highness the Aga Khan a few years ago as the location for America’s first Ismaili Center, chosen because of its large population of Ismaili Muslims and its diverse community as a whole. The Aga Khan is the spiritual leader – or imam – of the Ismaili Muslims and is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad who founded Islam about 1,400 years ago.
An artist’s impression of the inner central atrium of the future Ismail Center Houston.
Courtesy Ismaili Center Houston
The Aga Khan Foundation bought the local land in 2006 and later donated seven monumental works of art – Jaume Plensa’s “Tolerance” sculptures – that are across the street in Buffalo Bayou Park. Excavations on the site are already underway and a formal groundbreaking is expected to take place early next year, with construction scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024.
Geometry in Architecture
Moussavi’s design goal was complex: to create a building that pays tribute to ancient Islamic culture and supports modern life for 100 years. It had to be an architectural gem worthy of its place at one end of a cultural corridor that leads Montrose down to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Museum District.
“The Aga Khan has been a patron of architecture for many years. He is absolutely convinced and aware of the power of architecture to help people lead a better life – that architecture is a force for good, ”said Moussavi, a native of Iran who moved to the UK at 14 and trained there at the USA Harvard University. “That is the challenge when working on a building he has commissioned … every decision must be relevant and carried out with excellence.”
It also had to be a place where ismailis could turn for spiritual comfort, with a jamatkhana – or place of worship – where they could go for daily prayer. Social spaces should be used for cultural or educational events or even social gatherings such as philanthropic galas or lunches.
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“There couldn’t be a better time to build this building. We have many different crises as humanity, including the climate emergency, ”Mousavi said. “The scale of the problems we face calls for a collective response. It’s about bringing people together in order to understand each other better and to form a larger community. “
The building, with an estimated cost of $ 200 million, will have masonry that will appear like woven tapestries with breezes and light. Stone umbrellas in geometric patterns – squares, circles, and curved arabesque shapes – are often used as an ornament in Islamic architecture that avoids images of religious figures.
The design has multiple verandas for people to be outside and still in the shade.
The Ismaili Center has no front or back; each side is equally detailed and welcoming, though there will be entry doors from West Dallas and Montrose Streets, Moussavi said. Deep on the property towards West Dallas, the building had to be outside the 500-year-old flood plain to prevent damage from future weather events.
An artist’s rendering of the North Garden in the future Ismail Center Houston.
Courtesy Ismaili Center Houston
A form of paradise
Woltz, who leads the landscape design team that will create 10 acres of lush gardens now full of dirt and unkempt weeds, also did the landscaping for the Aga Khan Garden in Edmonton, Canada. Houston’s center will be the seventh in the world; the others – built between 1985 and 2014 – are in London, Toronto, Lisbon, Dubai and Burnaby, British Columbia, and Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
In projects like this one, buildings often span much of the available land; Green areas are treated almost as if they were in retrospect. Not so for the Ismaili Center.
“The description of paradise in the Koran is a garden, and these descriptions have inspired more than 1,000 years of gardening history,” said Woltz.
There will be a large lawn that can be used as an event area with 1,200 seats or 1,600 standing places, as well as squares, courtyards and immersive garden spaces, each with plants from a different ecoregion: plateaus, transpecos, transverse wood, Blackland prairie and Gulf Coast prairie . A bayou garden – on the lowest level and closest to the buffalo bayou – will have native plants that are most resilient to flooding.
“This is going to be a different kind of formal garden than anything I’ve seen in Houston. What other tradition of landscaping comes from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Far East and South Asia? ”Said Woltz. “There are Houstonians from all of these places, so it is a symbol of this pluralism, which also reflects the city of Houston.”
About the Ismailis
That Texas has the largest concentration of Ismailis in the US certainly helped the Aga Khan choose Houston for this project. About 50,000 call home in Texas today, and it is estimated that this sect of Shiite Muslims has up to 15 million in more than 25 countries.
An artist’s rendering of the future Ismail Center Houston as seen from Montrose Boulevard on Allen Parkway.
Courtesy Ismaili Center Houston
Houston has a handful of Ismaili community centers, all dual-purpose venues, a Jamatkhana where members pray and worship and where non-members attend events. On site, they hosted everything from food and blood donation drives to Ted talks and political debates that were open to all.
His Highness Aga Khan is the only Imam of the Faith and is expected to interpret the Quran with both literal and spiritual meanings in the current context. Local Jamatkhanas have no paid staff and are run by volunteers whom he personally appoints. Faith emphasizes equality so that men and women are treated equally and both are encouraged to have a higher education.
Volunteering is a principle of belief. After Hurricane Harvey, the Ismailis gathered to serve others across town and earned a Points of Light Award for the local faith group.
‘To build bridges’
Monday’s design reveal drew local dignitaries and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner was on tap for being called to Washington, DC, to sign the federal infrastructure bill.
“My visit to the Ismaili Center in London… showed me how an Ismaili Center can help build bridges between communities,” said Turner. “The Ismaili Center Houston will also be a place where the city’s public and private partners and stakeholders come together to discuss and solve the problems of our time.”
Ann Stern, President and CEO of Houston Endowment, praised the plans for the new center.
An artist’s rendering of the future Ismail Center Houston, a close-up view of the building as seen from the gardens on the Allen Parkway side of the building.
Courtesy Ismaili Center Houston
“This will be a place for people to connect, understand differences and build bridges across all people and beliefs and experiences. It’s such a strong thing and has never been more important than it is today, “said Stern.
And the importance of the 10 hectare green area does not escape her either. About 15 years ago, a green renaissance began in Houston with the reinterpretation of bayous, which was considered a place for everyone. From there, taxpayers and philanthropists all over the city have invested in better parks.
“It’s not just about creating green spaces and parks where people can take their children for a walk. This is something that is very sustainable for people, ”said Stern. “At no time did we notice that more than in the pandemic. That first summer of lockdown and homework, seeing the people in the parks and seeing the importance of green spaces to mental health, has changed our city in ways we still don’t fully understand. “
diane.cowen@chron.com
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