Category Archives: Events

Exhibition: Refracted Histories through Stained Glass

The exhibition “Refracted Histories through Stained Glass: 19th c. Islamic Windows as a Prism into MIT’s Past, Present, and Future,” curated by Rami Alafandi and Gwendolyn Collaço, is now on display in the Distinctive Collections’ Maihaugen Gallery. The exhibit features a set of striking gypsum and stained glass windows dating to the late 18th- to 19th century Ottoman Empire, which the curators discovered among numerous architectural artifacts from the earliest days of the Institute’s architecture program in the Rotch Art Collection, Department of Distinctive Collections. This discovery led to extensive research on the craft and the commissioning of contemporary works […]

Books and Bites on Wednesday, November 20

Join us in the Department of Distinctive Collections Reading Room (14N-118) to engage with recent acquisitions and highlights from Distinctive Collections and Rotch Library, including artist books, rare books, and materials from the Aga Khan Documentation Center. Enjoy refreshments while you explore!

Registration Closing Soon for “Re:Fest: A Research Festival for The Curious” in Lagos, Nigeria

NAIROBI, 10 June 2024 – CoDesign Collective [till recently operating as Ministry of Architecture] is launching a new initiative, Co-School with its first event titled Re:Fest: A Research Festival for The Curious. In the words of Anthony Baba-Oladeji, Founder of CoDesign Collective, “Africa’s present educational system is unable to grapple with the pace of advancements in her built environment and cities, and as such, ReFest will be a yearly event intervention to complement Africa’s presently underfunded educational operation by filling knowledge gaps such as metadata on cities, research into local materials and new representation techniques & technologies such as film, […]

Kanan Makiya to Lend his Expertise to the CAC Human Library Series Documenting the Lives of Arab Americans

We are delighted to extend an invitation to you for a special event organized by the Center for Arabic Culture (CAC) and hosted by the Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT Libraries (AKDC@MIT): the Human Library with Professor Kanan Makiya. Sat. Feb. 10, 2024, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm MIT Room 3-133, Entrance at 77 Mass Ave. Cambridge, MA. At the Human Library, we aim to bring together community members to share their life stories and experiences. We refer to this series as the Human Library that allows for people to learn from the experiences of people in much the same way […]

May 7 AFIKRA Salon at MIT to feature Aga Khan Collections Curator

Aga Khan Collections Curator Rami Alafandi will be presenting on the work of the Aga Khan Documentation Center and the Aga Khan Development Network in Vol. 6 of the afikra Boston salon on Sunday, May 7, at 6 pm in Room 3-133 on the MIT Campus. AFIKRA salons are in-person events held in cities worldwide that bring people together to learn about the histories and cultures of the Arab world. The salon is free and open to the public; registration is required.

Digital Interfaces Workshops on Documenting West African Heritage Held at MIT

The A3-Archnet Digital Interfaces Workshop week, hosted by the Aga Khan Documentation Center @ MIT, was held on 27 February – 3 March 2023 in the MIT Libraries. The Nigerian delegation was led by A3 founder Baba Oladeji and consisted of three winners of the A3-Archnet Writing Competition, Adefola Toye, Muhammed Madandola, Abdullah Ogunsetan. The Nigerian delegation received an orientation tour from Matt Saba, Interim Program Head and Michael Toler, Archnet Content Manager in the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT (AKDC@MIT), on Sunday, 26th February 2023. A fourth prize winner, Enwonwu Chiagozie Mitchelle, was unable to participate in […]

Digital Documentation of African Cultural Heritage, Friday, March 3

As Black History Month draws to a close, the A3-Archnet collaboration to document African architecture is starting a week of workshops at MIT that will conclude on Friday with a public presentation on Friday, March 3, at 3 pm in The Nexus of Hayden Library. It will also be streamed live on Zoom. The in-person event is free and open to the public. Registration is required for the webinar. The participants in the workshops-Muhammed Madandola, recipient of a degree in architecture from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Nigeria and a Master’s in Islamic art, architecture, and urbanism from […]

Online Panel: Architecture: The Search for Identity, Justice & Continuity

The Opening Public Panel of the West<>Africa Architecture Biennale Inspired by the 1998 lecture of the Nigerian architect and educator, David Aradeon, this public panel seeks to understand the concepts of Iidentity, justice and continuity through the lenses of three architects: David Aradeon (Nigeria), Aziza Chaouni (Morocco) and Mokena Makeka (South Africa). Registration is Required (Deadline 20 February 2022): bit.ly/OpeningWABiennale Format: Panel, Virtual Platform: Zoom (You will receive a link before the event on February 20 Duration: 120 mins Free and Open to the public. Thank you to our supporters: Studio 4, Aziza Chaouni Projects, Makeka Design Lab.

Online IAP Lecture: Medinas of the Maghreb and the concept of Islamic city: Between texts and models

The Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT (AKDC@MIT) is proud to present “Medinas of the Maghreb and the concept of Islamic city: Between texts and models” with Amine Kasmi, conservation architect and Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture, University of Tlemcen, Algeria.. The presentation will take place online, January 25th at 5 pm EST, 11 pm in Algeria (UTC/GMT +1:00). The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Download the Flyer Abstract: On the question of an archetypal model of the Islamic city, several regional scholars and Orientalists have tried to give some answers, each […]

Online IAP Lecture: Building the Independent Nation. Morocco’s architectural heritage, 1940-1980

The Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT (AKDC@MIT) is proud to present “Building the Independent Nation. Morocco’s architectural heritage, 1940-1980” with Lahbib Elmoumni, professor of architecture and co-founder of MAMMA, a cultural heritage organization whose objective is to showcase Moroccan art, architecture, and planning around the second half of the 20th century. The presentation will take place online, January 18th at 5 pm EST, 11 pm in Morocco (UTC/GMT +1:00). The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Abstract: Since 1912 most of Morocco had been a French Protectorate in which the Sultan had symbolic authority, but […]