Comité directeur

Omar Akbar is a German urbanist and architect, and the Executive Director of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation. He was born in Afghanistan and attended primary school in Kabul, and undertook university and graduate training in architecture and urban design at the Technical University in Berlin. His Master's thesis (1976) concentrated on the process of urbanization in developing countries, using India as an example, and his doctoral thesis (1981) was a comparison of the social behaviour and the construction and spatial organization of mahals, which led to the development of the theory of Islamic living quarters. Professor Akbar worked as an architect in several offices in Germany while at the same time teaching in Berlin. He was the team leader (1981-82) of the development project for Al-Karkh (an area of Baghdad), and a consultant to GTZ (German Agency for Technical Development) from 1987 to 1993 for urban development projects in Banjul (Gambia), Sana'a (Yemen), and Aswan (Egypt). He also served as a UNESCO consultant on Cairo in 1991 and 1992. From 1993 to 1998, he was professor of urban design and the theory of architecture at the Technical University for Applied Sciences in Dessau, before taking up the position of Executive Director of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation in 1998. 

Farshid Moussavi enseigne et pratique l’architecture, et dirige Farshid Moussavi Architecture (FMA). Après avoir étudié à l’Ecole supérieure de Design de Harvard et à l’University College de Londres, elle a cofondé le cabinet Foreign Office Architects (FOA). FMA travaille aujourd’hui sur un large éventail de projets internationaux parmi lesquels le Musée d’Art contemporain de Cleveland, un complexe résidentiel à La Défense à Paris et le Musée Quran à Téhéran. Au sein de FOA, elle a co-conçu de nombreux projets internationalement primé comme le Terminal des Ferry de Yokohama au Japon, et les travaux de FOA ont été largement publiés et exposés et notamment en représentant la Grande-Bretagne à la 8ème Biennale d’Architecture de Venise en 2002. Le Prix pour l’Architecture Enric Miralles, six Prix RIBA, le Prix de la Biennale d’Architecture de Venise en 2004 et le Prix d’Architecture Charles Jencks sont parmi les nombreux Prix reçu par FOA.

Elle est, depuis 2006, professeur d’architecture à l’Ecole supérieure de Design de Harvard. Elle avait auparavant enseigné à l’Académie des Beaux-arts de Vienne, l’Architecural Association de Londres, à l’Institut Berlage de Rotterdam, l’Institut d’Architecture Hoger en Belgique, et aux Etats-Unis l’Université de Californie de Los Angeles, à l’Université Columbia de New York, à l’Université Princeton, et à. Elle est également l’auteur de The Function of Ornament (2006) et the Function of Form (2009), ouvrages basés sur ses recherches et son enseignement à Harvard et traduits en plusieurs langues. Elle écrit par ailleurs régulièrement des tribunes dans le magasine Architectural Review.

Le Professeur Moussavi est membre du Groupe de Conseil de The Whitechapel Gallery, ainsi que de l’Architecture Foundation à Londres. Elle est un examinateur externe du Royal College of Art de Londres et siège au Conseil éducatif du Strelka Institute for Architecture, Media and Design de Moscou. Elle était auparavant membre du Conseil sur l’Architecture et le Design du British Council et de l’initiative du Maire de Londres « Design for London ». Elle participait auparavant au Comité international de Design de Londres, au RIBA d’Or et Médailles Présidentielles, et au Prix Sterling d’Architecture. Présidente du Jury du Prix Aga Khan d’Architecture en 2004, elle est membre du Comité de Direction du Prix Aga Khan d’Architecture depuis 2005.

Modjtaba Sadria, an Iranian-born philosopher, is Professor at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations-AKU, London. Professor Sadria holds doctorate degrees in philosophy from the University of Paris and in international relations from the University of Quebec at Montreal, and master's degrees in literature, in history, and in philosophy from the University of Paris. Professor Sadria is a specialist in cross-cultural relations and East Asian studies, and was Professor of Cross-Cultural Relations and East Asian Studies at Chuo University, Tokyo. He lectures widely, including recent presentations on "A Complex World and Many Understandings", "The Possibility of Dialogue After 9.11", "A Perspective of Iranian Foreign Policy: Triangle Relations between Khatami, Nation and Society", "Building Bridges between the United States and Iran", and "Preserving Cultural Integrity and Promoting Dialogue among Civilizations". Professor Sadria is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Policy and Culture, Tokyo. From 1999 to 2001, he served as the Deputy Director for Research at the International Center for Dialogue Among Civilizations in Tehran. He is also a member of the Organizing Committee of the Kyoto International Cultural Forum. Professor Sadria has published over 50 books and articles, including "Global Civil Society and Ethics: Finding Common Ground" (Tokyo, 2003), "People Who Live on the Edge of the World" (Tokyo, 2002), "Realism: Trap of International Relations" (1994, in Japanese), Prayer for Lost Objects: A Non-Weberian Approach to the Birth of Modern Society (2003, in Persian), "Social Development: Challenges to a Concept" (in the Journal of Policy and Culture, Tokyo, 2004), "East Asia: Cultural Aspects of Challenges in a Globalizing World" (in Globalization in East Asia, 2004, in Japanese), and "Spinoza and Japan" (in Sogoseisaku Kenyu, Tokyo, 2005). Professor Sadria was a member of the 2004 Award Master Jury.