Leading Indian modernist architects Charles Correa and Fumihiko Maki were involved in the design. The first belongs to the authorship of the building of the Ismaili Center, the construction of which should begin at the end of this year. Maki also developed a project for the Aga Khan Museum, which will exhibit works of Islamic art from the Aga Khan's own collection (previously it was planned to open this institute in London, but these plans failed); its implementation should start in 2009.
Both buildings, as conceived by the customer, should be inspired by the traditional architecture of Islam, but at the same time, they will belong to the time and place of their origin, remaining modern buildings in the forms of neo-modernism. They will be located in the new Winford Park with a total area of about 7 hectares on the outskirts of Toronto. Its landscape design is the responsibility of the Beirut architect Vladimir Djurovic, winner of the 2007 Aga Khan Prize for the landscaping project for Samir Kassir Square in Beirut. He envisioned the park as a variation of the traditional Arab four-garden scheme; its complex will also include five ponds and waterfalls, the noise of which is designed to drown out the rumble of the highway passing next to the ensemble.
The Ismaili center of Correa will be faced with limestone; the jamoatkhana (prayer house), which is part of it, will be covered with a glass dome of complex shape. The project of the museum, which is now in the finalization stage, also includes a dome; the courtyard will take center stage in the building plan, and its outer walls will be slightly tilted outward, giving the composition dynamism. In the building, along with the halls of the permanent exhibition, galleries of temporary exhibitions and an auditorium with 350 seats will be arranged.
The total budget of the Aga Khan project exceeds $ 200 million. The Correa building is due to be completed by the end of 2010 and the museum a year later.
