Restoration plan for Tabriz Bazaar wins world award for architecture

TEHRAN,Sept.10(MNA) -- A restoration plan for the Tabriz Bazaar in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz has won one of the five Aga Khan Awards for Architecture, organizers have announced. The Islamic Cemetery in the Austrian town of Altach, the Rabat-Salé Urban Infrastructure Project in Rabat, Morocco, the Revitalization of Birzeit Historic Centre in Palestine, and the Salam Cardiac Surgery Centre in Khartoum, Sudan were other winners, which were honored at the Castle of São Jorge in Lisbon last Friday. The award was established by international business magnate Aga Khan IV in 1977 to honor architectural concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Islamic societies in the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community development and improvement, restoration, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscape design and improvement of the environment. The award presentation ceremony is organized every three years each time in a different country by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network. The $1 million prize is divided among the architects. Given every three years, the Award focuses on the revitalization of historic sites, social centers, and infrastructure. The Tabriz Bazaar, one of the main trade centers on the Silk Road, was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List in August 2010. The history of the bazaar embodies a perfect traditional system of medieval Iranian Islamic trade. The Tabriz Bazaar flourished during the 13th century and retained its commercial and administrative status until 1548 when Safavid king Shah Tahmasp I moved his capital to Qazvin. The bazaar comprises 23 caravanserais, 22 corridors, 20 malls, 28 mosques, 8 madrasahs, 5 bathhouses, 2 icehouses, and a zurkhaneh – a traditional Iranian sports club. The bazaar has been covered with vaults built with bricks.