Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1541487
A stunning addition to Houston's cultural landscape unveils Friday and Saturday, December 12 and 13, in the heart of Montrose: the double-decades-in-the-making Ismaili Center, a grand architectural project led by the late His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV (1936–2025), realized under the leadership of his son and successor, His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V. Funding — no doubt a princely, yet undisclosed sum — came from The Ismaili Imamat, the office occupied by the Aga Khan, with some support from the local Ismaili community. Ismaili Center, Houston — the first such in the U.S. and the seventh worldwide — stands as a powerful and graceful emblem of pluralism and connection. While it serves as a place of worship for those of the Shia Ismaili Muslim faith, the center is open to the public. More than 90 percent of its 150,000-square-foot five-story edifice is devoted to building bridges to the community. These plans call for cultural programming, rotating exhibitions (Vanderbilt professor Raheleh Filsoofi, an OBSESSIONS. DECORATION. SALIENT FACTS. From top: The Reflection Fountain, Ismaili Center, Houston. The central atrium's stepped screens. artist of ceramics and sound, is the inaugural talent, in collaboration with partner Reza Filsoofi, through spring/summer 2026), a cafe, black-box theater, social hall, classrooms, and a permanent art collection assembled by a team of global curators. These functions are deployed in an airy and light-filled structure that appears to levitate on its slender columns as it rises on 11 acres south of Buffalo Bayou Park. London- based Farshid Moussavi Architecture won this commission, and its Iranian- born principal has brought forth a work that nods to Islamic architecture while breaking free of tradition in its expansive sense of space and wide, welcoming eivans (verandas). The latter, three in number, radiate out from the building, and provide vistas onto America's fourth largest city while also shielding the visitor from noise and traffic. A filigree of patterning — a predominant motif — begins with the center's façade, which is punctuated by intricate stone tiles that enliven and articulate the surface. The interiors continue this interplay of light, establishing a dialogue between solid and void while balancing the generous public areas with private zones. Subtle details abound, including the highly carved panels bearing calligraphy in the Jamatkhana (prayer hall), one of the final projects of Houston custom millwork firm Brochsteins. A literal high point is the soaring atrium, capped by a dramatic oculus that suffuses the interiors below with radiance. The center is also an engineering marvel, realized in collaboration with London-headquartered AKT II structural engineers. The finishing flourishes of the Ismaili Center are its gardens, distinguished by courtyards, fountains, reflecting pools, promenades, and terraces that gently drop in elevation to the plain of the Buffalo Bayou Park. Internationally noted Ismaili Center Rising Architecture + Gardens By Catherine D. Anspon (Continued on page 84)