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Project: Cultural center
Location: Houston, Texas, USA
Size: 20000 m2
Budget: 214M USD
Design team:
Max Prav, Project Manager
Vlad Tudor, Architectural Designer
with Farshid Moussavi Architecture
Support:
Landscape architect - Nelson Byrd Woltz
Structural engineer - AKT II
Architect of record - DLR group
Commissioned by His Highness the Aga Khan, the Ismaili Center Houston is conceived as an “ambassadorial” building promoting pluralism, public understanding, and civic outreach, alongside counterparts in London, Lisbon, Dubai, Dushanbe, Vancouver, Toronto, and others. It will host educational, cultural, and social events—concerts, exhibitions, conferences, seminars, and community gatherings—while also offering spaces for quiet contemplation, prayer, and administrative functions for the Ismaili community in the USA. With a compact footprint, much of the site is reserved for gardens. Its tripartite form incorporates open eivans for year-round outdoor gatherings, combining contemporary structure with historically rooted Persian forms, screens, mosaics, and durable, sustainable materials that enhance energy performance and longevity.