Fumihiko Maki creates a minimalist, angular home for the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto
![House by famous architecture](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kW8o3rR9yQrVkRNeKWimfX-415-80.jpg)
Every monumental museum is inspired by a great collection. In the case of the sparkling white-stone Aga Khan Museum, opening next week in the outskirts of Toronto, it's the 1,000 Muslim texts, architectural elements, fountains, crystal, paintings and shahnameh, or epic poems, amassed by the holy leader of the Ismailis and his ancestors.
When, in 2007, he began a public tour of his private collection, the Aga Khan sought out Fumihiko Maki to fashion its permanent home. A Pritzker Prize-winner from Japan and architect of the Aga Khan Foundation's Canadian headquarters in Ottawa, Maki drew up 10,000 sq m of towering gallery spaces housed within a minimalist angular form - shaped not unlike an open packing box - assembled on a precise grid of 1m Brazilian granite slabs. (He might have used marble had the climate not been so unforgivingly Canadian.)
The angled facades were designed to play with the arc of the sun, throwing light and shadow onto the surrounding terraces and reflecting pools. 'The play of light is the focus,' says Andrew Bernaus of Moriyama & Teshima, architects of record on the project, 'not the design.'
The light effects continue inside, where a small stone courtyard (with a star-shaped drain at the centre and underfloor heating to melt the winter snow) is enclosed in glass etched with a mashrabiya pattern, an ancient Islamic motif reinterpreted by Maki. Light filtered through the patterns splashes on the white walls at different elevations throughout the day. In the upper galleries, built to house the temporary exhibitions, hexagonal skylights, or 'lanterns', introduce shafts of ambient light - the hexagon being symbolic, in the faith, of heaven. Curator Henry Kim, plucked from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford to run the Aga Khan, says, 'When it's partly cloudy, the natural light raises up the light levels, then the clouds drop it down - so you can see the space breathing.'
Elsewhere the surfaces are flawlessly smooth, from the black granite that conceals the escalators to the slender 10m-high steel columns that anchor the white granite walls. Those walls are soundproofed for acoustics, to foil the high ceilings. Even the exit doors and electrical panels are hidden within the surfaces, invisible to anyone who doesn't know of their existence. Bernaus references Adolf Loos' Ornament and Crime when he says, 'You don't use ornamentation to cover things up just because you can't figure it out.'
In the auditorium, the building's crown jewel, the temperature is controlled from grilles hidden beneath each individual seat. That allows the origami dome, inspired by a bazaar in Iran, to rise unfettered over walls panelled with strips of teak. An angular access staircase spirals around in a hexagonal formation, divine against lapis-blue plaster wall, Maki's only concession to colour.
It's a palette that will please Toronto's Ismaili community, accustomed to the simple, cool aesthetics and vast, naturally lit spaces. Yet Kim, who is collaborating with the Hermitage and Louvre museums on some exhibitions, is adamant his museum offers a secular experience. 'The Muslim population is the "low-hanging fruit", to be sure,' he says, 'but our collection is a primer, for everyone, and part of a trend in Islamic art, which is rising to the surface as a significant artform.'
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
The angled facades were designed to play with the arc of the sun, throwing light and shadow onto the surrounding terraces and reflecting pools
The light effects continue inside, where a small stone courtyard is enclosed in glass etched with a mashrabiya pattern, an ancient Islamic motif reinterpreted by Maki
The colour palette will please Toronto's Ismaili community, accustomed to the simple, cool aesthetics and vast, naturally lit spaces
The surfaces are flawlessly smooth, from the black granite that conceals the escalators to the slender 10m-high steel columns that anchor the white granite walls
Light filtered through the patterns splashes on the white walls at different elevations throughout the day
An angular access staircase spirals around in a hexagonal formation, divine against lapis-blue plaster wall, Maki's only concession to colour
The hexagonal skylights, or 'lanterns', introduce shafts of ambient light - the hexagon being symbolic, in the faith, of heaven
The exit doors and electrical panels are hidden within the surfaces, invisible to anyone who doesn't know of their existence
The Aga Khan Museum will hold a collection of 1,000 Muslim texts, architectural elements, fountains, crystal, paintings and shahnameh, or epic poems, amassed by the holy leader of the Ismailis and his ancestors
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
A dramatic new lakeside cabin in the Canadian wilderness rises above the trees
Kariouk Architects' lakeside cabin ‘m.o.r.e. CLT’ explores new material approaches while making a minimal impact on a precious landscape
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Forest Retreat is a new low-energy family house in the forests of Ontario
Set beneath a vast roof, Forest Retreat is a rich mix of local materials, craftsmanship and space for an extended family to get together in the heart of nature
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Join the West Coast Modern Week's Home Tour 2024 for modernist architecture and more
West Coast Modern Week 2024 comes with its annual home tour courtesy of the West Vancouver Art Museum, offering an extensive, immersive showcase of Canada's modernist architecture
By Hadani Ditmars Published
-
A modernist lakeside cottage in Ontario provides a perfect backdrop for family vacations
A lakeside cottage by Canadian studio Dubbeldam Architecture + Design has been shaped as a modest multigenerational retreat to accommodate the surrounding wilderness
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Visit a cubic Canadian cabin in the woods: welcome to Rustic Grade
Maurice Martel has designed a contemporary cabin in the woods, Rustic Grade, to make the most of a sylvan plot to the north of Montreal
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Whistling Wind is a remote Canadian cottage retreat to reconnect with nature
Whistling Wind house is an elegant escape on a remote Ontario island that offers up a contemporary reinterpretation of the local vernacular
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A Whistler cabin offers a ‘transcendent experience’ to its occupants
Openspace Architecture’s Winterfell house is a Whistler cabin and luxurious contemporary ski retreat nestled within the forest
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A far-flung Nova Scotia retreat is a minimalist prefab exploration
Perched on the shores of Cape Breton Island this Nova Scotia retreat by Nicholas Fudge Architects combines prefabricated construction with traditional forms and minimal design
By Jonathan Bell Published