Azra Akšamija
Azra Aksamija, Ph.D. is an artist and architectural historian born in Sarajevo, BA, and based in Boston, US. She is a Professor in the MIT Department of Architecture, where she is the Director of the Art, Culture and Technology Program. She also directs the Future Heritage Lab.
Dr. Aksamija is the author of two books, Mosque Manifesto: Propositions for Spaces of Coexistence (2015) and Museum Solidarity Lobby (2019), and has edited the volumes Architecture of Coexistence: Building Pluralism (2020) and Design to Live: Everyday Inventions from a Refugee Camp (2021, co-edited with R. Majzoub and M. Philippou).
Her artistic work has been exhibited at leading international venues, including the Generali Foundation and Secession in Vienna, Biennials in Venice, Liverpool, Valencia, and Manila, Manifesta 7, Museums of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, Belgrade, and Ljubljana, Sculpture Center and Queens Museum of Art in New York, the Royal Academy of Arts London, and Design Festivals in Milan, Istanbul, Eindhoven, and Amman. Most recently, her work has been shown at the Kunsthaus Graz, the Aga Khan Museum Toronto, the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2021, and the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale in Riyadh, SA.
Aksamija holds two master's degrees in architecture from Graz Institute of Technology (2001) and Princeton University (2004), and a Ph.D. in history, theory, and criticism in architecture from MIT (2011). She received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2013 for her artwork at the in the Islamic Cemetery Altach, Austria, the Art Award of the City of Graz in 2018, and an honorary doctorate from the Montserrat College of Art (2020). More recently, Aksamija received the LafargeHolcim Award 2021 in the Middle East region and in 2021 and a Commendation in the Global Competition, and was recognized as the Emerging Voices Winner by the Architectural League New York in 2022.
Selected Publications
“Nomadic Mosque.” Volume. no.14. (2006): 124-126.
“Generic Mosque.” Critical Design 24 , (2007)
“Mosques.” In: OMaGiu. No.4., edited by Mihnea Mircan and Ciprian Tudor, 82-87. Bucharest: Daniel Adam, 2006.
“Nomadic Mosque.” Lovely Daze. New York City, NY. Editor and publisher Charwei Tsai. (2006):10-11.
“Dirndlmoschee” Bob 02: Eskapaden. Graz and Vienna: Club Bellevue, (2005):73.
“Nomadic Mosque: Wearable Prayer Space for Contemporary Islamic Practice in the West.” Thresholds 32. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (2005):17-21.
“The Bosnian Chronicle." In: On the Political Power of Cultural Territories, edited by Gallerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig in cooperation with Kulturstiftung des Bundes, 364-391. Köln: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walter König, 2003/2004
Research Fellowships and Project Grants
Research Award provided by the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) for book project - Spring 2013
ACT Pilot Grant from the MIT Program in Art, Culture, Technology - Spring 2013
Director's Grant from the Council for the Arts at MIT (project grant) - Spring 2012
Grant by The Council for the Arts at MIT (project grant) - 2011-2013
Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Tufts University Center for the Humanities (declined) - 2009-2010
Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, awarded by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (one year fellowship) - Summer 2009
Kress Travel Fellowships in the History of Art, awarded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation - 2008/2009
Krupp Foundation Fellowship, awarded by the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University (one year fellowship) - 2007/2008
MIT / Barakat Foundation Grant (project grant) - Fall 2007
Hyzen Fellowship, MIT (one semester fellowship) - Summer 2007
Grant by The Council for the Arts at MIT (project grant) - Summer 2006
Grant by The Council for the Arts at MIT (project grant) - Spring 2005
Travel Grant 2005-2006, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture MIT - 2004-2007
Aga Khan Fellowship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (4 years) - Fall 2002
Grant by The Office of The Austrian Federal Chancellor (BKA) - 2002 - 2004
Princeton University Graduate Fellowship (1,5 years) - Summer 2002
Styrian Provincial Government Fellowship, Department for Science and Research - Spring 2001
Stipendium für kurzfristiges wissenschaftliches Arbeiten im Ausland (4 months), Technical University Graz - 1999-2000
Socrates/ Erasmus – Mobilitätsstipendium (1 year)
Honors and Awards
Nomination for the Prix Ars Electronica Award 2013 (Category: "Digital Communities"), Linz, Austria - Fall 2012/13
Nomination for The Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the project Islamic cemetery Altach (architecture by Bernardo Bader, art by Azra Aksamija) - Fall 2012
Winner of the International 2012 Piranesi Award for Architecture, for the project Islamic cemetery Altach (architecture by Bernardo Bader, art by Azra Aksamija)
- Fall 2012
Nomination for The Mies van der Rohe Award 2013, the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture for the project Islamic cemetery Altach (architecture by Bernardo Bader, art by Azra Aksamija) - Fall 2012
Nomination for DETAIL Prize 2012 for the project Islamic cemetery Altach (architecture by Bernardo Bader, art by Azra Aksamija) - Spring 2006
Harold and Arlene Schitzer Prize in the Visual Arts 2006 (3rd pr.), MIT Council for the Arts - Fall 2003
Honorable Mention at 6th Graz Biennial on Media and Architecture - 2002
