Japanese modernist Fumihiko Maki has been chosen to design a cultural and university complex on a 67-acre Kings Cross development in London. As reported by the Evening Standard, the 84-year-old, Pritzker Prize-winning architect will design two buildings for the Aga Khan Development Network – an organization who leads the world’s 15 million Ismaili Muslims.
The two projects are among five, totaling a half million square feet, that are being commissioned by the Network at Kings Cross. It is unsaid of who will design the other three buildings. However, preliminary designs studies are under way and formal appointments will be announced shortly.
Maki’s 100,000 square foot cultural center is slated for a site just north of Stanton Williams’ University of the Arts, while the equally sized university will be built nearby on land currently reserved for offices.
Last summer, the development partnership building King’s Cross signed a deal with the Aga Khan, announcing: “The agreements provide for the Aga Khan Development Network and King’s Cross Central to work closely together in the design and construction of each building, which will include educational, office, cultural, retail and residential uses.
