Islamic Architecture 

Recent images from the Aga Khan Visual Archive uploaded into DOME: Srinagar, India

(c) Prataap Patrose, Courtesy of the Aga Khan Visual Archive, MIT

The Aga Khan Visual Archive (AKVA) consists of over 100,000 slides and digital images of architecture, urbanism, and the built environment in the Islamic world, donated by graduate students traveling on AKPIA Travel Grants, scholars, and architectural firms.  The images span a nearly 30-year period and document historic and contemporary sites in the Islamic world, often depicting sites not found in any published resource.

For more information about the Archive and its holdings, to request a reproduction or to donate images, please contact Andrea Schuler.

Access

Selections of the AKVA have been digitized and included in ArchNet's Digital Library and MIT Libraries' DOME.

• ArchNet Digital Library - look for images with source "Aga Khan Visual Archive, MIT"
• DOME - look for images with a copyright statement courtesy of the Aga Khan Visual Archive (you must have MIT certificates to see full-size images)

Most of the archive is in slide form and digitized images represent only a percentage of total holdings.  If you do not find what you are looking for, please contact the AKVA and we will assist you in locating relevant images in the collection.  The Archive is open by appointment to the MIT community and the public.

Reproductions

The AKVA is able to offer high-resolution reproductions of many of its images for educational and scholarly use as well as for publication.  Refer to the Forms section to the right for samples of our permissions forms.

Donating to the Archive

Photographers who donate images to the AKVA retain copyright while allowing their images to benefit research and scholarship in Islamic architecture.  Refer to the Image Use Agreement in the Forms section to the right.