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Farshid Moussavi speaks during the reveal of the new Ismaili Center Houston that will be located at the corner of Montrose and Allen Parkway in Monday, Nov. 15, 2021.

Al-Karim Alidina, the president of the Ismaili Council for the U.S., speaks during the reveal of the new Ismaili Center Houston that will be located at the corner of Montrose and Allen Parkway in Monday, Nov. 15, 2021.

A day after one of its top leaders was honored by the City of Houston, the area’s Ismaili community unveiled new renderings of its long-awaited center in the city’s Memorial Park.

On Wednesday, Mayor Sylvester Turner and other city leaders named one of the faith group’s leaders, Prince Amyn Aga Khan, with honorary citizenship for his work bringing the Ismaili Center to the Bayou City. He is the younger brother of His Highness the Aga Khan IV, the leader of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam, leaders of which are said to descend from the Prophet Muhammad.

There are roughly 50,000 Ismailis in Texas, and an estimated 15 million in more than 25 countries in this sect of Shia Muslims.

Leaders of the faith group, a sect of Shia Islam, have framed the ornate building as a sort of community center that can foster interfaith relations and bolster understanding of diverse religious cultures, including their own.

Read more: For Ismaili Muslims, service and pluralism shine past Ramadan

The prince reiterated those desires at a Thursday luncheon  attended by many city leaders, where they also unveiled new mock-up photos of the Ismaili Center.

“These centers seek to provide a place where people come together to share their creativity and their wisdom,” he said. “Above all, these are places for contemplation, upliftment, and the search for knowledge, and have become important cultural institutions.”

The new renderings are the latest preview of the mostly-marble center designed by a slate of architects from across the globe. Center leaders have yet to announce an official opening date but expect to have finished construction by 2024. It will be built across 11 acres at the southeast corner of Allen Parkway and Montrose Boulevard.

Online: America's first Ismaili Center will be architectural jewel for Houston

The project's designers said they hope the building will be a tribute to Ismaili centers across the globe, while reflecting the religious diversity of Houston, one of the nation's most diverse cities.

"The wonderful thing is that we have a great canvass," said Hanif Kara, a Harvard Graduate School of Design professor and engineer who was part of the project design team. "We have a state that already has a great reputation for being pluralistic and inclusive."

The Turkish marble-clad building will include gardens on all four sides, as well as water features that pay homage to ancient Islamic architecture while incorporating vegetation found in Texas ecosystems.

In addition to several verandas, the designers opted to make the structure generally open - the center will not have a front or back as a way of making all sides welcoming, though there will be entry doors off of West Dallas and Montrose.

Robert Downen covers nonprofits and other business news for the Houston Chronicle. He's also covered religion, City Hall and COVID-19.

After joining the newspaper as a Hearst Fellow in 2017, Downen was part of the investigative team behind "Abuse of Faith," a joint investigation by the Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News that detailed hundreds of sexual abuses by Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers. The series won or placed in numerous awards contests, prompted new disclosure laws and continues to dominate the agenda of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's second-largest faith group.

Prior to that, he worked as a business reporter in Albany, New York, and as the managing editor of a group of six newspapers in Illinois. He is a 2014 graduate of Eastern Illinois University. 

You can follow him on Twitter at @RobDownenChron. 

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