Zaha Hadid among architects shortlisted for 2016 Aga Khan Award

The late Zaha Hadid's first building in the Arab world, Iran's largest pedestrian bridge and a floating school in Nigeria are among the 19 projects competing to win $1 million in the 2016 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

BIG's huge urban park in Copenhagen, a power station in Baku and a university in Morocco are also shortlisted to win the triennial award, billed as one of the most lucrative architectural prizes in the world.

Other projects recognised include an open-air community centre in Bangladesh, Jean Nouvel's latticed Qatar tower, a library built around an ancient archeological excavation in Spain and a children's library in a Beijing hutong.

The Aga Khan Award is awarded in recognition of architecture and infrastructure projects that demonstrate design excellence, but also address the needs and aspirations of societies where Muslims have a significant presence.

The 19 selected projects cover 14 different countries, including Senegal, Kosovo and Jordan. They include three projects in Iran, where the gradual lifting of economic sanctions is paving the way for a generation of young architects to find work.

They were chosen from a longlist of 348, by a panel of judges that included architects Emre Arolat and Dominique Perrault, as well as Mohsen Mostafavi, dean of Harvard's Graduate School of Design, and Columbia University philosophy professor Akeel Bilgrami.

A team of architects, conservation specialists and structural engineers will now visit each of the projects and produce a detailed assessment. The judges will use these reports to decide which projects might be given a share of the $1 million (£700,000) prize.

The shortlist in full:

» New Power Station, Baku, Azerbaijan; by Erginoğlu & Çalışlar Architects

» Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, Dhaka, Bangladesh; by Marina Tabassum

» Friendship Centre, Gaibandha, Bangladesh; by URBANA/Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury

» Micro Yuan'er, Beijing, China; by ZAO/standardarchitecture/Zhang Ke

» Superkilen, Copenhagen, Denmark; by BIG

» Manouchehri House, Kashan, Iran; by Akbar Helli, Shahnaz Nader

» Tabiat Pedestrian Bridge, Tehran, Iran; by Diba Tensile Architecture/Leila Araghian and Alireza Behzadi

» 40 Knots House, Tehran, Iran; by Habibeh Madjdabadi, Alireza Mashhadi Mirza

» Royal Academy for Nature Conservation, Um Al-Yanabea; Jordan; by Khammash Architects

» Bunateka Libraries, various locations, Kosova (Architect: Bujar Nrecaj Architects)

» Issam Fares Institute, Beirut, Lebanon; by Zaha Hadid Architects

» Guelmim School of Technology, Guelmim, Morocco; by Saad El Kabbaj, Driss Kettani, Mohamed Amine Siana

» Casa-Port New Railway Station, Casablanca, Morocco; by AREP and Groupe 3 Architectes

» Makoko Floating School, Lagos, Nigeria; by NLÉ/Kunlé Adeyemi

» Doha Tower, Doha, Qatar; by Ateliers Jean Nouvel

» King Fahad National Library, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; by Gerber Architekten International

» Thread: Artist Residency and Cultural Center, Sinthian, Senegal; by Toshiko Mori Architects

» Nasrid Tower Restoration, Huercal-Overa, Spain; by Castillo Miras Arquitectos

» Ceuta Public Library, Ceuta, Spain; by Paredes Pedrosa Arquitectos

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