Recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1980.
A 290-room, five-star hotel, planned around garden courts and fountains, it has been designed to accommodate visitors to the Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri. The hotel has been placed on axis with the Taj Mahal. Red sandstone, the building block of Fatehpur Sikri, has been used extensively in the hotel gardens, and white marble, from the same quarries that served the Taj Mahal, is used in the public areas. All materials and fabrics are Indian. The jury found that this hotel "expresses the culture and rich architectural tradition of the region with an entirely contemporary vocabulary of forms derived from functional needs. Its design and construction make full use of the available regional materials and technology, the abundant labour force and traditional crafts, for a creativity which is free from so-called Muslim architectural symbols."
Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture
