Houston is set to welcome a groundbreaking cultural landmark when the new Ismaili Centre opens in November 2025. Designed by London-based Farshid Moussavi Architecture, this 150,000-square-foot complex will mark a historic milestone as the first Ismaili Centre in the United States. The facility will join a prestigious global network of architecturally significant Ismaili institutions spanning London, Lisbon, Dubai, Dushanbe, Vancouver, and Toronto.
Strategically positioned near Houston's renowned Museum District, the center showcases an architectural design that embodies quiet strength and civic openness. The building's exterior features a carefully composed blend of stone, perforated metal, and glass that creates meaningful dialogue with its surroundings. This design approach reflects the Ismaili community's longstanding tradition of creating spaces that promote pluralism, learning, and cultural exchange across diverse communities.
The architectural centerpiece of Moussavi's design is a striking five-story atrium that serves as the heart of the entire complex. This dramatic central space is framed by stepped staircases crafted from textured stone and surrounded by geometric perforations that skillfully diffuse natural daylight across the interior surfaces. The upper levels feature delicately patterned metal screens that create a sophisticated interplay between solid and void, producing dynamic visual effects that change throughout the day as the sun moves across the sky.
From the exterior, the building presents itself as a series of interlocking architectural planes, featuring horizontal eivans that extend outward to form generous shaded terraces and verandas. This design element pays homage to recurring motifs found in Persian and Islamic architecture, creating transitional spaces lined with slender columns that provide relief from Houston's intense sun while framing panoramic views across the nine-acre landscape designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz.
Moussavi has carefully curated a sophisticated material palette that emphasizes tactile precision throughout the entire structure. Pale limestone masonry provides a solid foundation for the building, with its rhythmic pattern occasionally interrupted by areas of subtle relief and texture. The upper-level screens introduce a lighter visual register that evokes the fine geometric order characteristic of traditional Islamic architectural ornament, creating a bridge between historical precedent and contemporary design.
The interior spaces demonstrate a seamless transition between different materials, including smooth stone, finely grained wood, and perforated metal panels. This material continuity establishes a harmonious connection between the sacred and civic spaces within the building. Natural light enters through strategically placed clerestory openings and skylights, filtering downward through carefully layered planes to create controlled luminosity that animates the central atrium - a generous, processional space that functions as both a circulation hub and gathering zone where shifting daylight brings the geometric patterns to life.
Beyond its architectural significance, the Ismaili Centre Houston has been conceived as a truly public institution that will serve the broader community. The comprehensive program includes an exhibition gallery, black box theatre, educational rooms, a café, banquet halls, and a prayer hall. These diverse spaces are designed to host cultural events, intellectual discussions, and community-oriented activities, expanding the center's role far beyond traditional worship to encompass gathering, shared learning, and intercultural dialogue.
According to Farshid Moussavi, the project embodies His Highness the Aga Khan's vision of creating a space that welcomes all people, fostering meaningful dialogue, continuous learning, and cultural exchange across different communities. The design's openness, both in its physical architecture and social mission, perfectly encapsulates this intention, using architecture as a powerful medium for human connection rather than separation or exclusion.
The building is set within nine acres of carefully designed gardens that frame the complex with choreographed plantings reinterpreting traditional Islamic garden concepts through a distinctly Texan lens. Nelson Byrd Woltz's landscape design thoughtfully integrates native Texas species with water features to create a calm, restorative environment that complements the building's architectural character. Reflecting pools extend gracefully from the main facade, reinforcing the design's inherent symmetry while emphasizing the building's quiet monumentality.
The Centre's strategic location near Houston's most important cultural institutions - including the Menil Collection, Rothko Chapel, Asia Society Texas, and the Museum of Fine Arts - positions it within a broader dialogue of significant civic architecture. Its measured architectural form, deeply rooted in Islamic geometric traditions yet thoroughly contemporary in its execution, offers Houston a distinctive new architectural landmark that communicates through careful proportion, exceptional craft, and the masterful use of natural light.
