Show Notes
Before the Aga Khan Museum became a landmark in Toronto, it started with a letter about light. In this episode of This Being Human, host Mai Habib sits down with principal architect Gary Kamemoto, who led the Museum’s design alongside the late Fumihiko Maki. He shares how that single idea—light—shaped everything, from the building’s geometry and materials to the way you move through the space. Along the way, you get a closer look at the thinking behind the Aga Khan Museum’s architecture, and how it draws on Islamic design and ideas of pluralism to create something that feels both timeless and distinctly contemporary. Gary also gets into the details you’d likely miss on a first visit: patterns that shift with the sun, geometry hiding in plain sight, and a subtle architectural tribute woven into the building itself—details that, once you know they’re there, change how you see it.
*The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.*
Links & Resources: This was just one example of Muslim art that sparked curiosity and a great conversation. There is so much more to see at the Aga Khan Museum. Support the museum's vision to impact lives and contribute to more inclusive and peaceful societies. Go to agakhanmuseum.org to plan your visit or make a donation. Read more from Gary Kamemoto on the partnership between Maki and Associates and the AKDN Check out this episode in full video.
Key Moments [0:10] Introduction to This Being Human and the Aga Khan Museum as an architectural masterpiece [1:16] Gary Kamemoto on his background and navigating identity between cultures [3:46] The origin story: from the Delegation Building to the museum project [6:58] Working with His Highness the Aga Khan as a patron of architecture [8:56] The “letter about light” as an unconventional design brief [11:37] Reimagining the 17-acre site: why the garden—not the building—became central [18:38] Pluralism as process: translating philosophy into physical space [23:20] Designing for discovery: how the museum reveals itself over time [27:42] Hidden details: symbolism, geometry, and the significance of the number seven [31:18] Closing reflections on legacy, collaboration, and the museum’s ongoing life Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from This Being Human
What does it take to bring new life to a city without erasing what made it special in the first place? In Esna, a historic city along the Nile, architect Kareem Ibrahim and his team have spent years finding out. Their approach starts not with buildings, but with the people already there: local craftspeople, business owners, traditions and knowledge that can easily be overlooked when cities are redeveloped.
What ties an 8th-century mosaic in the Dome of the Rock to a contemporary abstract carpet? For Islamic art historian Christiane Gruber, that question has driven three decades of research—pushing her away from the idea of a single "Islamic art" and toward a field defined by plurality and contradiction. In this episode of This Being Human, Gruber joins host Mai Habib to read political meaning into sacred ornament, and to dismantle a persistent myth: that the Prophet Muhammad has never been depicted in Islamic art history. She traces how these depictions evolved from detailed faces to veiled figures wrapped in flame, and closes on her newest research interest—eco-Islamic art —and why stewardship and sacred water feel more urgent now than ever.
Amreen Kadwa didn't set out to build a nonprofit. She set out to find people like her: Muslim women who played sports and understood what it felt like to walk into a locker room and wonder if you belonged.
"I don't want perfect. Perfect is boring.” In this episode of This Being Human, host Mai Habib chats with Mekaal Hasan, a renowned Pakistani musician to discuss his lifelong journey of connecting the worlds of traditional South Asian music with more contemporary genres like rock, jazz, and fusion. Growing up in Lahore, Pakistan, Mekaal was heavily influenced by his father, a music critic and a columnist. In 1995, he graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and returned to Pakistan where he founded the Mekaal Hasan Band in 2001. Mekaal’s mission is to create music that connects cultures, lifts up other artists, and preserves tradition while redefining what Qawwali music can look like.
When Dr. Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès moved from Beirut to study in the United States, she found herself doing something she'd never had to do before: explaining her own visual culture to people who'd never seen it. That challenge changed everything. It sent her deep into the history of Arabic typography—how it grew from calligraphic tradition, was codified by ninth-century philologists in Baghdad, and is now being reimagined through algorithms and animation. And it gave her a lifelong mission: to show the world a side of SWANA creative culture that rarely makes it into the conversation.