The Aga Khan and Prime Minister Stephen Harper were in Toronto on Friday to officiate at the foundation ceremony of the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre on Wynford Drive in Don Mills. Several tents were erected, paths paved, and gardens planted for this major one-day event which saw many government dignitaries and prominent members of Canada's Ismaili community in the audience.

Prime Minister Harper and The Aga Khan

Prime Minister Harper addresses the audience.

The Aga Khan receives a certificate of honourary Canadian citizenship, as voted on by members of all parties in 2009.

Prime Minister Harper and The Aga Khan

The Aga Khan addresses the house.

A plaque commemorating the foundation of the centre is unveiled.

View of the ceremony.

The Aga Khan tours Prime Minister Harper through the model.

Rendering of the full 6.8 hectare site. At the top left is the Ismaili Centre designed by the distinguished Indian architect Charles Correa, at the bottom right is the Aga Khan Museum designed by the renowned Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki. The buildings are sited within a park designed by noted Lebanese landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic.

Rendering of the Centre.

The Ismaili Centre, the second in Canada and sixth in the world, will be a gathering place for prayer and a space for intellectual discourse through programmes ranging from lectures, and seminars, to exhibitions. The centre will also play host to cultural and social events. The intent is to create understanding of the values, ethics, culture and heritage of Ismaili Muslims, the work of the Aga Khan Development Network, and to search for mutual understanding among all communities and cultures.

Prayer Hall.

The prayer hall of the Ismaili Centre as seen from the formal gardens. When the prayer hall is lit, the glass roof emits a warm glow from within.

The Prayer Hall as seen from the gardens.

The Museum as seen from the gardens.

The Aga Khan Museum will be dedicated to the collection, research, preservation, and display of works of art, objects and artefacts of artistic, cultural and historical significance from various periods and geographic areas of the Muslim world.

The Museum.

A gallery within the museum.

The museum's auditorium.

An example of art to be shown in the museum, this folio is from the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp, Iran, Safavid, c. 1540.

Folio from the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp, Iran, c. 1540.

For more information on the collections to be shown at the museum, please visit the Aga Khan Museum's website. A view of the gardens in spring.

Rendering of the gardens in Spring.

Rendering of the gardens in Autumn.

While loss of the modernist Bata Headquarters is lamentable no matter what is replacing it, it is heartening to see such an ambitious project underway on the site finally. The $300 Million complex is expected to be completed in 2013. For more photos from the ceremony, please see the thread postings.

All renderings Copyright: Imara (Wynford Drive) Ltd. Folio photography by AKDN. Ceremony photos Copyright: Craig White.