After Uganda’s President Idi Amin expelled all South Asians from the country in 1972, thousands of Ugandan Ismaili refugees ended up rebuilding their lives and community institutions in Canada and the United Kingdom. The Aga Khan discussed the spirit of resilience that inspired the architecture of the Ismaili Centres and other buildings in this speech to the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada on 27 November 2013 in Ottawa, Canada. Please note that although the majority of this speech is in English, it does begin in French. A translation is available in the podcast’s transcript and on the Aga Khan Development Network website.

Click here to read the speech.