Enzo Satta remembers the Aga Khan

The words of the architect who worked with the Prince for over fifty years

Everything happened by chance. I graduated in Architecture in 1970 from the Sapienza University in Rome. After a one-year internship in Rome, I moved to South Africa where I worked for about two years in a large studio with offices in Pretoria and Johannesburg. It was a very interesting experience, not only for the language barrier, but a great experience from a professional point of view in general. By contrast, apartheid was still in force at the time. In 1972, my sister started working for the Consortium founded by the Aga Khan, in some way retracing our Sardinian origins after several years spent in Rome. While I was in Italy visiting my mother and her, I had the opportunity to meet André Ardoin, lawyer and right-hand man of the Aga Khan in the construction of the Costa Smeralda®.

Karim Aga Khan and Begum Salimah, mother of Aga Khan V, Zahra and Hussain Aga Khan (ph. Archivio Enzo Satta)

Our meeting quickly developed into a friendship and he asked me to join their team of architects in Costa Smeralda. Just enough time to hand in my notice at the studio in South Africa and by the beginning of 1973, I was already in Costa Smeralda. If that was the prologue, the next phase was the first chapter of my long adventure in the company of the prince, which lasted more than 50 years. The Aga Khan was only 8 years older than me at that time, but had a very determined vision with clear plans about the future. He was a visionary as well as a pragmatic man. He knew how to interact with the best professionals in every sector, but also to train those who would be left in charge of the project in the future and had a close connection to this land. Just like me. During a period of hiatus at work on the coast he suggested that I go to United States and take a Degree of Master of Architecture in Urban Design at Harvard University, just like he had done. And so I left. I faced many difficulties but the Prince always supported me, not only financially but also psychologically. It was one of his qualities: he knew how to take care of everything and everyone. It was not a way to control people, but rather a sense of participation and belonging.

My relationship with the Prince was very impactful and important for me from a professional and human point of view. Thanks to him, I had the opportunity to work with the best architects in the world: in Sardinia with Jacques Coüelle, Savin Coüelle, Michele and Giancarlo Busiri Vici, Luigi Vietti, and Antonio Simon Mossa, but also with other professionals of various sectors such as environmental science, real estate, and tourism. I also travelled a lot because of him: I have been to Europa, United States, the Caribbean and Asia.

Porto Cervo in the 1970s

I worked for Sasaki in Boston, the largest landscape architecture firm in the United States. All of this was a great opportunity for professional development, and in particular, I learnt to have great respect for the landscape that had inspired Karim.

From a human point of view, his natural empathy with everyone, not just his peers, and the need to research and learn before each new project was an example for me. And last but not least, his rigour, which was not strictness but extreme moral integrity.