Searching for identity : the approaches of three Pakistani architects

Abstract

This thesis attempts to deal with some of the major issues relating to Pakistani architecture today as well as the consequent development of an architectural identity. In order to establish the framework for the study various discourses that reflect on the notion of identity have been examined. Due to the lack of an indigenous architectural discourse, and the consequent absence of critically rigorous information on the subject, this work is devoted to augmenting the very limited material available on the state of the architectural profession in Pakistan and to increasing an awareness of the directions that this architecture is presently taking. As a means of furthering an understanding of architecture in Pakistan the first part of this thesis provides some information on the development of architecture in Pakistan both in terms of historical evolution as well as through the development of educational institutions such as The National College of Arts. The rest of the work deals with the existing and emerging 'directions' (in Pakistani architecture) as they are manifested in the projects of several influential architects. The three architects chosen for this study and whose work best represents the current range of architecture in Pakistan are; Habib Fida Ali, one of the most experienced and respected architects in Karachi, who having studied at the Architectural Association is a strong proponent of the modern aesthetic. Habib Fida Ali represents the 'modern' current that runs through Pakistani architecture.

(cont.) Nayyar Ali Dada, an N.C.A. trained architect who has had the opportunity to do a great deal of important work both in Lahore and Islamabad. Nayyar Dada embodies in his work and approach the majority of architecture in Pakistan, which while aspiring towards modernism is affected not only by the living vernacular traditions but also by the fast developing rejectionist attitude towards modernism. Kamil Khan Mumtaz, as he makes quite clear in his book Architecture in Pakistan is a supporter of the "vernacular tradition". Kamil Khan is an architectural practitioner and a noted academic, who was the head of the department of architecture at the National College of Arts, Lahore between the years 1%6-1975. An evaluation of these architects' work is to be undertaken on two levels - a critical analysis of their built work and an understanding of their own attitudes and approaches towards architecture, especially their evaluations of Pakistani architecture. This thesis can only be viewed as an introduction to their work and aims to get others interested in the multifaceted architecture being carried out in Pakistan today. I conclude with some thoughts on the notion of a Pakistani architectural identity and on the question of 'revivalism' which is gaining considerable prominence among influential circles in Pakistan.