"Informal" architecture : an examination of some adaptive processes in architectural traditions

Abstract

A greater part of urban built environment in Pakistan and similar countries may be termed "informal," as not being the result of architects' work. This study seeks to understand the historical nature of this architecture by looking at its past and present relationships with social practices, the social groups that practice it, and the various cultural forms that affect it. This is done by a comparative analysis of formal types as arising in indigenous tradition as well as in the colonial context, in the context of both morphological form and surface treatment and styles. The emergence of the architectural profession during colonialism and its alliance with emerging tendencies of modern architecture than with indigenous artistic urges is examined. The hypothesis is made and supported by empirical evidence, that both tradition and modernity reside in "informal" architecture but are modified, controlled or moderated by factors such as varying social attitudes among the differing social groups that represent its practice.