The New Generation of Pakistani Architects

A brilliant piece of writing HH ….

“The National College of Arts (NCA) in Lahore, considered one of the top architectural schools of Pakistan”

Though I am a student of an institute that is just like Pakistan to NCA if later is considered India, I appreciate NCA for many things….

Duck lays a bigger egg but no one comes to know about it …. Hen lays a smaller egg but she knows the art of marketing …. So everyone eats Hen’s egg…. Same is the case with NCA … People their know how to market the name of the institute so what if they work less and overall class result was average … You still has started you article with a line about NCA …. :)

Ok ok now coming to the real issue ….

“The five years in school should let the student get into the habit to read, understand, absorb, analyze and interpret on his own and then go through life with that momentum.”

Well it is a problem faced not only by schools and institutes related to architecture but all creative fields. And in my Personal opinion in Art and creative fields these days teachers are no more sincere with students. There is a certain professional jealousy as teachers too are also working in field at the same time they are teaching in the institute. Moreover a good artist or a good architect or any person who is at the top in curriculum not necessarily become a good teacher . Our teacher here in Art institutes lack basic training to teach, so they are unable to flourish the talent or guide a student on a certain level.

The problem start again from the basic level HH … Teachers themselves are just “Kitab Khwan” how can they make a student “sahib-e-kitab”

MNA :)

temporal:

I don`t quite get what you mean by utilitarian. If you mean functionality, I would say it is something that depends on the individual architect as opposed to a country`s architecture. In any case its more appropriate to say Architecture in Pakistan instead of Pakistani Architecture, as there is no particular style or form that we can be called truly Pakistani - there is Mughal, British colonial, modern, regional vernacular etc which are all part of Architecture in Pakistan.

Your 2nd query, well I think the reidential architecture in Pakistan has really developed in recent years and I think the variety of designs we have in this particular field, not many countries in the world have - in terms of size, styles, clients` expectations, architects` experimentation and so on. Karachi and Lahore Defence and Islamabad suburbian farmhouses have shown excellent design and developed mature design sense. So I think our residential architecture sets us apart.

temporal (#2):

I didnt quite get what you mean by utilitarian. If you mean functionality, then I would say that it depends on the individual architect whether his design is functional or practical, and not on a country`s architecture in general. In any case, I think its better to say architecture in Pakistan, as opposed to Pakistani architecture, as we have different styles running parallel and none of them can be defined as Pakistani (There is no need to do so). Mughal, modern, regional vernacular, British colonial etc are all part of our culture now. This has given us more variety and flexibility.

Your 2nd query, well I think the residential architecture of Pakistan has developed a lot in recent years and has shown a developed design sense, maturity and skill. Our architects have raised the standard of this particular type of architecture by experimenting, using different styles and materials and cut-throat competition. Karachi and Lahore Defence houses and Islamabad suburban farmhouses are world standard and definitely set us apart.

Thank you omar, (#4) I will get in touch with you.

Dear SaimaShah
The first thing we do to change things in Pakistan is to be there! Then we can start contributing in our own fields. We should remember that as the population growth rate of the illiterate (0fficially 74 %) is much higher than the educated Pakistanis (a fraction) the literacy rate is changing every passing day. And with a lot of educated people fleeing the country, this ratio is becoming dangerously low. So just being in Pakistan and working there is the the first step.

Regards, Hammad

Hammad interesting article -- if you are interested in getting it published in dawn, please contact me at omarq@cyber.net.pk -- it might have to expanded a bit to suit length requirements --

Saima Shah:

Pakistan is a truly inspiring place. It`s greatness lies in the challenges it`s people live with - willingly or unwillingly.

Hammad:

welcome to chowk...may i ask you one question?...is there any utilitarian value in pakistani architecture that sets its apart...

...ok make it two queries...in what way are the aesthetes in pakistani architecture different from others?

...t

my humble question to all pakistanis. Is there anything that works there? anything we like? anything to admire? the constitution is crap, the institutions are crap. and what does each of us do to change that?