The New Generation of Pakistani Architects

echoboom

...sorry could not make sense of the second one too...`masses` in my post referred to the ordinary man and women in pakistan i think...if that`s what you want to know...

rgds,

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Are we among the /masses , then why not write just /us . Why do we consider ourselves so grand to call people by a category. Do you use this word to describe canadians or americans..what do you call phD-cabbies, eng.lit major-bartenders, and O-level securityguards . Are they too masses?--Have you ever encountered a people described thus in North American papers? Ordinary people, yes--by an NDP leader but that too drew murmurs of disapproval.

I would refer the 80 to 90 % populace of my beloved Pakistan as EXTRA-ordinary. The real culprits are we the so called english-educated apes no matter from what background--feudal, military, afsar-shahee, corporate-corruptee, and professional-professory.

This is a very colonial or brit-class way to describe people. I resent it.

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For fellow-Pakistanis.
(some musings, more ramblings)


Licking the puss & blood from a festering wound might be a feel-good move, but continous and relentless self-loathing does nothing to heal the wound. Pakistan and Islam do not need critques & evaluations, especially with our midget-minds & cursory-learning. What is needed is solid, concrete, TECHNICAL (SECULAR, MATERIAL) progress.Literature & poetry do not become those whose house is ravaged by fire & flood.

By excessive navel-gazing, introspection, and self-criticism we just get addicted to it. Like the professional students & protesters who turn activism into a career and do-gooding into an art-form. The enemy sneers, enjoys and takes advantage of such a de-moralised state of mind. Unwittingly we help him and thus join the enemy to husrt ourselves more.

Does anybody-else does such kind of dhobi-ghaat of themselves? In fact when you slap your kid in public and humilate, rather than correct, him then some from the outside also get the itch to slap your kid.

Please! Do not let others slap your kid, under the guise of `reform` and `correction`. If you cannot do it, NOBODY CAN.

Mullahism is nothing but a mindset to fix things top-down, like colonialism. This could be military-mullahism, bueaucratic-mullahism, feudal-m, BookBuG-mullahism etc etc . In short, the NEED & urge to fix the other, improve the other, exhort the OTHER. We need not fix the `system`, we just have to move among those we consider poor, backward, religious, superstitious, not-modern, have-no-`accent`(what a joke!) in short the not-western or not-fashionable types and to EAT and DRINK with them as one of THEM and LEARN something from them. We have much more to learn from them than we could ever teach them. Such living-treasure is being rendered valuless just as our other intellectual heritage is gradually getting ignored

Let us bring forth ACHIEVEMENTS, however small, by those who overcame tremendous ODDS & did not, like us, abandon home when we couldn`t take the heat.

re: #9 irfanhamid:
[ ... , trust me, if it weren`t that I had to get higher education here, I`d give a kidney and half my liver to get back. ....
....

Someone who spent most of his life in Pakistan, finally managing to get out, WANTS to go back! ....]

Hmmm ..... now where have I heard this before? ;)

I doubt if more than 10% of students who study architecture remain associated with it after school. Not only is it an extremely poorly compensated profession, the work is gruelling with long hours and tight deadlines. I suspect people who go into Architecture are creative and artistic but want to put their talents to some `practical` use and a degree in architecture is the nearest that fits the bill. However in most cases reality sets in very quickly and they move into other professions.

later
-sac

(warning: long post)

Rafay

...yaar humaray sawaal genuine thay…inquiring not skeptical…architects are social engineers whose influence far outlives their lives…

…architecture is like poetry for me…it makes a statement of the conditions at any given time…from hh’s reply i gather that there is no distinct Pakistani architecture…on second thoughts i was wrong in asking that query…it is too early in the game to evolve a distinct style or school…

…by utilitarian i wanted to learn about functionality…both in terms of work space and living space…in the experiments that may be going on there...

…way back a friend who attended rida, returned to Pakistan to work….designed a highrise office tower for one company…their headquarters…after the structure had gone up he was taken to task for a ‘flaw’… he had assigned ‘x’ number of toilets on each floor… why was he taken to task…he did not provide the execs and managers with separate washrooms!…we laughed over this…how can he forget his roots?…how can an afsar saheb share the loo with the airay-ghairays?

…in living space…was interested to know about housing the poor or the lower end…(more on this shortly)…I have seen the gary and outlandish white house replicas in Karachi and other cities…they may have different interiors...but as a passerby there was nothing in them for me...there were some really bad tributes to alberto gaudy...unintentional i am sure!

…coming to the housing for the poor…is cheap local material used?…how is the local culture incorporated in design…the seh`n, or courtyard or some open space within the four walls?…is there a small parkette in the street or a park very nearby?…is there a recreation center or gathering place other than the mandatory mosque?…playgrounds…(these in addition to the urban planning questions you raised viz. garbage recycling, gathering, disposal, power supply, traffic planning)

..what makes that community gel?

…re: regulating the skyline am with you…through restraint and by-laws one can maximize and highlight the aesthetic ‘character’ of a city...think hh failed to understand it altogether when he speculated about scarcity of land and the prices they command…the issue is not that at all…since god stopped making land some years back…the prices shall continue to soar…

…washington dc has (i think) a by law….within a radius of five miles of the capital the height of a building is restricted to eight or ten floors…with the result that the ‘landmarks’ are visible from miles around…

…here in TO…the godfathers of the city hall passed a law back in the 60s or 70s…one third of the space in any new high rise building will be reserved for housing people…this resulted in people living and working in downtown…unlike most major US cities then…making TO one of the most vibrant night time cities of NA...

echoboom

...sorry could not make sense of the second one too...`masses` in my post referred to the ordinary man and women in pakistan i think...if that`s what you want to know...

rgds,

t

Sorry for re-posting it. The last one was not clear enough.

#13 by echoboom on September 23, 2003 8:48pm PT

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10:temporal
therefore when you, i and others discuss these and other issues in a respectful and civilized manner here on chowk and elsewhere, there is hope…hope for Pakistan, hope for you and hope for me…but above all hope for the masses…

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Can somebody elucidate who & where are these masses. Are there masses in Canada or U.S as well? When does one stop being a mass. Does speaking-alien tongues with alien-accents enables one to cease to be a mass & becomes a master? MASS-TER. How does one acquire this ``TER``.Does moving out from Lalookhet or Gawalmandi help? How about those from non-masses background driving cabs & limousines, pumping gas, bartending, security-guarding, and othe assorted menial job but with the perk of speaking english in U.S & Canada, are they suddenly counted as masses or are they people?


From safar-naama jahaaz baad sindhee

``Yaa peer-o-murshid yeh brzhava (bourgeois) kyaa hotaa hai``?

````Bhaee brzhavaa voh hotaa hai--voh hota ````

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klaan ney smjhaanein kee koshish kee ```` buss youN samajhh jo bilkul brzhava hotaa hai ````

``aapney kahaa thha key choonkay yeh loag afsar thay aur car rkhhtay thhay isliyay brzhava thhay``

````HaaN HaaN``--klaaN bolaa

``Tho phir kyaa nacheez kay chchaa jaan jo thaanaidaar haiN, aur car rkhtay haiN, kyaa voh bhee brzhava hain``

```` Hongay ```` klaan bolaa

```` Allah behtar jaantaa hai, kay uss kay kiyay mein dakhl denaa skhht naadaani hai````

Rafay Alam

Why do you feel the need to regulate the skyline of Lahore? I feel we should encourage tall buildings to get maximum rentable space in the central business district of lahore where the land prices are sky-rocketing. We dont want to end up like Tokyo where the the cost of 1 square foot of land reached 28,000 USD a few years back!

Shandana

Thanks. No, I`m afraid I dont know Mr. Rafi Ahmad, though I know most architects of Karachi.

irfanhamid

My firm designed the sports facilities and the stadium at AWC. Its under construction now.
Btw, your posting was interesting. Incisive!

IrfanAhmad:
Beautifully written! I`m one of those with the option to live and work in the US, but have chosen to return to Karachi. Yes, things do work here, in a way that I think proves that when institutions don`t or can`t take care of people’s affairs, citizens will find ways to get things done themselves. Apni maddad aap ki baRee rawaaj hai idhar. To wit: Yesterday the jewellers in the lane I live in, in Saddar, got together, pooled in resources, and paved the potholes in road coz the `concerned authorities` seemed to not care. Granted, this is not the ideal solution, but a good example of all how people get into the habit of fixing problems rather than complaing about them. I suppose the folks in this case didn`t mind dipping into their own pockets because they know the taxes they (don`t) pay.
You mentioned the public transport system. It`s pretty darn good, and actually gettting better. Yes, traffic is a nightmare in some parts of the city, but the city administration seems to have a clear plan of where it is going. The new CNG buses are not only clean, less polluting and comfortable, they are also eminently affordable. I have a motrobike but hardly ever use it anymore. Sold my `78 Corolla years ago and haven`t ever missed it
One can lament the grinding poverty seen on the streets of Karachi (echo, can you spell ‘masses’ and ‘pain’ here?), but one can also appreciate the charity that ordinary folks (masses?) regularly do. Walk by any famous low-priced “hOtell” (deli) in Karachi and you see lines of the literally unwashed masses squatting outside, waiting to be served. I once commended an owner on his sawab ka kaam, but he told me it was being done on contributions from ordinary folks around the area and the masjids.
Okay, ideally we shouldn’t have these folks having to squat this way on footpaths, nor have them (half of them kids) spend all day picking up paper for the recycling industry. And this is where what temporal says is very relevant. It’s all very well for us middle class folks to speak romantically of the lovely, soulful, experience of life in rough-and-tumble Karachi. That’s coz we do have our three square meals and a roof under which to live. It is not an ascription to materialistic values to say that major problems exist back here. It is irresponsible to make light of them. Sometimes folks even romanticize them!
Similarly, the problem of institutionalized misogyny is very real and causing real suffering. Despite echo’s romantic notions of ghairat within the households of poorer folks, there is widespread abuse (physical and much emotional). I know of this from my work with both Church outreach agencies and other, secular NGO’s. And from hearing of such experiences through friends. And am I not even talking about the rural scene here, where ,I hear, the women do all the work at home AND in the field, while the men, increasingly, are in a state of intoxication.
Well... don’t mean to write a catalogue of woe here. Just wanted to point out that I think we need to listen to what temporal has to say too. It’s easy to forget the injustice and pain around coz folks here are just so much more fatalistic. Yes, many of them are true heroes, showing how to make the most of adversity, but I think it is irresponsible on our part to romanticize that to an extent that we allow injustices to perpetuate. And we do. Ask yourself, if you live in bungalow in Karachi, how much you’re paying your Pathan chowkidar—whether that salary enables him to improve his kids’ lot in life if he so desired. Ask yourself whether it’s okay for his 10 year-old boy to be serving you tea and taking your 10-year-old’s lunch to school on days that the latter has cricket practice.

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I have similar feeling to yours, Irfan viz. homo sapiens versus human beings, but I am loathe to express them, or even fully accept them as valid, since I think it’s quite difficult to actually understand the motivations, inclinations and survival tactics of those raised in a culture different from one’s own. Does that make any sense? I think I’m rambling, and now babbling too.
rgds, and a warm welcome to chowk…
PM

saima shah has lived, loved, worked in pakistan, prolly for longer than you irfan. and what she does now, i.e. keep chowk alive, is also probably worth more than what many of us, myself included, have done for pakistan.

hammad, interesting piece, have you heard of rafi ahmed? he`s a karachi based architecht i have a lot of admiration for. he`s done some set design work for us as well.

Hammad,

Notwithstanding Temporals sceptisicm of architechture`s utilitarian value in Pakistan (a whole debate, if you ask me, but I`ll get to that in a sec), are you interested at all in Urban Planning? I am doing some research in the area, specifically on how the topography of a city can be moulded by law (a sky-tax on buildings, for example, can regulate the sky line of a city). There are also issues like waste management, traffic control and the placement of commercial areas/urban centres next to residential areas to control or regulate the flow of traffic. If you are interested, or know anyone who is, could you contact me at ralam@nexlinx.net.pk

Now, for a brief answer to Temporal`s question. There is no end of utilitarian use for architecture in Pakistan. I think Temporal is looking at architechture as purely an art-form used in the design of a building. It is much more than that. On a more holistic plane, architecture is a dialogue between the individual and his space, be it in the design of a home, a commercial center or the plan of a city and ancillary things like waste mangement, traffic control and urban footprint regulation. And interior design :)

In a country where there is so much wrong, it is heartening to see people still interested in pursuing the finer arts. At least some still stick it out here rather than casting their opinions on this place from far away lands.

Rafay Alam

I recently completed my five years of architecture in USA so I might have something to contribute here. I thought I`d comment on why most of us want to be designers.

The reason is simple. Most of us who enter the field do it because we are artistic minded. Our training in school, atleast here in US is also from a designers/problem solving POV with engineering, contracts, etc being covered on the sidelines (like Urdu being taught as a second language in pvt desi schools). So even our education promotes that aspect of architecture.

I honestly wonder how many of Sikander Ajam`s peers entered into the profession with the mindselt of being anything other than designers.

10:temporal

therefore when you, i and others discuss these and other issues in a respectful and civilized manner here on chowk and elsewhere, there is hope…hope for Pakistan, hope for you and hope for me…but above all hope for the masses…

Can somebody elucidate who & where are these masses. Are there masses in Canada or U.S as well? When does one stop being a mass. Does speaking-alien tongues with alien-accents enables one to cease to be a mass & becomes a master? MASS-TER. How does one acquire this ``TER``.Does moving out from Lalookhet or Gawalmandi help? How about those from non-masses background driving cabs & limousines, pumping gas, bartending, security-guarding, and othe assorted menial job but with the perk of speaking english in U.S & Canada, are they suddenly counted as masses or are they people?

``Yaa peer-o-murshid yeh brzhava (bourgeois) kyaa hotaa hai``?

````Bhaee brzhavaa voh hotaa hai--voh hota ````

---

klaan ney smjhaanein kee koshish kee ```` buss youN samajhh jo bilkul brzhava hotaa hai ````

``aapney kahaa thha key choonkay yeh loag afsar thay aur car rkhhtay thhay isliyay brzhava thhay``

````HaaN HaaN``--klaaN bolaa

``Tho phir kyaa nacheez kay chchaa jaan jo thaanaidaar haiN, aur car rkhtay haiN, kyaa voh bhee brzhava hain``

```` Hongay ```` klaan bolaa

---

```` Allah behtar jaantaa hai, kay uss kay kiyay mein dakhl denaa skhht naadaani hai````

irfanhamid:

about time you guys made yourselves heard.

temporal:

do you even know what bangkok is famous for? and in feb this year, their were more murders in bangkok than murders in last two years in karachi combined. and yet when was the last time you met a thai who performs mental matam as much as you guys do. listen to what echo says and stop trying to view everything from the perspective of time magazine news reporter.

Following is a good example of how to help Pakistan:

Sohaib Abbassi is (was) the senior most desi in Oracle. He was the 24th employee to join the company and ended up as one the top 7 or so executives in Oracle. He recently retired, while still in his 40s. He set up a scholarship for Pakistani students at Univ of Illionois, and has recently made the following donation:

``Pakistani-American donates $2.5 million for Islamic studies

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: A retired Pakistani technology executive had donated $2.5 million to the Stanford University in California to establish an Islamic studies programme.

The gift comes from Shoaib Abbasi and his wife Sara. Abbasi retired as a senior executive of Oracle, one of the leading American technology companies.

So far, the Stanford University has received $9 million as endowment for a programme and professorship in Islamic studies, “gifts that could position the school to become a powerhouse in the study of the world’s second-largest faith,” according to a local newspaper. “Islam has been a popular subject of study since the 9/11 attacks. In the last two years, student demand for classes on Islamic religion, culture, history and languages has soared. And many universities, including Stanford, have not been able to keep pace, writes Mercury News.

Mr Abbasi said he and his wife made the gift “to ensure this becomes the premier programme of Islamic studies in North America......Sara Abbasi is on the executive board of Developments in Literacy, an international non-profit organisation that has built 200 schools in Pakistan since 1997. The couple previously endowed a computer science professorship and fellowship at the University of Illinois-Champaign-Urbana, Sohaib’s alma mater. The Stanford donation is the couple’s largest gift to date, and both will continue to help raise money for the programme. “We both feel very privileged to be a part of this,” says Abbasi.``
(http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_24-9-2003_pg7_44)

irfanhamid

…first welcome to this intersection:)…you took a genuine query from saima and almost ran away with it…

…essentially you were saying what a patriot should be/should do…but it belies the query…who or what is a patriot?…

…yes there is a lot going for Pakistan…and we all love it in various degrees…why must one fault that...you have eloquently written about your passion and feelings…good for you!

laikin bhai when i read that i was thinking is this the same country you are describing where women are married to the Qur’an in one province?…where honour killing is a license to kill without justice?…where gang rapes sanctioned by the punchayats are the norm (unless they are caught—and even then the wheels of justice grind hesitantly)?…where the army has occupied the country?…where justice exists for the rich?…where everybody is after everyone else?…sunnis against shias, sindhis against muhajirs, both of them against Punjabis...and everybody against ahmedis and other minorites?…where democracy is a sham?…where young women cannot get married because their poor parents do not have the finances to afford lavish jahez and parties?…where every vice known to men is available at a price?…where everyone thinks their version of islam is it and all others are deviants?….where half the population is treated as third class citizens?…where discrimination is an art form?…where…I think I should stop here

…it seems am talking of some other Pakistan…but in reality it is the other face of Pakistan…and yes…the expats, abcds, those there and others…we all love it to various degrees…are pained to see the ills…and are moved to criticize and alleviate the ills to the degree we can…

…therefore when you, i and others discuss these and other issues in a respectful and civilized manner here on chowk and elsewhere, there is hope…hope for Pakistan, hope for you and hope for me…but above all hope for the masses…

…no offence meant…

rgds,

t

To SaimaShah:
I think I am in the perfect position to answer your question. It`s only been 3 months that I left the old country to come study abroad. From your post it seems that you are abroad and infact have never lived in Pakistan.

What works in Pakistan? The list is endless; the farmer, the labour, the people who build our homes, domestic servants (who usually become part of the family), the public transport system (it WORKS, I would even say efficiently), the markets (in Paris all shops close at 1900hrs), and the list is basically endless. What is basically needed is that we learn to look at our good points as well as our bad. I`m not saying that we don`t have problems, I`m just saying there are a few things we can be proud of too.

Yes the constitution is crap, the institutions are crap, the whole country is a heap of crap. Isn`t it amazing then that a bottom-dwelling, shiteating, snotnosed thirdworlder like your`s truly has not only managed to drag his worthless backside over here, but is giving the pristine goras one hell of a run for their money. If this is the best the west has to offer, then I`m better off in my stinking dungheap.

As far as what is to admire about Pakistan, lady, trust me, if it weren`t that I had to get higher education here, I`d give a kidney and half my liver to get back. Not because I`m having problems adjusting here, or making friends, or any of a million excuses, but because I WANT to, plain and simple. Confusing isn`t it? Someone who spent most of his life in Pakistan, finally managing to get out, WANTS to go back! Yes, the World is full of bizarre things. I agree, compared to Peshawar, or Lahore or Islamabad, Paris is very nice, very ``modern`` (never could understand what that meant, but I`ll say it nonetheless). But do you know what I see here, I see a sea of homosapiens, there are no human beings here, just homosapiens. I guess it`s the terrible price they have had to pay for advancement, they have lost the ``human touch``. They have become beings in transit, they are always on their way, in a hurry, they never reach where they want to go. In the mornings they have to get to their office, in the office, they are anxious to get to their favorite restaurent for lunch, at lunch, they are aching to get back to work to finish something their boss needs before closing time, and then they are going home.

But the thing I miss the most about my country, about my people, is their openness towards others, no matter what their skin color, religion or gender. These goras have no sectarian violence, but they have something much worse, they have sectarian mentalities. They are always more than willing to help you out whenever you need help, but seeing that you are a foreigner, they will always, ALWAYS keep their distance. And this, this polite exclusion, is something that robs one (well atleast me) of his selfrespect. I hate the clandestine and discreet stares that dart my way when people think I`m not looking. Having been born and having grown up abroad perhaps you don`t even know what it feels like to have your dignity, have all of it, and not be treated like someone to be distrusted or kept at arm`s length. You`ve lost your Godgiven right to selfrespect. That`s the primary reason why I want to go back to my land, my people, who will never look down at me with derision, with pity, or contempt simply because I`m not European.

Well, ma`am, what does each of us do to change that? Reading chowk.com, you`d think the most efficient way to set things straight in the country is to b&$ch about it.

So, onwards my fellow pseudo-intellectuals, let us scream, rant, rave and cry until we are blue in the face. That will not only make us feel like we are doing something significant, but maybe others will be hoodwinked into admiring us as well. Hell, we can even delude ourselves into thinking that we are participating in ``dialogue`` and ``constructive criticism`` that will raise ``awareness`` and maybe even influence ``policy``. Oh and before I forget, the input that is most needed is from ABCDs and BBCDs (they know who they are). Because your perspective is truly ``objective``: you can always kid yourself into believing what you learned about Pakistan during that one summer you spent at khala`s house in Lahore, and that you are keeping yourself current by watching CNN or even better FoxNews.

I know I`ve ruffled a few sensitive feathers by posting this, so let the reprisals begin. Rain hellfire and brimstone from on high upon me. And above all, DO let me know in how many ways I am wrong, after all, THATS also ``constructive criticism``.