Cross Cultural Influences on Architecture in Pakistan: Vol. 2: Post Independence Architecture

About the Book:
Pakistan is one of the most beautiful countries in the world blessed with rich cultural heritage snow-clad mountains, meadows, lush green valleys, fertile plains, Indus River and its tributaries, deserts, plateau, and a long coastal belt. It has a long and uninterrupted history from Paleolithic period to the present times. The country is located at the crossroad of several trade routes linking China in the north, Central Asia in the west and Iran and the Middle East in the south and south east. During the course of long history a large number of settlements, structures and works of arts of exceptional beauty were produced presenting a variety of concepts and philosophies. These trade routes brought influence from far and wide and had strong impact on history, culture and artistic tradition. This scholarly work has thoroughly documented the roots of architectural history and tradition of Pakistan from prehistoric to contemporary times. For the first time in history, Dr. Abdul Rehman has produced this masterpiece after years of extensive and original research.

The tremendous progress made by Pakistan since 1947 in the profession of architecture has not been adequately celebrated. Since the initial years of its independence, Pakistan had an acute shortage of housing and social and technical infrastructure projects that needed well-qualified architects and planners. In order to meet the demand of qualified professionals a number of architectural schools were established over the last 74 years. At present, both senior architects and younger and recent graduates are working side by side to meet the challenges of the built environment. These architects followed several design philosophies such as modernism, classical tradition, hyper-modernism, etc.

This second volume of the book, gives an in-depth overview of the challenges and contributions, as well as the philosophy of international, local, senior and younger architects. The book begins with an introduction to the state of economy and development goals to meet the socioeconomic challenges which the country has faced over time. The design philosophy and architectural contributions of early masters is discussed. Additionally, the book also covers the contributions made by the international architects whose design of large-scale projects can be seen in almost all major cities across Pakistan, as well as the foreign qualified graduates of Pakistani origin of the early years of the country had also made a significant impact in influencing the design. The book also covers the academician architects who played an important role in the development of the profession and gave it a new direction through their writings and professional works. Their contributions have been discussed in the several chapters of this book. Apart from the qualified architects, the traditional masters have also made a significant impact to the country’s built environment. Their contributions are especially significant in the design of mosques and tombs. The important projects carried out by them have been discussed in the book. The contributions of architects in the field of landscape architecture and conservation are also discussed. The book finally concludes with the discussion on the challenges being faced by the profession and a way forward for improving the quality of architecture in Pakistan.

About the Author:
Dr. Abdul Rehman is a former Professor and Director of School of Architecture and Design, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. He holds a National Diploma in Architecture from National College of Arts, Lahore and a PhD degree from “Ion Mincu,” University of Architecture and Urbanism, Bucharest, Romania. He has been a senior Fulbright fellow at both Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.