A Contemporary Architectural Quest and Synthesis: Kamil Khan Mumtaz in Pakistan by Zarminae Ansari Bachelor of Architecture, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan, 1994. Submitted to the Department of Architecture in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Architecture Studies at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY June 1997 Zarminae Ansari, 1997. All Rights Reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part. A uthor ...... ................................................................................. .. Department of Architecture May 9, 1997 Certified by. Attilio Petruccioli Aga Khan Professor of Design for Islamic Culture Thesis Supervisor A ccep ted b y ........................................................................................... Roy Strickland Chairman, Departmental Committee on Graduate Students Department of Architecture JUN 2 0 1997 Room 14-0551 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Ph: 617.253.2800 MIT Libraries Email: [email protected] Document Services http://Ilibraries.mit.eduldocs DISCLAIMER OF QUALITY Due to the condition of the original material, there are unavoidable flaws in this reproduction. We have made every effort possible to provide you with the best copy available. If you are dissatisfied with this product and find it unusable, please contact Document Services as soon as possible. Thank you. Some pages in the original document contain color / grayscale pictures or graphics that will not scan or reproduce well. Readers: Ali Asani, (John L. Loeb Associe e Professor of the Humanities, Harvard Univer- sity Faculty of Arts and Sciences). Sibel Bozdogan, (Associate Professor of Architecture, MIT). Hasan-ud-din Khan, (Visiting Associate Professor, AKPIA, MIT). 2 Acknowledgments For making this thesis possible, indeed, for their part in my architectural journey, for mak- ing it possible for me to reach MIT, I would like to thank the following people: - Mr. A. A. Ansari, Deputy Director General, Archaeological Survey of India: my Opa, who I regretfully never met, but is always an inspiration; - My parents, Anjum and Rana Naeem, and my family; specially my mother due to whose sacrifices toward a daughter's education, I am here; - Mr. Sikander Ghulam Ali, who helped me begin the journey to Lester B. Pearson Col- lege of the Pacific, Canada, and beyond; - My professors and friends at the National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan; specially Taimoor D.A. Mumtaz for his invaluable help. - My friends at MIT, Shehla Imran, Pratap Talwar, and specially Rajive Chaudhry. - Mr. William O' Reilly, at the Aga Khan Award Geneva office. - I would like to thank my professors at MIT and Harvard specially Nasser Rabat, Sibel Bozdogan and Ali Asani whose courses were eye openers, and Hasan-ud-din Khan for his insightful comments. Finally it is my privilege to thank the two people without whom this thesis really would not have been possible: Kamil Khan Mumtaz, for his patience and graciously taking time out to help me; and Attilio Petruccioli: I will always be grateful for his good humor, helpful enthusiasm, and "inventiveness". 4 A Contemporary Architectural Quest and Synthesis: Kamil Khan Mumtaz in Pakistan by Zarminae Ansari Submitted to the Department of Architecture on May 9, 1997, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Architecture Studies Abstract This thesis looks at an important Pakistani architect's work and philosophy as a possible direction or approach for contemporary architecture in Pakistan. Although there are more prolific builders in Pakistan, Kamil Khan Mumtaz (KKM) of Lahore, is one of the most important and influential figures in architectural education and the architectural discourse in Pakistan. He has tried to synthesize both pragmatic and philo- sophical aspects of architecture. Kamil Khan Mumtaz was trained in the Modern Movement at Architectural Association, London. His initial exposure to indigenous Architecture made him question the validity of his training. He started to search for a more appropriate architectural idiom for Pakistan. Throughout his career, he has been a pioneer in the movement for conservation of architectural heritage and raising standards of architectural design in Paki- stan through different organizations he has founded and is member of. This thesis looks at three stages of evolution in the architects background, discourse and work; relating it to its cultural milieu. The first phase describes the state of architecture in Pakistan when he returns from the Architectural Asso- ciation, London, and the events leading up to the situation. The background is a period of nation building following Independence and Partition and a lack of adequate architectural education in Pakistan. His early buildings reflect his Modernist training and social concerns. The second phase looks at his growing concerns with appropriate technology, and interest in indigenous building techniques and crafts. This is the period of Islamic nationalism and the Islamization program dur- ing the military regime of General Zia. The last phase, is the recent and contemporary situation, where global culture meets the deep rooted rem- nants of fundamentalism fanned by Zia's regime. At this time his architecture is an attempt at synthesis of modern technology and local craft with his own interest in spiritual aspects of architecture.KKM's most rep- resentative work in each of these phases will be discussed with reference to his architectural agenda at the time. Other issues raised, while assessing the work of Kamil Khan Mumtaz, are issues of regionalism relating to the evolution of his architecture. If critical regionalism is considered the preferred choice, or alternative, of architectural approach specially in Islamic and/ or developing countries, how well does KKM's work fit into that context? Finally, it explores his importance as an architect, educator and intellectual in terms of his influence on contemporary architecture in Pakistan. Thesis Supervisor: Attilio Petruccioli Title: Aga Khan Professor of Design for Islamic Culture CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT 1. INTRODUCTION Introducing contemporary architecture in Pakistan Methodology, Data Sources and Purpose Nationalism And Identity Architecture education in Pakistan National College of Arts Architects background----------- 2. DISCOURSE 2.1- Modernist/ social concerns; (Systems buildings) 28 2.2- Regional Approach ----------- 33 2.3- Anjuman Mimaran -------------- 37 2.6-The Aga Khan Awards ------------- 42 2.4- The Role of Crafts in Spiritual Context 45 3. PROJECTS 3.1- Search for appropriate technology - Kot Karamat Village -- -- 55 - Architects Residence 62 3.2- Exploration of traditional crafts - Sonu Rehman's Residence 64 - Residences in Lahore 66 3.3 - Synthesis of technology and craft - Dar-ul-Hikmat 68 - Chandbagh School 72 4. ASSESSMENT 4.1- Contemporary Synthesis; Spiritual approach 79 4.2 - His Influence 84 4.3 - Economic 87 4.4 - Discourse 89 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY 101 6. ILLUSTRATION CREDITS 105 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introducing Contemporary Architecture In Pakistan Fifty years after Independence, Pakistan is still grappling with the nature of its existencel as secular or religious, and therefore its identity. There is, not surprisingly, no agreement concerning the source of this identity, and its validation. Issues surrounding this pervade most civil life, and this is equally true of architecture. In October 1993, at the end of a seminar on Contemporary Architecture in Pakistan2, an architecture student expressed the general feeling among the student delegation present, and said that at the end of the day's proceedings, she felt confused, and like the child of disputing parents- "I don't know where to turn or which movement to adopt....".3 The statement was telling of another fact: the general tendency "to adopt" a movement, or turn to ready-made solutions of imposed principles. Three years later, architect Kamil Khan Mumtaz in reply to what constitutes a "Pakistani" identity in architecture, called it a "manifest confusion". 4 With limited and selective exposure to international architectural discourse, no critical architectural journal evaluating their work, most contemporary architects in Pakistan have evolved a style of architecture that KKM refers to as "irresponsible".5 1."What do Pakistanis really want?" Survey in Herald Magazine, Karachi, January 1997. 2. The seminar was organized by Kamil Khan Mumtaz and volunteers for the Anjuman Mimaran, a society builders and architects of which he is a founder member. 3. Ansari, Z.; "Barefoot, Traditional, Modern or Populist?" report on seminar proceedings in, The Frontier Post, October 22, 1993. 4. KKM Interview, January 1996. 5. Ibid. This is a matter of greater significance than just exasperation and/ or bewilderment of an intellectual elite at the commercial and popular architecture'. Pakistan faces the typical problems of a developing nation. On the urban and architectural level, these are densifi- cation due to the ever increasing economic pull of the urban centers and a population explosion leading to infrastructure deficiency and socio-political crises. These develop- ment issues are juxtaposed against a desire to assert a political and cultural identity. Architectural identity on a national and regional level, and housing and sustainable archi- tecture from the global and environmental