After the huge success of the 1st ARCASIA – IAP Young Architects Collaborative at the National College of Arts (NCA) Lahore on January 23’ 2016 the 2nd event was organized in CECOS University, Peshawar on March 29’ 2016 with 8 young architects and designers of the Country.
This event organized by Chairman ACYA, ARCASIA Committee on Young Architects & Vice President ARCASIA Zone A was hosted by the Peshawar Chapter of the Institute of Architects, Pakistan.
ARCASIA and IAP have been monumental in providing a voice for emerging architects who might not have a wide platform to share their work. This Young Architects Collaborative is a series of talks launched by Chairman ACYA & Vice President ARCASIA Zone A that will highlight the selected chronology of works of these young professionals showcasing their individual architectural convictions and practice approaches, without losing sight of the economic, and most importantly the environmental concerns at the forefront of our architectural agenda. Some of these young professionals have chosen other art forms as careers and this dialogue will be a discourse to learn from their ideas.
Today’s young architect is unique and brings together a strong history that combines, compromises and respects the knowledge and ideas to customize a personal design philosophy. These new generations are designers, academia, musicians, set & furniture designers, art directors, story tellers, performers, puppeteers, event & project managers, Choreographers, interior consultants and even fashion designers.
The ongoing theme of these talks is “Reiterating Horizons” which is a travelling event in four major cities of the country. After Lahore and Peshawar, the 3rd is being organized in Islamabad while the fourth one in Karachi. These young architects that are being invited from across the country have gained recognition for their distinct approach, methodology, design philosophy and professional ethics. Many of them have been recognized both locally and internationally and are role models for both students and young architects of Pakistan.
The second event of this series was organized at CECOS University, Peshawar on March 29’ 2016 with a series of talks by young architects and designers of the region. It was attended by senior & young architects, Faculty and students from CECOS, UET Abottabad and Hazara University.
The Keynote Speaker was Dr.Ahmed Z. Khan who is Professor and Chair Sustainable Architecture and Urban Design at the BATir (Building, Architecture and Town Planning) department of the Brussels school of Engineering at UniversitéLibre de Bruxelles.
Other participating speakers included Eibne Sajjad who is an architect & furniture designer based in Islamabad, Mehreen Azmat is an interior & product designer working in Islamabad, Saad Kureshi is an architect and Managing Partner of Architects Inc. practicing in Lahore, Sauban Habeeb Ahmed is an architect and Principal of SHARC( Sauban Habeeb Architects)in Islamabad, Saifullah Siddiqi is an architect & Principal DB Studios in Islamabad, Seemi Saeed is an architect and Coordinator for United Nations Industrial Development Organization( UNIDO) in Islamabad and Muhammad Tahir Khattak is an architect and Principal of Waadan Consultants practicing in Peshawar.
The afternoon started with recitation from the Holy Quran and National Anthem. Ar. Omar Javaid, Moderator & Master of Ceremony welcomed everyone and introduced the theme of ARCASIA – IAP Young Architects Collaborative. He spoke about why this project was launched and what is intended out of these events in four major cities of the Country.
Chairman ACYA, ARCASIA Committee on Young Architects Ar. Fawad Suhail Abbasi gave an overview of this first committee on Young architects at ARCASIA and what it’s achieved in the last one year of its inception. He is the first Chairman of ACYA and currently heading 19 Asian countries and one ACYA representative from each country is part of this committee.
He spoke about the goals achieved and calendar of events for the year 2016 including the ARCASIA – IAP Young Architects Collaborative across Pakistan and the ACYA Roundtable scheduled for early August 2016. He also presented various programs that were organized in the past year on the ACYA platform with IAP and the outcome of this fresh new committee.
He thanked everyone from IAP Peshawar Chapter especially Chairman IAP-PC Ar. Mohammad Khalid, All the seniors, President IAP Ar. Ali Zafar Qazi and President – Elect ARCASIA Ar. S. M. Jahangir Khan Sherpao for endorsing these events and attending them which is another huge milestone set by IAP. He especially thanked Convener Event, Ar. Usman Khaliq and Convener Documentation, Ar. Salman J. Malik for their constant efforts with IAP & ARCASIA.
Vice President ARCASIA Zone A, President – Elect ARCASIA & Immediate Past President IAP, Ar. S. M. Jahangir Khan Sherpao spoke in detail on the initiatives taken on joint projects of IAP & ARCASIA in Pakistan with roundtables, forums and teacher training workshops for young architects in the last three years as President IAP and when he took over as Vice President ARCASIA Zone A. He talked about Zone A milestones for the region and the impact IAP has left on other ARCASIA countries with continuous projects in the last few years. He told the audience that many ARCASIA countries are now following the same model especially in the field of architectural education which he focused on and it’s been very close to his heart. He assured of continued efforts as the upcoming President ARCASIA 2017-2018 and thanked everyone for their support.
Chairman IAP Peshawar Chapter Ar. Mohammad Khalid welcomed the speakers and guest architects and highlighted the importance of the Young Architects Collaborative. He said the youth are torch bearers and the future of IAP lies in them; they are the new leaders who have learnt well and continue to surprise everyone with their energy and zeal.
He looked forward to more such initiatives by ACYA for the young architects of Pakistan to showcase what wonderful work they are doing across the country.
President IAP Ar. Ali Zafar Qazi appreciated the organizing team and talked about future IAP initiatives. He was very hopeful on what the young generation of architects was trying to do as a body of professionals, the role of ACYA in this regard and his role as President IAP along with President – Elect ARCASIA.
He said that Pakistani architects have created waves in the Asian region with currently 7 International positions within ARCASIA, UIA & CAA and what further we can do as a team to raise this bar even higher. He thanked his seniors and National Council members for showing their trust in him and unanimously electing him President IAP.
Each speaker brought a different character to their presentation, from high end malls & cinemas to teaching street kids, corporate interior design commissions, teaching design studio, socially responsibility initiatives, large and medium size master planning projects to hard core architectural design. Everyone had a major part to play and they spoke openly of what inspires them as young designers.
Each one of them has made some contribution to the betterment of their country which shows how talented the youth are today. Some are startups while sum have already made a name for them and they all continue to inspire other young architects and students.
They welcomed this initiative from ACYA and thanked IAP from working alongside young architects and students who are the future of the profession. They emphasized the need to involve the youth on all levels of the profession, to provide training and also organize discussions with the icons of the country that they have looked up to as students and later graduates.
Chairman, Dept. of Architecture CECOS University Ar. Adnan Khan concluded the session and thanked everyone especially the participants and members who came from various cities to attend it.
The audience was informed that the upcoming sessions are planned in Islamabad & Karachi where ACYA representatives from 18 countries of ARCASIA have also been invited as international speakers. The first ACYA Roundtable is also being organized in Pakistan this year before ACA 17 in Hong Kong which is scheduled for the 4th week of September 2016.
It was very well attended event and brings more hope for the future of our profession specifically young architects who have created a change and represent Pakistan across the globe.
