The Role of an Architect in Pakistan
It is very necessary to modify modern technology to suit our climatic needs and economic constraints. It is equally important that we apply modern technology to improve and make viable our traditional methods and materials of construction. Through these innovations an appropriate architecture with a new aesthetic guarantor can be born. Architectural education can inculcate an understanding which makes the emergence of such as architecture possible. Professional organizations can take up matters relevant to these issues. In this context, I would like to mention that in certain provinces in India, the firing of bricks has been completely stopped because of the ecological problems created by the process. One of the side effects of this decision has been the popularizing of cheaper construction methods. It is significant that a group of architects was behind this move.
Most architect designed public use buildings also suffer from problems in services, untidy structural details, and faulty architectural ones. The quality of construction is also very poor in many cases. We usually blame these shortcomings upon official corruption, contractors profiteering aided by engineers who receive kickbacks, and artisanal inefficiency. There may be some truth in these assertions. However, the fact remains that enough emphasis is not given to these issues in our system of education and the student almost never relates these issues to his designs.
It is important that in the formal sector the relationship between the architectural profession, engineers and contractors is institutionalized, and more important that the professional bodies should work out ways and means whereby this arrangement works. The engineering profession also needs to make modifications and changes in technology in order to make it appropriate to our needs.
Artisanal skill, which serves the new construction technologies, has developed in our country only as a necessity and not because of a conscious effort. Professionals have been satisfied with its poor quality in workmanship and tools. If the architect is interested in the end product of his design, he must take an interest in this matter. An important aspect of all pioneering work is the training of manpower to sustain and develop it further.
The suggestions I have made seem to be unrealistic, given the laissez faire attitude of our society which tolerates rampant economic brigandage, political adventurism and wide scale corruption. But a beginning has to be made.
The third area of operation in the formal sector is housing for the rich. This has always reflected the culture of the rulers and used the technology and construction methods employed by the state. A change in the governmental architecture and policy is bound to create a related change in this sector.
Informal Sector
In history the components of the informal sector have been the user, organized as communities, organized artisanal skill, and a long tradition. The architect or designer does not figure in this arrangement at all. The vast majority of buildings in the past have been put up with these components and, indeed, still are. The last two elements, however, have been lost due to major social changes, the introduction of new tools and technologies, and modern centralized economic planning for which the informal sector does not exist, or exists at best as a nuisance. The first component, too, is no longer organized. This is the sector of the urban poor.
About thirty percent of the population of Karachi lives in “katchi abadis”’. The major reason for the growth of these settlements is that the lower income groups cannot afford to pay the cost of land and services as developed by the local authorities. Ironically, it is the “illegal speculator”, “the shark”, “the mafia”, that supplies them with land at a price which they can afford. After that they live in uncertainty, fearing ejection and trying to get together to protect themselves. Through this very insecurity the “katchi abadis” become an area of exploitation by the police and other administrative agencies of the state. The private sector follows, using the manpower of these settlements as cheap labour.
Housing in the “katchi abadis” of Karachi is usually put up by the users themselves, with help from masons who generally do not know the job. If they did, they would be working in the more prosperous areas of the city. Materials, and sometimes even loans for building, are supplied by the local “thalla-wala”. In many cases these materials are rejects from larger projects in the formal sector, or from industrial units. Although the houses are cheaper than anything the formal sector can produce, their quality and planning can be considerably improved and their costs lowered, if people could be organized and technical knowhow and tools are made available to the organization. Here the architect could help to enable the people to improve their physical conditions.
Although house building can be done at the family level, the problem of water supply, sewerage disposal, and other urban services can only be tackled through community organization. If these community organizations can raise the level of consciousness in their respective areas, then they can also influence official policies related to their operation.
In this sphere the architect works with community leaders, sociologists and social workers, in addition to engineers and surveyors. However, no institutional arrangement is possible here, as in the formal sector. In this field we are in a period of experimentation, and thanks God there are no axioms. However, a methodology and a certain direction have been established.
Motivation for a particular urban need can lead to group formation. The group thus formed should be aware of its rights and limits in law. It should acquire the necessary expertise to help in planning for funding, technical inputs, improvement of existing skills, implementation work and its eventual maintenance. The social dynamics which this whole exercise generates should be studied and documented.
The Architect as an Enabler
In the role of an enabler, the job of an architect is to give technical and planning advice which relates to the sociology and economics of low income areas. In addition, he has to make modifications in designs, concepts and implementation procedures in order to make his advice appropriate to work done through community participation.
The question is very often asked by students as to how and through whom they can get involved with this type of work. It is true that opportunities are rare, but they are rapidly increasing. So far this work is being done mainly through international agencies and some NGOs. However, as the second generation of settlers in the katchi abadis takes over, the government organizations will have to step in a big way, at least at policy levels. The second generation being more aware, with its roots in urban culture, will definitely solicit professional advice. I know of at least four cases where advice was sought, but did not work out due to lack of interest on the professional’s part. I must mention that all the three major community participation projects in Karachi have architects associated with them whose contribution has been substantial. If their professional education had been more appropriate, it would have been easier and quicker for these architects to adjust to their new role.
This brings us to another important question regarding the informal sector. Modern urban planning, or for that matter any modern planning, supports the formal sector and ignores the informal. As such, it creates conditions conducive to the latter’s further disorganization and exploitation. The integration of this sector with planned growth on reasonable terms is essential. At the policy level the architect as the creator of urban environment, must press for this integration.
The role of an architect has to be related to the needs of his society. These needs demand that the formal sector in building should be made appropriate and the informal viable. To ensure this the architect should be able to innovate professionally, pressurize politically and, assist the poor as an enabler. Can his education help to prepare him for such a role? I feel that it can. For this it must stress the cause rather than the effect, the sociology and economics of technology rather than its theory, climate and function rather than the form. It should bring the student architect nearer to the building site and closer to the people and their culture; in short, it must relate architecture to the factors that effect, shape and produce it.
It is well understood that only a small number of architects thus educated would be pioneers and innovators. But they are the ones that matter. In addition, the architectural profession thus trained, will be able to play a meaningful role in national development.
There are problems involved in making radical changes in any form of education. Teachers invariably teach as they have been taught. Administrative red-tapism makes changes difficult if not impossible. A radical shift means producing at least two to three batches of confused architects. Finally, meaningful change can only be made over a period of time. It requires patience, research and close monitoring of results. It is high time for us to prepare for this change.
