A book review by Asif Noorani that appeared in the Dawn Gallery, 30th December 2006

He who pays the piper calls the tune, which is what some architects would tell you, and not wrongly, if you point out a discrepancy or a discordant note in their work. They would say that they often have to accept the dictates of their clients. Others may not be frank enough to own their limitation. But if you have to see the architects’ true worth then have a detailed look at the houses that they design and build for their own selves. They don’t have to please anyone except their wives (which is not always very easy) in so far as the functionality of the design is concerned.

A noted architect and interior designer, Mukhtar Husain did something unusual – cataloguing and presenting the houses architects have designed for their own living. The pictorial volume shows the “personality, design philosophy and lifestyle of each architect.” But he has a slightly looser definition of an architect in the context of this book for he has also included interior designer Danish Azar Zuby and civil engineer Saleem Thariani in his splendid coffee table book 100 +1 Pakistani Architects and their own houses. The one point common to Zuby and Thariani is that they don’t have a degree in architecture but they are much in demand for their architectural skills.

While one may thank FOMMA (Foundation of Museum for Modern Art) for cataloguing works of artists in the form of monographs, no association or organisation of architects has moved in the same direction, which is why the importance of Mukhtar Husain’s labour of love can be termed a pioneering work in this country. The Karachi-based author has not confined his efforts to his own city which is Karachi, he has included architects from Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta and Mirpurkhas.

The book’s title 100 + 1 (1 stands for his own house) is slightly misleading because he has included 109 houses, which is because the author also takes into account the houses that the architects had once designed and made for their own use but later moved to a new house. Husain gives pictures and floor plans of both the residences.
Not all the houses have been built from grassroots level. For instance, Habib Fida Ali got a villa which was built in the late 19th century but was lying in a state of disrepair. He restored it and furnished it in keeping with the architectural nuances of the house.

Likewise, Arif Hasan’s house “is a series of add-ons above the house his father bought in 1969”. Mukhtar Husain gives the floor plans of the house before and after Hasan made modifications.

Parvezulhaq Ansari springs a surprise when he includes a covered swimming pool on the ground floor of his 410 sq yards house. The exterior and the interior both look gorgeous. Ansari says, “I give particular attention to environmental and cultural issues, as they relate to design and planning in the developing world.” The thought content is reminiscent of Ayesha Noorani’s views, who blends her ethnically charming house with the cultural and geographical setting. She maintains, “Today I would stress more on sustainability and on using materials that can be re-used, landscaping which can bring down energy costs and recycling waste matter.”

Well before these two architects, the elder statesman of architecture the late Mohammad Abdul Ahed built a house of the stone that was available from the nearby hillock. “I could take as much as I needed. It only cost me the transportation of the material,” said the late Mr Ahed, whose son Ejaz is a distinguished architect in his own right. He too features in the book.

Among the younger lot, Faiz Kidwai’s exterior looks neat and Ayla and Asim Raza’s façade has a distrinct Spanish-Moorish character. The railings of their staircase are also exquisite. The houses featuring in the volume under review range from 170 sq yards to 2,400 sq yards.

The houses are chronologically presented, which serve to illustrate the points that the author has raised in discussing the salient features of six decades in the preliminary pages. It’s interesting to see that the courtyard, which was a regular feature of houses made in the late forties and fifties are no more. It used to serve as a family sitting room in the house and has been replaced by the TV lounge. What he doesn’t mention is that in the last two decades a small table has made an appearance in many a kitchen. In families where the kids have grown up and live separately, the couple finds it convenient to dine close to the kitchen. Even in nuclear families when one races against time in the morning, there is no place more convenient and time-saving to have a quick breakfast than the kitchen.