architect | researcher | spatial practice / advocacy | Goldsmiths @viscult | @CheveningFCDO
Joined May 2010
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Really good to see that Banyan tree that collapsed yesterday is being replanted by @KmcPakistan - 🤞🏼 for its roots to settle back into soil. May this practice set a precedence for future that it’s important to accommodate this repair and maintenance as part of urban practice.
1/3 #Karachi needs #development, but not every development must become bigger, more centralised and more institutional. Karachi’s grassroot community institutions understood instinctively. Mehr Ghar in Lyari, Rangoonwala Community Centre in Bahadurabad, Ghalib Library in Nazimabd
2/3 They are embedded in particular neighbourhood histories. Their value comes from the way they sit within communities that already have their own rhythms, languages, anxieties, memories and forms of gathering. They do not need to become monumental in order to matter.
3/3 Their scale is part of their intelligence. Here is what I wrote Ecologies of Civic Spaces in @dawn_com : dawn.com/news/2011521/the-ec…
Horrible Hazim - you could have done better. Terribly kitsch and what a waste of money and aesthetics. The original form needed better lighting and functional water recycle system. What you have done is - cheap unsustainable legacy. @HazimBangwar
Disney heritage beautification plan in #Karachi right in front of @KmcPakistan - one hand we are heading and preserving heritage like Empress Market / Hoti Market / Frere Hall and then on extreme level this is what we are doing. A top down cheap decisions. Who has the right ?
When I wrote about "where is culture investment' I kept thinking about maintenance and questioning a long term continuous relation with Karachi: dawn.com/news/1989333/cultur…
#development #culture #karachi #urbanplanning @HazimBangwar @KmcPakistan @SindhCMHouse @DCSouthKarachi
Architects / Urban planners can only design. But care management and design continuity falls under maintenance of the city's local governance. How long can we see ribbon cutting events but instead a strategy which manages the city with an intent?
The numerous activities we did on this square with the right kind of cultural programming, its heartbreaking to see how governance takes advantage of civil societies intent to sabotage the long term strategy. May the urban initiators learn from interventions. @HazimBangwar
So sad to see irrelevant governance, obsessed with making birds aviary without any design or sensibilities. I just crossed Frere Hall and all the birds are hurdled without any shade inside where they can secure themselves. Insan bhi aik ajeeb chez hai. @KmcPakistan @SindhGovt1
The Supreme Court of Pakistan banned billboards and hoardings on public property in #Karachi ordered in 2018 and 2022. This ruling mandated the removal of all advertising boards from roads, bridges, and greenbelts to ensure public safety and restore the city's urban landscape.
The amount taken by local governance on allowing billboards is a short term gain and collapse of infrastructure. Just like how construction is a loose game, Many public events are allowed in #Karachi without any safety paper work.
Videos from Commons mela last night is also failure of #governance where safety and measures are not taken into consideration. Vendors have the power to install structures in public spaces without any documentation to sign safety and regulation measures. Who is checking?
Time to reflect and learn that such weather conditions are now just going to escalate and we in #urban centers need to rethink what tensile structures mean. In last 10 min I witnessed solar panels, pan ke khokhay, shoddy bus stops, security guard booths, construction nets flying.
Cities which are not regularly maintained have suffered the most. Urban centers like #Karachi where Parks directors and authority are sitting and not doing their jobs, tree felling might be natural phenomena but when maintenance and regular upkeep is not done - this is enviable
