Hammad Husain - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Hammad Husain is a Pakistani architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

and writer, based in Islamabad

Islamabad

Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...

Early life

Hammad was born in Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. His father, Javed Husain, a retired brigadier

Brigadier

Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....

, served in the armoured corps and the elite Special Service Group (SSG) of the Pakistan Army

Pakistan Army

The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...

. His mother, Nazli is a religious scholar and a lecturer in Karachi

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

. Hammad studied at Aitchison College

Aitchison College

Aitchison College, Lahore, is one of the most prestigious educational institutions of its kind in South Asia. Established in 1886, it has retained its character over the years, maintaining the public school tradition of providing an education that uses academics, sports and co-curricular activities...

, Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

and Saint Mary's Academy in Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi

. In 1989, he went to Ankara

Ankara

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

to study architecture at Middle East Technical University

Middle East Technical University

Middle East Technical University is a public technical university located in Ankara, Turkey...

(METU).

Career

Upon receiving his architecture degree from METU in 1994, Hammad returned to Islamabad and joined Sikander Ajam Associates, one of the leading architecture firms of the city. In 1996, he set up his own practice, Hammad Husain Associates, Architects. He has designed farmhouses, villas, office buildings, hospitals and many other projects in over fifteen cities of Pakistan and is a recipient of Institute of Architects Pakistan (IAP) award for interior design. He is also involved in interior design, construction and project management.

After an earthquake devastated Northern Pakistan in October 2005, Hammad designed a low-cost earthquake shelter for the homeless called IRAS (Improvised Rapid All-weather Shelter) that was taken up by many international aid agencies including Australian Aid International and Peace Malaysia. Hammad can be credited with being the only architect in the country whose design was mass-produced and used by the homeless all across the earthquake-affected area. The design was eventually taken up by a Malaysian building firm which formally marketed it in Malaysia as an effective low-cost shelter.

In 1999, Hammad was appointed Islamabad Correspondent of Archi Times
Archi Times
Archi Times is the only architectural monthly publication in Pakistan.The publication is widely circulated to Architects, Planners, Engineers, Builders and Developers, Contractors, Interior Designers, Building Materials Manufactures and Other Senior Management's in Building Civil Engineering,...

, the only architecture monthly newspaper of the country. This led him to start a monthly column titled “The Freestanding column” in the process achieving the distinction of being the first regular architecture columnist of Pakistan. He interviewed many prominent Pakistani and international architects for Archi Times including Fumihiko Maki

Fumihiko Maki

is a Japanese architect and currently teaching at Keio University SFC.- Biography :After studying at the University of Tokyo he moved to the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and then to Harvard Graduate School of Design. In 1956, he took a post as assistant professor of...

, Itsuko Hasegawa

Itsuko Hasegawa

is a noted Japanese architect.-Biography:Hasegawa was born in Shizuoka, received her degree in architecture from Kanto Gakuin University , trained with Kiyonori Kikutake. In 1969, Hasegawa entered Kazuo Shinohara’s lab at the Tokyo Institute of Technology as a graduate student...

and Kiyonori Kikutake

Kiyonori Kikutake

is a prominent Japanese architect known as one of the founders of the Japanese Metabolist group. He has also been the tutor and employer of several important Japanese architects, such as Toyo Ito and Itsuko Hasegawa.-Career:...

of Japan.

Hammad has oft been mired in controversy because of his outspoken views and blunt writings and has been both criticized and admired by his peers and colleagues. His frank and honest views, however, have made him a preferred choice for television programs and panel discussions and he has appeared on international and local TV channels including CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

, Express News

Express News

Express News may refer to:* Express News , a Pakistan private TV Channel* Express Newspapers, a British newspaper group* San Antonio Express-News, an American daily newspaper...

, Geo TV, Business Plus, and PTV. He is now arguably one of the most recognized architects of the country.

Hammad won a Japanese Government fellowship in 2003 and spent five months travelling and studying architecture in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

and Hiroshima

Hiroshima

is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...

. He met renowned Japanese architects like Toyo Ito

Toyo Ito

is a Japanese architect known for creating conceptual architecture, in which he seeks to simultaneously express the physical and virtual worlds. He is a leading exponent of architecture that addresses the contemporary notion of a "simulated" city, and has been called "one of the world's most...

, documented important buildings and briefly worked for Nikken Sekkei Ltd in Tokyo. Hammad’s stint in Japan deeply influenced his architectural philosophy and his understanding of the profession. He learned the value of space utilization and meticulous detailing which transformed his approach towards architecture.

IAP Chairman & Public Campaigns

Two months after his return from Japan, in February 2004, Hammad was elected chairman of the Institute of Architects, Pakistan (IAP), Rawalpindi-Islamabad Chapter, earning the distinction of being the youngest-ever chapter chairman of IAP at 34. As chairman of his institute, he spearheaded public-interest campaigns including a movement to stop the demolition of the Lahore High Court, a 130-year old heritage building in Lahore; a media campaign to highlight the problems in large public construction projects of Islamabad and a drive, along with Karachi’s civil society members, to stop the occupation of Karachi’s coastal beaches by large real-estate conglomerates.

President Musharraf's architect

Hammad gained prominence in 2004 when he was commissioned by General Pervez Musharraf, the President of Pakistan and a front line US ally in the War on Terror, to design his farmhouse in Islamabad. After Mr Musharraf’s resignation as president on August 18, 2008, his farmhouse, along with his architect, came under local and international media spotlight amid speculations whether Mr Musharraf would be able to live in his soon-to-be-completed farmhouse or leave the country. Hammad was interviewed extensively in newspapers such as The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

and Washington Times and he appeared on local TV channels to talk about the farmhouse, which became the most hotly debated property in the country.

Academics

Hammad teaches part-time at the National College of Arts, Rawalpindi campus. He teaches 20th century architecture and takes 4th year design studio. He is also a member of the students admissions selection panel and coordinator for student internships. Hammad has been associated with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

Aga Khan Trust for Culture

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network . It focuses on the revitalization of communities in the Muslim world—physical, social, cultural, and economic...

(AKTC) and its various subsidiary organizations such as ArchNet and Aga Khan Award for Architecture. He represented Pakistan as editor in an AKTC-sponsored survey titled “Survey of Architectural Education and Professional Practice in Selected Areas of the Muslim World”, in Geneva in 2006 which was conducted by Professor Peter Rowe of Harvard Graduate School of Design

Harvard Graduate School of Design

The Harvard Graduate School of Design is a graduate school at Harvard University offering degrees in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning and Design.-History:...

. Hammad has presented papers at international conferences including the UIA (International Union of Architects

International Union of Architects

The International Union of Architects is an international non-governmental organization that represents over a million architects in 124 countries. The UIA was founded in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1948. The General Secretariat is located in Paris...

) Congress 2005 at Istanbul, Turkey and International Conference on Humane Habitat (ICHH) 2008 at Mumbai, India.

Selected Projects

President Pervez Musharraf farmhouse, Islamabad (2008)
Hospital, Peshawar
Administrative Office building, Rawalpindi (2008)
Artillery Museum, Nowshera (2007)
Mechanical Transport car park, Rawalpindi (2007)
‘Musharraf Lodge’ Guest House, Nowshera (2007)
Zamzama Resort Huts, Kalam (2007)
Asad Zahur farmhouse, Islamabad (2007)
Cafeteria and mass dining facility, Murree (2006)
Improvised, Rapid, All-weather Shelter (IRAS, shelter for earthquake victims), Kashmir (2005)
Turkish Embassy interior, Islamabad (2005)
Khalid Malik farmhouse, Islamabad (2004)
Bridge House, Islamabad (2003)
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed residence, Islamabad (2002)

Sources

Public-interest campaigns

Pakistan earthquake 2005

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