Amongst the mountains……. Aga Khan School in Gahkuch, Gilgit

Text: Ar. Maria A.
Photography: Irfan Naqi

Any project by the architect Tariq Hasan is rooted in concept which is deciphered from the site and its surroundings. While a student of his in another life time, we had to deliver a concept even if the project was not there. I recall fondly how many a tales were built in a line drawing but though his attributes as a teacher cannot be doubted he made us think, write and conjure stories of and about the project which initiated a dialog of questions and answers about the project itself. And yet again I come across a project which responds to the site directly in response to the need and requirements of the inhabitants which inhabit the built space, the Aga Khan School in Gahkuch.

A school is an enclave of a society grooming its future generation and Gakuch is an educational facility that represents the fusion of a profoundly unique and experimental environment that binds the facility with the surroundings. The physical design provides open class rooms with a variety of adjacent multi use spaces shared by the school and community programs. Planning and design was a collaboration involving educators, parents, neighbors and community organizations. The consensus was to provide a stable, secure environment for young children—something often missing from their home lives. The school was designed to provide a ‘main street’, multipurpose room, and shared story telling areas within a cheerful multi usage structure.