Architectural Education in Pakistan – Road to Excellence
By: Ar. Arif Belgaumi
After remaining in the doldrums for many years, the profession of architecture in Pakistan is showing signs of staging a revival. Better economic prospects and a growing interest in real estate development, coupled with an urgent need to address the developmental requirements of the country, have resulted in a significant boom in architecture. Correspondingly, there has been a growing interest in architectural education; both in terms of greater enrollment as well as founding of new institutions.
Unfortunately, decades of neglect and apathy have meant that there has been no significant growth in the quality or capacity of architectural education in Pakistan. With the exception of a few unique individuals there has been no real development of an academic cadre in the architecture. The need to establish new institutions of architectural education and to improve the quality of the existing ones has put tremendous pressure on the regulating agencies, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (PCATP), to develop and enforce criteria that are realistic and yet provide the impetus to improve the quality of architectural education in the county.
In order to achieve this goal it is imperative to identify realistic short and long term goals for the improvement of architectural education in Pakistan and to pursue those goals rigorously. There are two levels at which architectural educational institutions can be improved. The basic minimum requirement must be compliance with the accreditation criteria of PCATP. Beyond that minimum level any further improvement falls beyond the purview of PCATP’s mandate. However, the Council, and the Institute of Architects, Pakistan (IAP), can play an active role in helping the HEC raise the standard of architectural education beyond the minimum standard required by PCATP.
In order to insure improvement beyond the minimum standard in the short term the following steps need to be taken:
• Place the right person at the helm. Each institution must be headed by an individual who is committed to improving the quality of education in his/her institution. This is an essential requirement since individuals who are clinging to the status quo for personal gain can hardly be expected to willingly institute change.
• PCATP/HEC must have an assurance from the institutions that they are committed to the goals outlined by the two bodies.
• PCATP/HEC must insure that the minimum number of qualified faculty is available to teach the courses required in the approved curriculum. This may require recruiting architects from the profession at large, to teach and providing additional funds to pay competitive remuneration to these instructors. Expectations of magnanimous volunteerism must end.
• Support, financial and technical, must be provided to all the institutions to establish and maintain extensive libraries and information databases. These resources are essential for introducing students with limited world exposure to ideas and concepts in contemporary architecture. Eventually, a library will become the backbone for research activity and post-graduate study.
• Resources must be made available to all institutions to upgrade their physical facilities. Some of the spaces in which architectural institutions are housed are quite pathetic. This may involve at the very least in providing pressure and encouragement to the institution to initiate the changes but in some case may involve providing financial and technical support.
In the long term, the most essential element in the development of architectural education is the creation of a vital and vibrant academic culture that values and encourages scholarship and research.
• One of the reasons why there isn’t an academic culture in architecture in Pakistan is that we have never approached architectures an academic discipline. Architecture has always been treated as a technical subject and curricula have largely focused on equipping students with the basic tools for proper functioning in the office environment. Incidentally, many of the private practices have traditionally been headed by individuals with foreign degrees. In effect, the local institutions have been producing worker drones for the architectural offices. Only recently have we started to address the need for history and theory courses and the importance of research and scholarship. The number of books on architecture published in Pakistan is a simple indicator of this barren academic landscape.
• Each architectural institution must be encouraged and if necessary, compelled to prepare and implement a long term development and improvement programme. This programme should have requirements for research, publications and professional growth of faculty and programmes, including the introduction eventually, of post-graduate studies. In addition, HEC should insure that facilities and resources such as libraries are constantly improved.
• There is an urgent need to increase capacity in the architectural profession. We are just not producing enough graduates to meet the needs of the country. We are also not attracting enough boys to the profession. There are currently, by my estimates 8 to 10 girls for every 1 boy enrolled in architecture programmes. More universities must be encouraged to start architecture departments. The gender imbalance can only be corrected through a public relations programme to ‘sell’ the profession of architecture. In addition, effort needs to be made at the governmental level to improve fee scales – especially in public sector projects – because ultimately the issue boils down to the earning power of the young architect employee relative to other professions. Simultaneously, we need to make the profession more attractive in the long term to women architects. Enormous amounts of time and resources are ‘wasted’ on female graduates who quit the profession after a few years at best. This problem is probably not limited to architecture but it is still quite acute.
• In order to inculcate this atmosphere of academic excellence in architectural education it will be necessary to recruit foreign faculty. This may be on a contract basis or on long term tenure track positions. Foreign faculty should be drawn from both established educators as well as recent post-doctoral fellows. This will insure a mix of young and established ideas. Also, I believe young academics are easier to recruit since they approach such foreign employment with a greater sense of adventure. It may not be necessary to look to the West for foreign faculty. I would focus on East Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia and in the Middle East, Turkey and Egypt.
• Ultimately, we will have to create a new generation of architect scholars and educators who will populate our educational institutions. In order to initiate this process we need to offer scholarships which are offered exclusively for post-graduate architectural studies at the master’s and PhD. level in universities abroad. This financial assistance can be in the form of grants, loans or the guarantee of employment in academia. I believe that the fear of students not returning is unfounded because most western countries are producing a glut of PhD’s and cannot even seem to absorb them. There is little chance of Pakistan PhD’s finding easy employment in academia abroad.
• Lastly, something to think about. The most successful architectural programmes in Pakistan have been those that were headed by visionary individuals who had a clear idea about how and what they wanted to teach. People like Arif Hasan and Kausar Bashir Ahmed at Dawood College of Engineering and Technology and Kamil Khan Mumtaz at National College of Art come to mind. While it is not entirely clear whether is wise to advocate since the cult of personality often leads to academic totalitarianism and suppression of different points of view. But there is something to be said for bringing in educators who have the ability to inspire their students.
These steps are few and may seem straightforward but the devil resides in the details, especially since each department has different specific problems and there will be considerable resistance to the reform. This reform is however, essential to the survival and growth of the architectural profession in Pakistan. Hopefully, this small contribution of ideas will help to further the dialogue.
After remaining in the doldrums for many years, the profession of architecture in Pakistan is showing signs of staging a revival. Better economic prospects and a growing interest in real estate development, coupled with an urgent need to address the developmental requirements of the country, have resulted in a significant boom in architecture. Correspondingly, there has been a growing interest in architectural education; both in terms of greater enrollment as well as founding of new institutions.
Unfortunately, decades of neglect and apathy have meant that there has been no significant growth in the quality or capacity of architectural education in Pakistan. With the exception of a few unique individuals there has been no real development of an academic cadre in the architecture. The need to establish new institutions of architectural education and to improve the quality of the existing ones has put tremendous pressure on the regulating agencies, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (PCATP), to develop and enforce criteria that are realistic and yet provide the impetus to improve the quality of architectural education in the county.
In order to achieve this goal it is imperative to identify realistic short and long term goals for the improvement of architectural education in Pakistan and to pursue those goals rigorously. There are two levels at which architectural educational institutions can be improved. The basic minimum requirement must be compliance with the accreditation criteria of PCATP. Beyond that minimum level any further improvement falls beyond the purview of PCATP’s mandate. However, the Council, and the Institute of Architects, Pakistan (IAP), can play an active role in helping the HEC raise the standard of architectural education beyond the minimum standard required by PCATP.
In order to insure improvement beyond the minimum standard in the short term the following steps need to be taken:
• Place the right person at the helm. Each institution must be headed by an individual who is committed to improving the quality of education in his/her institution. This is an essential requirement since individuals who are clinging to the status quo for personal gain can hardly be expected to willingly institute change.
• PCATP/HEC must have an assurance from the institutions that they are committed to the goals outlined by the two bodies.
• PCATP/HEC must insure that the minimum number of qualified faculty is available to teach the courses required in the approved curriculum. This may require recruiting architects from the profession at large, to teach and providing additional funds to pay competitive remuneration to these instructors. Expectations of magnanimous volunteerism must end.
• Support, financial and technical, must be provided to all the institutions to establish and maintain extensive libraries and information databases. These resources are essential for introducing students with limited world exposure to ideas and concepts in contemporary architecture. Eventually, a library will become the backbone for research activity and post-graduate study.
• Resources must be made available to all institutions to upgrade their physical facilities. Some of the spaces in which architectural institutions are housed are quite pathetic. This may involve at the very least in providing pressure and encouragement to the institution to initiate the changes but in some case may involve providing financial and technical support.
In the long term, the most essential element in the development of architectural education is the creation of a vital and vibrant academic culture that values and encourages scholarship and research.
• One of the reasons why there isn’t an academic culture in architecture in Pakistan is that we have never approached architectures an academic discipline. Architecture has always been treated as a technical subject and curricula have largely focused on equipping students with the basic tools for proper functioning in the office environment. Incidentally, many of the private practices have traditionally been headed by individuals with foreign degrees. In effect, the local institutions have been producing worker drones for the architectural offices. Only recently have we started to address the need for history and theory courses and the importance of research and scholarship. The number of books on architecture published in Pakistan is a simple indicator of this barren academic landscape.
• Each architectural institution must be encouraged and if necessary, compelled to prepare and implement a long term development and improvement programme. This programme should have requirements for research, publications and professional growth of faculty and programmes, including the introduction eventually, of post-graduate studies. In addition, HEC should insure that facilities and resources such as libraries are constantly improved.
• There is an urgent need to increase capacity in the architectural profession. We are just not producing enough graduates to meet the needs of the country. We are also not attracting enough boys to the profession. There are currently, by my estimates 8 to 10 girls for every 1 boy enrolled in architecture programmes. More universities must be encouraged to start architecture departments. The gender imbalance can only be corrected through a public relations programme to ‘sell’ the profession of architecture. In addition, effort needs to be made at the governmental level to improve fee scales – especially in public sector projects – because ultimately the issue boils down to the earning power of the young architect employee relative to other professions. Simultaneously, we need to make the profession more attractive in the long term to women architects. Enormous amounts of time and resources are ‘wasted’ on female graduates who quit the profession after a few years at best. This problem is probably not limited to architecture but it is still quite acute.
• In order to inculcate this atmosphere of academic excellence in architectural education it will be necessary to recruit foreign faculty. This may be on a contract basis or on long term tenure track positions. Foreign faculty should be drawn from both established educators as well as recent post-doctoral fellows. This will insure a mix of young and established ideas. Also, I believe young academics are easier to recruit since they approach such foreign employment with a greater sense of adventure. It may not be necessary to look to the West for foreign faculty. I would focus on East Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia and in the Middle East, Turkey and Egypt.
• Ultimately, we will have to create a new generation of architect scholars and educators who will populate our educational institutions. In order to initiate this process we need to offer scholarships which are offered exclusively for post-graduate architectural studies at the master’s and PhD. level in universities abroad. This financial assistance can be in the form of grants, loans or the guarantee of employment in academia. I believe that the fear of students not returning is unfounded because most western countries are producing a glut of PhD’s and cannot even seem to absorb them. There is little chance of Pakistan PhD’s finding easy employment in academia abroad.
• Lastly, something to think about. The most successful architectural programmes in Pakistan have been those that were headed by visionary individuals who had a clear idea about how and what they wanted to teach. People like Arif Hasan and Kausar Bashir Ahmed at Dawood College of Engineering and Technology and Kamil Khan Mumtaz at National College of Art come to mind. While it is not entirely clear whether is wise to advocate since the cult of personality often leads to academic totalitarianism and suppression of different points of view. But there is something to be said for bringing in educators who have the ability to inspire their students.
These steps are few and may seem straightforward but the devil resides in the details, especially since each department has different specific problems and there will be considerable resistance to the reform. This reform is however, essential to the survival and growth of the architectural profession in Pakistan. Hopefully, this small contribution of ideas will help to further the dialogue.
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