FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION – THE LAHORE MCB BUILDING
TEXT BY: AR. OMAR HASSAN
PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF NAYYAR ALI DADA & ASSOCIATES
The prolific life and work of Architect Nayyar Ali Dada (NAD) needs no introduction. He is arguably the finest Architect this country has produced in its tumultuous history. The breadth and scale of his work is immense – the palette unfolding over three decades of practice and encompassing all scales of operation. From large public commissions to monuments, from intricately scaled private spaces to sensitive conservation projects, from urban analyses and studies to landscape interventions,
NAD continues to be a visionary.
NAD is amongst the few Architects in Pakistan who have managed to develop a unique, personal and coherent architectural vocabulary. This vocabulary resonates through the body of his built work and has been gradually fine tuned to respond to a multitude of local conditions over the last thirty years. Though admittedly wary of the Modernist movement, the work of NAD has an inextricable connection to contemporary life in
Pakistan. His skill in working with different materials, colours, form and proportion stem directly from his love of drawing, painting and music.
This “sensitivity” allows him to work with light as a tangible material, slicing through and defining space.
The MCB headquarter building in Lahore is a seminal work of architecture. The design of this building faithfully follows the simple design premise developed for the Project. The design concept deals with notions of implied imagery and iconography, transparency, the framing of views to and from the building, orientation with regard to the sun and aptly responding to the site context.
PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF NAYYAR ALI DADA & ASSOCIATES
The prolific life and work of Architect Nayyar Ali Dada (NAD) needs no introduction. He is arguably the finest Architect this country has produced in its tumultuous history. The breadth and scale of his work is immense – the palette unfolding over three decades of practice and encompassing all scales of operation. From large public commissions to monuments, from intricately scaled private spaces to sensitive conservation projects, from urban analyses and studies to landscape interventions,
NAD continues to be a visionary.
NAD is amongst the few Architects in Pakistan who have managed to develop a unique, personal and coherent architectural vocabulary. This vocabulary resonates through the body of his built work and has been gradually fine tuned to respond to a multitude of local conditions over the last thirty years. Though admittedly wary of the Modernist movement, the work of NAD has an inextricable connection to contemporary life in
Pakistan. His skill in working with different materials, colours, form and proportion stem directly from his love of drawing, painting and music.
This “sensitivity” allows him to work with light as a tangible material, slicing through and defining space.
The MCB headquarter building in Lahore is a seminal work of architecture. The design of this building faithfully follows the simple design premise developed for the Project. The design concept deals with notions of implied imagery and iconography, transparency, the framing of views to and from the building, orientation with regard to the sun and aptly responding to the site context.
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