Getz Art
Text: Ar. M. Sayem Ghayur
Photography: Ferzad Bagheri & M. Sayem Ghayur
The current state of Karachi’s Korangi Industrial Area doesn’t even whisper its past, when its roads were in shambles and the ever ballooning road density was often cluttered. Leaving one stranded in the middle of a stream of trucks, containers and trailers, quite habitually. The area has transformed now, roads are finally rolled in place and thus you see a lot more in the area than heavy vehicles. You actually see the panorama of an industrial show-case all along the pavement. The irony of an industrial zone with distinctly designed industries does hit you conspicuously but in a queer way. Industries in Korangi bear the same queer dichotomy that radiated from Andy Warhol’s Brillo boxes and Campbell cans, exhibited as pieces of art in an art gallery, only in reverse.
Getz Pharma is one of the many architect-designed factories dotted along the boulevard of smoking chimneys. Ejaz Ahed has done a few factories along the boulevard but this one stands out manifestly from the rest as this one doesn’t wear the aluminum cladding that others do. The building’s red pigmented concrete panels and the green glazing hold your gaze until the elevation’s flatness assures you that the factory is not that big a project. However, after just a few minutes into the factory the contradiction discloses in quite an unexpected way!
Not even a hint of the weave of spaces, volumes and voids shows on the outside of the building, and the interior also unfolds it very gradually. Functionally this is a huge project to be written about in detail, but architecturally it appears to be very focused, simple in idea and elegant. The main building of the factory which comprises of the central warehouse, and the manufacturing and packaging block, is set back from the East-side so that it almost jumps up on the West side, leaving no space to view it from inside the factory’s boundary wall. You have to go quite a few paces outside the factory to view the entire elevation. However, the intention of pulling it on the road-side is only understood if you go deeper into the building until you approach its east-side courtyard, the focal point of the project.
It was quite interesting to know that three architecture firms have actively worked on this project, Ahed Associates have done the architecture, Arif Belgaumi Associates did the interiors and Arshad Faruqui did the landscaping. It’s a pleasure to see no clash between the aesthetic differences, there are differences but very complimentary.
Architecturally, the building has been planned in such a way as to give the never ending workstations and corridor areas, pockets of natural light, either on the ceilings or the thick walls. The sturdy red walls of the exterior are balanced in the interior with these light wells in the ceilings and walls. The glossy floors multiply the voids on the ceilings to this effect that sometimes it feels as if there are light reservoirs on the floors too. In places where the ceilings cannot be opened up to sunlight, the thick walls are opened out to thick foliage or recess areas spread across the factory to render a relaxed environment for the employees.
The recess courts are very interestingly detailed with rough flooring, wood and metal furniture specifically designed for an open air smoking-zone, wooden screens, pergolas, water bodies, sculptures and sprouts. These recess zones along with light voids punctuate the walk towards the highlight of the project, the east-side court.
Interior of the building opens to the court with the help of a fully glazed stair tower overlooking the vast, exquisitely landscaped court. However, this is not the only staircase opening into this area. This glazed stair tower, overlooks an open-air blue steel stair case in the middle of the landscape. The court is accentuated characteristically with quite a few water bodies and sprouts, wooden portals, benches and tables. The activity in this area is always brimming with staff, and outsiders. All the ancillary activities like the canteen, prayer area, dining halls and kitchens are across this court, which makes this area all the more functionally important too.
Other areas worth a mention are the training area lounge, the terrace opening on the west-side elevation and the library. Overall, what’s good to see is that the works of three architects is honoured to the utmost by the factory’s maintenance and administration staff. All the while I was there I saw managers and the higher staff nagging the gardeners and sweepers to take care of the areas properly. There is construction work still going on, but in such an organized way that it doesn’t look messy or cluttered at all.
Pharmaceutical companies have had a major role in uplifting the urban appeal of Korangi industrial area of Karachi. In a country where even fashion designers and art gallery operators get their outlets and galleries designed and constructed by contractors, professionally designed industries seem to be a far fetched idea, but the truth is, it’s not an idea anymore. Getz Pharma, illustrates the job of architects, mastering different aspects and scales of the profession of architecture, quite visibly.
In the classical era of Italy many projects were worked upon by the best architects of that era, one of the examples is that of Saint Peter’s Basilica, on which Bramante’s design was built upon by Raphael, Michelangelo, Fra Giocondo, Giuliano da Sangallo and Bernini at different stages of the project. To this date, the public can see how all the architects complimented each other’s efforts through their own designs and ideas. Supremacy of the Project’s character always manipulated the moves of the architects, even though the architects of such stature worked on the same projects, their egos never took over the essence of the space they have left behind for the public to cherish forever.
We have factories and corporate high-rises being designed and constructed by the best of professionals our country has produced but nothing much has been happening in the public sector. Our public parks and other public amenity spaces are still constructed by developers and contractors who design the public places to earn money and promote their own materials for the sake of earning more capital. Hope people who run these pharmaceutical companies inspire some more people to change the outlook of our entire country and not just the industrial zone.
Photography: Ferzad Bagheri & M. Sayem Ghayur
The current state of Karachi’s Korangi Industrial Area doesn’t even whisper its past, when its roads were in shambles and the ever ballooning road density was often cluttered. Leaving one stranded in the middle of a stream of trucks, containers and trailers, quite habitually. The area has transformed now, roads are finally rolled in place and thus you see a lot more in the area than heavy vehicles. You actually see the panorama of an industrial show-case all along the pavement. The irony of an industrial zone with distinctly designed industries does hit you conspicuously but in a queer way. Industries in Korangi bear the same queer dichotomy that radiated from Andy Warhol’s Brillo boxes and Campbell cans, exhibited as pieces of art in an art gallery, only in reverse.
Getz Pharma is one of the many architect-designed factories dotted along the boulevard of smoking chimneys. Ejaz Ahed has done a few factories along the boulevard but this one stands out manifestly from the rest as this one doesn’t wear the aluminum cladding that others do. The building’s red pigmented concrete panels and the green glazing hold your gaze until the elevation’s flatness assures you that the factory is not that big a project. However, after just a few minutes into the factory the contradiction discloses in quite an unexpected way!
Not even a hint of the weave of spaces, volumes and voids shows on the outside of the building, and the interior also unfolds it very gradually. Functionally this is a huge project to be written about in detail, but architecturally it appears to be very focused, simple in idea and elegant. The main building of the factory which comprises of the central warehouse, and the manufacturing and packaging block, is set back from the East-side so that it almost jumps up on the West side, leaving no space to view it from inside the factory’s boundary wall. You have to go quite a few paces outside the factory to view the entire elevation. However, the intention of pulling it on the road-side is only understood if you go deeper into the building until you approach its east-side courtyard, the focal point of the project.
It was quite interesting to know that three architecture firms have actively worked on this project, Ahed Associates have done the architecture, Arif Belgaumi Associates did the interiors and Arshad Faruqui did the landscaping. It’s a pleasure to see no clash between the aesthetic differences, there are differences but very complimentary.
Architecturally, the building has been planned in such a way as to give the never ending workstations and corridor areas, pockets of natural light, either on the ceilings or the thick walls. The sturdy red walls of the exterior are balanced in the interior with these light wells in the ceilings and walls. The glossy floors multiply the voids on the ceilings to this effect that sometimes it feels as if there are light reservoirs on the floors too. In places where the ceilings cannot be opened up to sunlight, the thick walls are opened out to thick foliage or recess areas spread across the factory to render a relaxed environment for the employees.
The recess courts are very interestingly detailed with rough flooring, wood and metal furniture specifically designed for an open air smoking-zone, wooden screens, pergolas, water bodies, sculptures and sprouts. These recess zones along with light voids punctuate the walk towards the highlight of the project, the east-side court.
Interior of the building opens to the court with the help of a fully glazed stair tower overlooking the vast, exquisitely landscaped court. However, this is not the only staircase opening into this area. This glazed stair tower, overlooks an open-air blue steel stair case in the middle of the landscape. The court is accentuated characteristically with quite a few water bodies and sprouts, wooden portals, benches and tables. The activity in this area is always brimming with staff, and outsiders. All the ancillary activities like the canteen, prayer area, dining halls and kitchens are across this court, which makes this area all the more functionally important too.
Other areas worth a mention are the training area lounge, the terrace opening on the west-side elevation and the library. Overall, what’s good to see is that the works of three architects is honoured to the utmost by the factory’s maintenance and administration staff. All the while I was there I saw managers and the higher staff nagging the gardeners and sweepers to take care of the areas properly. There is construction work still going on, but in such an organized way that it doesn’t look messy or cluttered at all.
Pharmaceutical companies have had a major role in uplifting the urban appeal of Korangi industrial area of Karachi. In a country where even fashion designers and art gallery operators get their outlets and galleries designed and constructed by contractors, professionally designed industries seem to be a far fetched idea, but the truth is, it’s not an idea anymore. Getz Pharma, illustrates the job of architects, mastering different aspects and scales of the profession of architecture, quite visibly.
In the classical era of Italy many projects were worked upon by the best architects of that era, one of the examples is that of Saint Peter’s Basilica, on which Bramante’s design was built upon by Raphael, Michelangelo, Fra Giocondo, Giuliano da Sangallo and Bernini at different stages of the project. To this date, the public can see how all the architects complimented each other’s efforts through their own designs and ideas. Supremacy of the Project’s character always manipulated the moves of the architects, even though the architects of such stature worked on the same projects, their egos never took over the essence of the space they have left behind for the public to cherish forever.
We have factories and corporate high-rises being designed and constructed by the best of professionals our country has produced but nothing much has been happening in the public sector. Our public parks and other public amenity spaces are still constructed by developers and contractors who design the public places to earn money and promote their own materials for the sake of earning more capital. Hope people who run these pharmaceutical companies inspire some more people to change the outlook of our entire country and not just the industrial zone.
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