Temporal Infrastructure

Text:Maria Aslam

Photography:Marium & Maria Aslam

Seems like yesterday when the same scribe had reviewed S Abdulla in Lahore, the dynamic play of construction beams and exposed framework had set the setting of the new warehouse design entity in the design world. Then it was just a beginning, an exploration that was picked up by many architects a new aspect for less is more? Today we go a step further with the Builders Mall perched almost at the outskirts of Rawalpindi - Islamabad, an area where construction is in full swing whether commercial or residential. In a year’s time the building which stands aloof in the typical usual constructed environ of the capital city might just be engulfed by its neighbors.

Set back from the road and sitting royally in a slender mass enveloped in fair-faced concrete that captures ones eye because of the elevation the exterior belies the interior completely. As one walks over its entrance portal and enters its atrium space a new world of interiors and products unfolds. The central natural lit space bewilders as a playful world suddenly surprise you. I literally did a twirl just to get an expanse of the space from down to the top. I also noticed the traffic and the reactions of the people visiting the Mall then, it is obvious that one needs to spend hours to get the maximum out of the space whether in the design context or the plethora of products that it houses.