Tribute: Wilayat Ali Khan - K-P’s celebrated architect no more

He was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Architects.

Wilayat Ali Khan, a celebrated architect and one of the pioneers of architecture in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, passed away on September 20, 2013.

Born in 1941 in Badrashi, Nowshera, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, he received a diploma in architecture from the National College of Arts, Lahore. After graduation he worked in Lahore on numerous projects before he returned to Peshawar in 1970. A recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Architects, Pakistan, he was short-listed for prestigious the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. His designs have influenced the landscape of the frontier and his architecture has influenced young architects all over Pakistan.

My first reaction to Wilayat’s passing is to get mad at him for going so soon and so abruptly. But on second thoughts I forgive him because he had no control over it and now so many days have passed and nobody, neither his peer institution, The Institute of Architects, Pakistan, nor the K-P government where Wilayat’s work can be witnessed on every corner or institution, has issued a statement, not even a snippet about losing a stalwart of the profession and son of Pakhtunkhwa.

Wilayat was a very unassuming person. He was very soft but don’t mistake that. If he believed in something you could not shake that belief. His beliefs, his reverence for his land and its values were very dear to him.

Those of us who have been associated with the profession and those of us who have come in contact with Wilayat know his dedication to his profession and his stickler sense of detail and getting into the meat of the matter.

He had the soul of a saint and heart of a child. Sometimes he got caught in what is tradition and what is right. But it never took him long to reason out of tradition and move forward. Whosoever has ever seen his work and whosoever has been lucky enough to see him work would value cherish and nourish his or her association with this great man Wilayat Ali Khan.

I only want to request the K-P government to please acknowledge a son of the soil who had devoted most of his life for the province and worked tirelessly and I especially request PTI chief Imran Khan, whom Pakhtunkhwa has embraced with open arms and mined and Wilayat’s friend Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to establish an award of excellence in the name for the sons of the soil and if they can show generosity and go beyond the soil, I would embrace it and I will join them.

I would also like to request the federal government to consider Wilayat for the Pride of Performance for excellence in Architecture award.

I would also request the Institute of Architects, Pakistan to hold a reference in the capital and invite architects and his friends and particularly his family to celebrate him and his life’s work.

There are so many friends and admirers of Wilayat in Pakhtunkhwa and beyond without naming names and they all know who I am talking about. They should come forward and say out loud who Wilayat was and acknowledge his legacy. Please take the time and celebrate this man.

Please let’s get together and initiate a tradition of rewarding excellence so that our youth don’t have to grope for heroes. Don’t just say in evening get-togethers that Wilayat is the doyen of the frontier, acknowledge him openly and officially and create pedestals for your children.

The writer is a practicing architect and can be reached at [e-mail]

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2013.