Architecture exhibition concludes early

NCA students come up with ideas on rehabilitating flood affected.

LAHORE: The two-day exhibition of the fourth year students of the Architecture Department of the National College of Arts (NCA) was called off early on the second day following the assassination of Governor Salmaan Taseer on Tuesday.

NCA Principal Prof Fauzia Qureshi announced the decision to the participants and the guests an hour after the exhibition commenced at the Zahoorul Akhlaq Art Gallery.

The exhibition was based on rehabilitation proposals prepared by the students who visited the flood-hit areas of Khan Colony, Bindu Milana, Bukhpur and Chahnanowalla north-west of Multan. The students had prepared the proposals based on the research findings as an academic exercise commissioned by the faculty.

The participating students hoped to win approval for the plans and their implementation. Some of them, however, feared that their work might go waste.

The proposals were scheduled to be presented before a jury of renowned architects on Thursday, January 6.

Before the exhibition was called off, Syed Mohammad Mehdi, an architecture student, gave a presentation on the scope of the research and the proposals. He said, “We have worked keeping all aspects in mind. We even used mud bricks and bamboo walls”.

The focus of the proposals was housing architecture and rehabilitation and reconstruction ideas. Awais Ahmad, another student, said that the exercise was meant to generate ideas to help the government find solutions for the affected areas and people.

Students tried to convince the viewers about the practicality of their proposals.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2011.