Urban Morphology

Urban Morphology is defined as the study of the form of human settlements and the process of their formation and transformation.

First of all, if we look at the history of urban planning and architecture, the regions or civilizations which lie within the current Pakistan were: Harrapa, Mohenjodaro, Mehr Garh and Gandhara. These cities were built on simple gridiron pattern and local materials were used for the construction purposes. Hierarchy of streets and well-developed drainage system was seen in their urban planning. Noise control was considered during the planning of houses along with the enhancement of privacy.

Apart from the civilization’s history, what I believe is that the traditional urban morphology of Pakistan took inspiration from

(Architecture of bazaars got changed)

• House Design (Colonial proto-type)

Before partition, the architecture of Pakistan was the fusion of different cultures but after the partition, it was converted into modern and post- modern architecture due to the lack of local architects present in the country. Even the political scenario’s changed the architectural styles of Pakistan after the partition.

Before modernist interventions, Pakistan’s urban morphology has gone through different transformations. Modernist interventions took place in Pakistan when foreign architects and town planners were invited to planning/designing city and buildings in Pakistan. At the start, modern architecture did not have much impact on traditional architectural style as houses were still built with traditional style. With the passage of time people got inspired from the modernist approach so they tried to blend the traditional style with the modern one.

Few examples based on modern along with the touch of traditional architecture are:

• Alhamra Art Council Lahore by architect Nayyar Ali Dada (Local Architect)

• LUMS institute Lahore by architect Habib Fida Ali (Local

As we can see that culture, social needs and climatic conditions are considered while designing a building whether it was Mughal era building from the past or is built in the current years after partition. Where Islamabad (a master plan designed by an architect and town planner Doxiadis) is totally a modern city and its architecture is also known for its modern style. Just because foreigner architects were invited to design the public buildings, therefore it was hard for them to design traditional style building by considering the cultural and social needs of people of Pakistan as they were not aware of those traditions, cultural and social