| Abdur Rahman Hye | |
|---|---|
A.R. Hye, on his graduation day at the University of Edinburgh, 1951. |
|
| Born | December 17, 1919 Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, British Indian Empire (Present-day India) |
| Died | September 18, 2008 (aged 88) Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Nationality | Pakistan |
| Alma mater | Sir J. J. College of Architecture University of Edinburgh |
| Work | |
| Buildings | Generals Combatant Army Headquarters (GHQ) Quaid-e-Azam Medical College Khyber Medical College Gazetted Officers Housing, GOR III Lahore Army District |
| Projects | Buildings at Mayo Hospital Buildings at Nishter Medical College of Multan Mosque, Gazetted Officers Residences (GOR) I, Lahore Minister's Residences, Lahore |
| Design | Auditorium, Lahore College for Women University Additions to APWA College for Women Minister's Residences, Lahore |
Abdur Rahman Hye (Urdu: عبد الرحمن حئ; December 17, 1919 — September 18, 2008), popularly known as A.R. Hye, was a Pakistani architect and a pioneer of institutional architectures in Pakistan.
Contents |
After graduating from Sir J.J. College of Architecture, Bombay in pre-partition India, A.R. Hye travelled aboard ocean liner SS Ile de France from Bombay to the United Kingdom on a trip which in those days took three weeks on the ship, and later took him seven years in United Kingdom to train as an architect. He received his architecture degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1951 and was admitted to the membership of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He received some of his early education in Hyderabad State when his family moved there temporarily.
He arrived in Europe after World War II, and witnessed first-hand the reconstruction of Europe. This experience influenced his architecture and his philosophy, and once he returned home he specialised in using indigenous resources to provide maximum comfort. He used natural ventilation, strategic placement of windows, courtyards and overhangs and used wind flow in some designs to provide natural protection against harsh exterior climate conditions. Those days he was one of the few qualified architects in his newly independent country.[1] In 1952, after his return from the UK, A.R. Hye married Qudsia. They have three children: Laique, Fatimah wife of Syed Waliullah Husaini, and Ayesha wife of Kazi Zulkader Siddiqui.
A.R. Hye returned to the UK in the 1960s, to specialise in Tropical Architecture at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.
While A.R. Hye was in the UK, India gained independence from Britain, and was partitioned into India and Pakistan. Hye moved to East Pakistan after his return, where his education and background gave him the opportunity to use his skills to influence the architectural landscape of his country at a very early stage. A.R. Hye is considered the father of Institutional Architecture in Pakistan.[2]
His first major assignment in East Pakistan was to design and build the infrastructure of the new country. Thus in the 1950s, early in his career, Hye became the Chief Town Planner of the port city of Chittagong. In this capacity, he was responsible for working on the master plan of Chittagong Township and Cox's Bazaar. He also worked as Architect Planner in Dhaka.
In 1958 he moved to West Pakistan, and joined the Government in 1959 to become the first Chief Architect of the Government of West Pakistan. He was responsible for the architectural design of all government buildings in the cities and towns of West Pakistan, including Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, Jhelum, Bahawalpur, Sialkot, Gujrat, Mardan, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Hyderabad, Mianwali, and Kalabagh. He remained in this key position until West Pakistan was broken into four provinces, after the resignation of President Ayub Khan. Thereafter, he was asked to become the Chief Architect of the Government of Punjab, the largest of the four provinces.
In 1967, the Punjab Provisional Government was asked by then-active military government to find the country's best architects available at that time. The Punjab provisional government sent the recommendation by citing Hye as one the best architects the country had available. In 1967 till 1971, Hye acted as the "chief architect" for the Generals Combatant Headquarter (GHQ), designing the entire GHQ buildings and associated areas for the military's staff services. Based in Lahore, he remained in that position until his retirement from government service in 1981. Many of his designs were built in the early 80's after his retirement.
As Chief Architect of West Pakistan and Punjab, his designs included colleges, schools, polytechnic institutions, hospitals, housing schemes and townships. During this period, he designed more buildings than any other architect of his era in Pakistan.[3] The best known of his projects is the Bahawalpur Medical College, now renamed Quaid-e-Azam Medical College, in Bahawalpur. His projects also included many Tehsil Hospitals.
His buildings were constructed before air conditioning became commonplace in the region. Thus, his designs are adapted to their conditions, and are an example of "tropical architecture". The buildings incorporated strategically placed windows and overhangs, and relied on natural ventilation to moderate the extremely hot climate. Bold overhangs and courtyards are characteristic of his designs. These overhangs provided natural shade to the exterior walls of the building, protecting it from intense heat during summer, and acting as a barrier to winter cold winds, which are characteristic of the climate of inland Pakistan. His early designs had bold linear features which in later stages included more traditional arches in his design for climate control. In addition to architecture he was committed to eductation. He was successful in setting up schools in areas where landowners opposed them as they were afraid people would revolt against their tyranny after receiving education.
Upon his retirement from service in 1981, A.R. Hye spent a few years traveling and living in the USA. Since 1995, he lived a retired life in Islamabad in a house designed by himself. A.R. Hye died [4] in Islamabad on September 18, 2008.
Long after his death thousands of students will graduate each year from the schools, colleges, universities and polytechnic institutes he designed, and patients will get cured at the hospitals he designed and his other works will continue to touch the daily lives of people in one of the most densely populated regions of the world years after his death.