| Hammad Husain | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 12, 1970 Rawalpindi, Pakistan |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Awards | IAP Interior Design Award 1998 |
| Work | |
| Buildings |
President Pervez Musharraf farmhouse, Islamabad |
| Projects | Artillery Museum, Nowshera |
Hammad Husain (b. February 12, 1970) is a Pakistani architect and writer, based in Islamabad.
Contents |
Hammad was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. His father, Javed Husain, a retired brigadier, served in the armoured corps and the elite Special Service Group (SSG) of the Pakistan Army. His mother, Nazli is a religious scholar and a lecturer in Karachi. Hammad studied at Aitchison College, Lahore and Saint Mary's Academy in Rawalpindi. In 1989, he went to Ankara, Turkey to study architecture at Middle East Technical University (METU).
Upon receiving his architecture degree from METU in 1994, Hammad returned to Islamabad and joined Sikander Ajam Associates, one of the leading architecture firms of the city. In 1996, he set up his own practice, Hammad Husain Associates, Architects. He has designed farmhouses, villas, office buildings, hospitals and many other projects in over fifteen cities of Pakistan and is a recipient of Institute of Architects Pakistan (IAP) award for interior design. He is also involved in interior design, construction and project management.
After an earthquake devastated Northern Pakistan in October 2005, Hammad designed a low-cost earthquake shelter for the homeless called IRAS (Improvised Rapid All-weather Shelter) that was taken up by many international aid agencies including Australian Aid International and Peace Malaysia. Hammad can be credited with being the only architect in the country whose design was mass-produced and used by the homeless all across the earthquake-affected area. The design was eventually taken up by a Malaysian building firm which formally marketed it in Malaysia as an effective low-cost shelter.
In 1999, Hammad was appointed Islamabad Correspondent of Archi Times, the only architecture monthly newspaper of the country. This led him to start a monthly column titled “The Freestanding column” in the process achieving the distinction of being the first regular architecture columnist of Pakistan. He interviewed many prominent Pakistani and international architects for Archi Times including Fumihiko Maki, Itsuko Hasegawa and Kiyonori Kikutake of Japan.
Hammad has oft been mired in controversy because of his outspoken views and blunt writings and has been both criticized and admired by his peers and colleagues. His frank and honest views, however, have made him a preferred choice for television programs and panel discussions and he has appeared on international and local TV channels including CNN, Express News, Geo TV, Business Plus, and PTV. He is now arguably one of the most recognized architects of the country.
Hammad won a Japanese Government fellowship in 2003 and spent five months travelling and studying architecture in Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima. He met renowned Japanese architects like Toyo Ito, documented important buildings and briefly worked for Nikken Sekkei Ltd in Tokyo. Hammad’s stint in Japan deeply influenced his architectural philosophy and his understanding of the profession. He learned the value of space utilization and meticulous detailing which transformed his approach towards architecture.
Two months after his return from Japan, in February 2004, Hammad was elected chairman of the Institute of Architects, Pakistan (IAP), Rawalpindi-Islamabad Chapter, earning the distinction of being the youngest-ever chapter chairman of IAP at 34. As chairman of his institute, he spearheaded public-interest campaigns including a movement to stop the demolition of the Lahore High Court, a 130-year old heritage building in Lahore; a media campaign to highlight the problems in large public construction projects of Islamabad and a drive, along with Karachi’s civil society members, to stop the occupation of Karachi’s coastal beaches by large real-estate conglomerates.
Hammad gained prominence in 2004 when he was commissioned by General Pervez Musharraf, the President of Pakistan and a front line US ally in the War on Terror, to design his farmhouse in Islamabad. After Mr Musharraf’s resignation as president on August 18, 2008, his farmhouse, along with his architect, came under local and international media spotlight amid speculations whether Mr Musharraf would be able to live in his soon-to-be-completed farmhouse or leave the country. Hammad was interviewed extensively in newspapers such as The Times, The Independent and Washington Times and he appeared on local TV channels to talk about the farmhouse, which became the most hotly debated property in the country.
Hammad teaches part-time at the National College of Arts, Rawalpindi campus. He teaches 20th century architecture and takes 4th year design studio. He is also a member of the students admissions selection panel and coordinator for student internships. Hammad has been associated with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and its various subsidiary organizations such as ArchNet and Aga Khan Award for Architecture. He represented Pakistan as editor in an AKTC-sponsored survey titled “Survey of Architectural Education and Professional Practice in Selected Areas of the Muslim World”, in Geneva in 2006 which was conducted by Professor Peter Rowe of Harvard Graduate School of Design. Hammad has presented papers at international conferences including the UIA (International Union of Architects) Congress 2005 at Istanbul, Turkey and International Conference on Humane Habitat (ICHH) 2008 at Mumbai, India.