52 replies to this topic

[Tekno Arkitect]

Designed by: Sohail & Pasha, Architect & Planning Consultants
Developers: Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA)
Status: Completed
Contractors: Builders Associates
Height:
Building Type: Public
Location: F-5/1, Opposite Pakistan Telecom Authority, Islambad

Rendering

[Tekno Arkitect]

SEP 2006

Part I

Overall view of the project from the Constitutional Avenue








This can be considered as the rear side, although it has a large parking lot and entrance on this side






Brick work detailed zoomed - nice offsets given


The Jinnah Avenue side view


Overall view of the facade



PART II - VII coming up

[Tekno Arkitect]

Part II

formwork for working on the external facade - the black sheet is the water proofing membrane that will be underneath the metallic aluminium sheet to prevent water seapage


The rainwater disposal pipe [grey pipe] is being covered by bricks to give the facade a neater outlook


The brickwork really is facinating...isnt it??


Black n White marble used as ornamental element


Brick workshop where brick are cut and shaped according to the requirements


The rear side entrance




Entrance to the art gallery


Hexagonal shaped concrete block used in pavement

[Tekno Arkitect]

Part III

Those air-conditioning units really look out of place


The ceiling - looks nice with those diagonal beams


When you enter into the whole complex from the rear side, there is a large lobby, on your front is the way to the front side with stairs on left n right side, on the left and right side are exhibition halls n art galleries


This is the top floor ceiling seen from the entrance lobby


Wooden ceiling as you move towards the galleries, the ceilings are at a lower height about 9feet


Wooden doors with continuation of the design of the ceiling


Stair going up to the 2nd n 3rd floor and basement


Gallery

[Tekno Arkitect]

Part IV

HOWSOLPAN - famous alumium cladding company - cladding used to hide the services duct moving in the galleries














Sliding door


I couldnt find out the purpose of this space - whether it is an exhibition hall or sitting area?


Chips bricks ?

[Tekno Arkitect]

Part V



Ventillation ducts






Larger double height gallery made a sleeping mess by workers


Ramp made for handicapped people to easily move up and down the galleries








Uncovered ventillation ducts

[Tekno Arkitect]

Part VI



Looking on the front side entrance lobby




Aluminium cladded curved roof

[Tekno Arkitect]

Part VII

[Tekno Arkitect]

Part VIII

[Abdullah Hayat]

Salam,

Magnificent!! What a brilliant job, Techno!! Once again.

Not only, the design and construction worth-seeing... but the speed of the project was excellent. I really wasn't expecting it to come up that close to external completion that soon.

Brilliant addition to Islamabad, and a good gift to Pakistan's Artists.

Peace.

[SwerveUT]

Thanks for the excellent update.

Where is this building going to be located?
Although the building seems to be nicely designed (which will be more evident as more works are completed), I am left wondering why the designers opted for inspiration from the European architectural tradition and abandoned themes from our own.

[Tekno Arkitect]

Salam

1. Location adjacent to this building : http://www.urbanpk.c...?showtopic=1051

2. Can u quote the pix which show European architectural tradition and element!

Peace

[Waqar]

very nice update on this project aswell techno yaar no more words left to say how good is your work we all know how good it is thanks.

[Tekno Arkitect]

very nice update on this project aswell techno yaar no more words left to say how good is your work we all know how good it is thanks.

Salam,

Thanks for the tons of appreciaction bro~!

Peace

[Tekno Arkitect]

Construction Pix JUN 2007

Still underconstruction......Im waiting fer this to open up! plz speedup the pace!!

[Jilawatan]

[Tekno Arkitect]

Somebody should get hold of a camera n get us loads of updates then!!

[Kim Jong-il Hater]

Let's hope that MMA yahoos don't firebomb the place or something. Pakistan is starting to flourish in the arts scene.

[Jilawatan]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's painstakingly built National Art Gallery has overcome decades of political turbulence to become an eye-catching symbol of modernity and creativity in a nation more often associated with Islamic conservatism.

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The four-story gallery opened to the public on Tuesday with an expansive exhibit of 600 works, from Persian-style miniature paintings with a modern twist to large-scale sculpture created specially for the museum.

Pakistan has long had a vibrant if small art scene, but the gallery took more than a quarter-century from conception to completion due mainly to the changing priorities of a series of military leaders and short-lived elected governments.

"It's a wonderful feeling to have a home for all the work — a place to house the work of three generations of artists," said Naiza Khan, a curator of the inaugural show and an artist whose female metal body armor is on display.

Featuring work from 126 Pakistani artists, some of the pieces in the "Moving Ahead" show have a distinctively South Asian or Islamic flavor: Arabic calligraphy; a painting with Bollywood actors; a throne made of white plastic ablution buckets that Muslims use to wash themselves before prayer.

The works are owned by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts or on loan from private collectors.

One miniature painting by Waseem Ahmed, "Burqa," transforms a classical European odalisque into a classical Persian form. The reclining Venus is draped in a gauzy, transparent burqa — an all-covering Islamic veil — and gazes into a mirror that reflects apples, a Christian symbol of temptation.

One of the 132,000-square-foot gallery's two grand halls holds several sculptures, including a creation from artist Khalil Chishtee. The piece, which uses white plastic bags, shows a life-size woman walking a tightrope, a man below turning his head up toward her, apparently held in position by a thread tugging his nose skyward. The tightrope is the braided hair of an elderly woman sitting in a wheelchair.

"There's a lot of stuff that you wouldn't expect to be ... in a museum in Pakistan," said Sana Raza, a 27-year-old consultant from Karachi who visited the gallery on opening day. She gestured toward sculptures criticizing society and the political system and said, "You would expect censorship ... more toned down stuff, but they've been pretty open about open expression."

The Ministry of Culture promised there would be no censorship, said Salima Hashmi, one of the curators and an art historian. Curators were told to exercise their own judgment so as not to offend anyone. Showing figurative work or nudes "would be a problem in certain venues in Pakistan that are more conservative," Hashmi said.

The museum's interior space is white with warm accents, such as a brick-paved ramp leading to the mezzanine and a few areas with wood detailing on the ceiling. An auditorium and a rooftop courtyard are surrounded by delicate arches.

The exterior is made almost entirely of brick — a rare choice in an era of new museums around the world constructed with large concrete or stone slabs. "Brick has a humility. It has a scale that is so intimate," said architect Naeem Pasha, who won the first competition in architect selection in 1981.

A sentry of seven large black statues of burqa-clad figures, haunting and anonymous, stands outside the gallery entrance.

Some spaces, such as the room displaying the calligraphy, are one-story high, while others are two stories high or even larger, including a room that can be viewed from two little balconies on the second floor to give the visitor a different perspective.

On Tuesday, the room of miniatures was leaking a murky gray water through the ceiling, and many of the works had to be removed from the walls to protect them. Jamal Shah, executive director of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts, called the leaking "teething" problems that were being addressed.

Pasha won the first competition to choose an architect in 1981, but the project had many delays often because of the frequent changes of government. The foundation stone was laid in March 1996, but funding was diverted for a convention center, he said. When they finally got started, some officials wanted to demolish the unfinished structure, worrying it could be a hiding place for snipers targeting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, whose office is nearby.

The $8.9 million gallery creates a rare cultural attraction for visitors to the grid-plan capital, which was only built in the 1960s. There are outdoor shopping centers, parks and the impressive Lok Virsa ethnographic museum, but few places to see art or theater.

The artwork at the National Gallery indicates how secular and liberal Pakistan's growing middle-class has become, despite the conservative influence of the religious establishment.

"As in many countries, you have audiences which will accept work which seems to be pushing the boundaries, and there will be other conservative audiences that will simply not accept it," said Hashmi. "It's anybody's guess as to how this will proceed."

[Tekno Arkitect]

Got a coverage to give! Better get my cam fixed asap!