Raza Ali Khan recieved his BARCH and BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2001. After working briefly in the U.S.A he returned to Pakistan to practice in his father’s consultancy firm. During the years he has worked on and lead design tems on many large and intricate projects. His special interest is to create architecture with meaningful relation to the human state Read More

Raza Ali Khan recieved his BARCH and BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2001. After working briefly in the U.S.A he returned to Pakistan to practice in his father’s consultancy firm. During the years he has worked on and lead design tems on many large and intricate projects. His special interest is to create architecture with meaningful relation to the human state Read More

Wasif Ali & Associates is a consulting firm, which offers its professional services and expertise in the field of Architecture, Interior, Planning, and Engineering. The idea of this progressive and ever growing firm was conceived by Mr. Wasif Ali Khan (Principal Architect) in 1980. This partnership firm is owned by Mr. Wasif Ali Khan and Mr. Raza Ali Khan. Mr. Wasif Ali Khan an Architect with a foreign degree from United Kingdom has a rich and varied design experience in the field of Archite Read More

“Let a tree be a tree and a boulder be a boulder”
The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff

What is a dwelling? It is either a list of rooms required or a space that lends itself to human inhabitation with all its poetic and emotional idiosyncrasies .
B This dwelling is built on a long lot of 1.5 kanals, forty eight feet in width; the neighborhood and the site is filled with old towering trees inviting many birds and insects. The trees were used in the design to create views as well as provide privacy. The plan was developed around the existing trees and the imagined narratives of two daughters running up and down, in and out, sometimes visible sometimes only audible. An artists’ studio is placed at the front as a home office for my wife, Saba khan.

The idea was to create a place where we could lounge and daydream. Living in the busiest part of gulberg helped us in the decision to build a retreat and a haven away from the hustle and bustle. The house is inward looking, creating its own reality, yet maintaining a strong link to the regional history and culture. We want our children to value reverie and imagination rather than the contrived realities of media. Its only when one is daydreaming (looking aimlessly into space) that the connection with the subconscious is activated which in turn helps us be creative.

As an architect practicing in Lahore, I drive around the streets looking at new constructs coming up. I have to say that I find the grey and unfinished to be more inviting and interest provoking. Its mostly a let down when finishes are applied to a build that you had been following. In my own house, I have tried to experiment with the unfinished as language; with the intention to create a palimpsest of sorts. I want to let the mistakes and the imperfections show, infact these can be celebrated

Over the years, we had collected many items of spolia; These included reclaimed Brick tiles, pigmented cement floor tiles and doors from my grandfathers house at Queen’s road. Railings, main door and furniture bought from kabardia of vendor that deal in “antiques” and selective curios bought from our travels.

The house is a connected and open structure where privacy is an internal matter. The carded structure allows the house to connect and provide a cohesive space where corners are developed as reclusive spaces and the center brings the entire house together. The building is introverted and creates its own interior and exterior realities. Its only when one climbs to tend to the vegetable garden at the roof from the terrace stairs that you get a sense of the larger surroundings.