Traditional Architectural Crafts Of Pakistan (History & Techniques)

Pakistan has a number of monuments which are renowned for the colourful decorations both on the exterior and interior. The repertoire of these decorations covers a large number of crafts which vary widely in material, colours and techniques of their application. The secrets of majority of these crafts are nowadays being jealously guarded by the descendants of a limited number of families of craftsmen in Multan, Lahore and some parts of Sindh.

This book is the first endeavor of a Conservation Engineer to uncover the secrets of these crafts and decorative arts. It was not an easy job to persuade these craftsmen and artists to unfold the secrets of their profession which their families have been guarding for centuries. The author has spent 39 long years in association with these artists, lived day and night with them, helping them, guiding and supervising them on their works.

Together, both the author and his craftsmen have worked at more than 60 monuments and engaged in studying and restoring more than 21 crafts including stonework, brickwork, glazed tile work, lime plaster work, stucco tracery and fresco painting etc. Thus this book is the result of lifelong experience and association of the author and his craftsmen.

The book shows a complete picture of traditional architectural crafts in vogue in Pakistan. It covers nine chapters besides a comprehensive Bibliography and Glossary of technical terms in four different languages. Each chapter is profusely illustrated with photographs of relevant monuments, crafts used on them and tools used by the craftsmen. There are 172 illustrations, all in colour, and 30 drawings which help explain different technicalities of this subject.

Author Description:

Talib Hussain is a renowned Conservation Engineer in Pakistan. He has basic qualification in civil engineering and an additional master’s degree in history, with the specialty in the conservation and restoration of architectural crafts used in historic monuments.

He started his career in 1971 in the Conservation Cell of Auqaf Department (now the Directorate General of Archeology, Government of the Punjab). Serving for the last about 39 years, he has conserved and restored more than 60 monuments in the province of Punjab. His most prestigious work has been the conservation and restoration of the 14th century Tomb of Hazrat Shah Rukn-i-Alam, Multan. Besides restoring the building itself, he also undertook the stupendous task of reviving 11 rare architectural crafts used in this imposing monument. For this extraordinary job, he was awarded the prestigious International Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1983 and an Appreciation Letter from the Governor of the Punjab.

In addition to his official responsibilities, he worked with UNESCO as Project Engineer on the Conservation and Preservation of Lahore Fort Project — a project of UNESCO-Norway-Government of the Punjab — and was awarded a Merit Certificate. In 2008 and 2009, he was the National Project Coordinator for UNESCO on the project “Conservation of Shalimar Gardens Lahore”, a project of UNESCO-Getty-Government of the Punjab. He was also the text contributor for the end project report “Conservation of Shalimar Gardens Lahore” published by UNESCO in 2009.

Presently he is Director, Cultural Heritage in the Project Management Unit, Sustainable Development of Walled City Lahore Project — a project of World Bank-Government of the Punjab-Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

He has also served as Member of Expert Committee of the Government of N.W.F.P for the preservation and conservation of Mohabat Khan Mosque, Sethi Mosque and Islamia College, Peshawar.

He has written a number of research papers published in the national and international journals.

Format: Hardbound