I became aware of Habib Fida Ali’s (1935-2017) work long before I got to know him in person. I was still a student of architecture in Turkey when, on a visit to Karachi in 1969, I happened to visit a friend who had recently moved into a house designed by him. This was the Ismail House, his first significant commission. The simple play of volume gives the house an ageless character. It aptly sums up his entire work, most of which has an ageless character.
My next encounter with a project by Habib Fida Ali (known affectionately throughout the architecture community as Habib), was with the Shell House. This building, completed in 1978, was awarded first prize in a limited competition and, later in 1983, was adjudged the best building constructed in Karachi since Independence. The project brought fame and reknown to Habib, and he continued to ride the high wave for a long and illustrious career spanning over 50 years and including not just houses and offices, but also numerous academic and public buildings, mosques and conservation projects.
Architecture was Habib Fida Ali’s passion and he successfully transferred that fervour into many outstanding buildings
We would often meet at architectural gatherings, but a close encounter with the late architect took place when I met him to discuss documenting his wonderful houses for my book 100+1 Pakistani Architects and their own Houses. Built in 1890, it was lovingly restored and retained by him until his death. Habib also had his office in two out-houses within the property.
Another close interaction with him was when I was asked by a leading magazine to interview him. The interview was published in April 2014.
Much has already been written about Habib, his architectural work and his collection of artwork, sculptures, antiques and artefacts. This tribute would, however, remain incomplete without mentioning some of his most remarkable qualities in the field.
First and foremost, Habib succeeded, perhaps more than any of his contemporaries, in creating each project in his favourite and familiar idiom, a vocabulary both easy to recognise and to admire. In doing so, his contribution and expertise was two-fold: constantly producing building projects of the highest quality of design and construction in a modernist style, with little added decoration; and secondly, producing symbols of elegant simplicity, of a universal approach to design acquired in the West but fine-tuned to perfection in his home country. Although he may not have been a great innovator, he was — throughout his lifetime — a consistently skilled practitioner dedicated to a set of lasting values.
There is perhaps no better description of his architectural genius than his philosophy as summed up by him during one of our meetings, many years ago – “I am attracted to understatement. I prefer a limited palette of materials to create an uncluttered, no-nonsense effect.”
Habib Fida Ali passed away on January 7, 2017
Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, January 29th , 2017
