Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Islamabad, a planned city, has grown rapidly since its conception in the 1960’s but it has not followed its predetermined fate but rather grown haphazardly due to the lack of infrastructure available to implement Doxiadis’s master plan. The city was unable to meet the housing requirements of the people causing them to build gated communities on the outskirts of Islamabad and its sister city, Rawalpindi. The market demands caused city prices to rise exponentially, increasing the economic divide between the social classes. The city which was once supposed to reflect diversity of social classes became home to the elite and the privileged. To heal these woes, the government needs to rethink the by-laws to echo the changes in the economy and society of Islamabad.

Today, the city is facing multiple issues politically, economically and socially. The energy crisis is opening up the need for people to find alternative energy solutions. By defining a set of principles which reflect the teachings of vernacular architecture and employing renewable energy techniques, this thesis envisions a matrix of solutions tackling these issues. An open source platform would provide a data base of options for the 4 different types of dwellings defined by the housing authority. This would engage the city in an architectural discourse that does not currently exist, it would invite the layperson to understand and build awareness in the general population from architect to owner to builder.

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