CITY FILES
Ever wondered what it was like in the pre-partition days? We see these ‘cultural heritage sites’ around us - they are good landmarks when you need to guide your friends to your location. But we don’t really connect with the rich history that surrounds them - do we?
One such place is The Dawood Foundation (TDF) Ghar. How many of you knew of this 1930’s home located in Jamshed Quarters area? Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Hindus and Jews used to live in that area, developed by Jamshed Nusserwanjee in 1922. But unless your office/business is located nearby or it featured in one of the stories your grandparents would recall fondly, I bet you wouldn’t.
The good news is TDF Ghar has been turned into a public space. It keeps its architectural features while catering to the need of the day: a public space, where visitors can talk and discuss ideas. Moreover, three Numaish Halls and a training room can be utilized for organizing workshops, trainings, seminars, meetups, exhibitions and other activities.
Sabrina Dawood, CEO Dawood Foundation, shared the vision: “TDF Ghar represents the ideology of peace, harmony and equality in rights for everyone - the ideology that was followed by the founders of modern Karachi.”
Hiba Zubairi, Communications Team Leader TDF, revealed: “Our focus was to open a space that can cater to wider audience from various backgrounds. TDF Ghar is our contribution to Karachi to promote informal learning spaces in the city. We hope others will also follow the same and help in reviving and restoring our city.
“Informal learning spaces play an important role in helping society in using the right to speak in a constructive manner. People can share their ideas and materialize them for larger benefit of the public. Incubation centres and other similar projects are gaining popularity because of their inclusive nature. TDF is the same.”
TDF, the charitable arm of the Dawood Hercules Group, focuses on education for which it has contributed substantial funds for the development of schools, colleges and scholarships all over the country.
“The opportunity to restore a piece of architectural history does not come along very often and we at Shahab Ghani and Associates are truly honoured to have been a part of this process. In a city where towers reign supreme, we hope that this small piece of Karachi’s past will provide the public with some much needed breathing space,” said Madiha Ghani, Principal Architect, Shahab Ghani and Associates.