Pakistan Chowk Rehabilitation | پاکستان چوک بحالی
The condition of the Chowk before intervention
vision
The basic vision was to rehabilitate the Chowk back to its glory and to revive the concept of Public Square free of any commercial advertisements. The aim of the rehabilitation was not to beautify the space, but rather making it a sustainable and adaptable space for the neighborhood and the local stakeholders.
The project is divided into following three phases.
•Phase 1: This phase of the project includes the analytical study of the space and development of associations through dialogues with stakeholders, also known as Mohalla Baazi.
•Phase 2: This phase includes the designing and implementation of intervention at the Chowk.
•Phase 3: This phase includes dealing with the issues at urban level with the help of local stakeholders.
In its prime, Pakistan Chowk was known as the educational hub of the city; a place where institutions such as D.J. Science college and Sindh College Association began. A predominantly literary space, the Chowk was a place where people assembled to exchange conversations about literature, mainly in the forms of mushairas, baithaks. Residents of Old Town used the Chowk as a public space and engaged in various artistic and cultural activities that strengthened social cohesion within the community.
Over time, as the divide between social classes grew wider and the city grew larger, Pakistan Chowk and similar community centred spaces fell into urban chaos. The previously collaborative society transformed into a fragmented, paltry shadow of its former self with a culture of exclusivity that alienated the masses.
the chowk
The Pakistan Chowk Initiative was introduced to help bring back spaces for cultural engagement that helped affiliate the public with the private. There was a pressing need to bring art and culture back to the people and not let it remain in the hands of a privileged few. The Pakistan Chowk team remodeled the Chowk; which had accumulated urban waste and public lavatory, to a space that now hosts artists, writers and activists from various backgrounds on a regular basis.
Gallery
