ENVIRONMENTS OF MULTIPLICITY

Abstract

Existing in diversity helps to understand the lifestyle of others and provide an opportunity to learn varied ways of communication which eventually helps in exploring aspects to reduce prejudice and improve knowledge. There are many examples showing that how different viewpoints can create positive or negative influence on people about other diverse group of peoples. An example of this could be of Badami Bagh incident2 where Christian locality was attacked and huge amount of loss was occurred. On the other hand, one of the biggest positive examples of celebrating diversity is when the huge influx of Sikh community occurs where we celebrate them and encourage them and host them. Incidents like this drives the importance of educating people about the bigger picture of these issues which is also part of their identities. Going ahead towards culture from religion, Pakistan is a place which comprises of several ethnic groups3 and this is revealed in the context of Lahore as well. Then there is also a vital role of diverse styles of Architecture in Lahore, which also adds to give the city & its people their unique & mixed identities. Architecture can provide an excellent environment to educate people about different religious, cultural & even architectural identities. The negative viewpoint towards other backgrounds usually lead to misunderstanding and conflicts. By getting to know and understanding the situation on a comprehensive scale, one gets not only to avoid conflicts but also happens to enhance his/her knowledge other aspects of identity. In a society, like ours, there is a serious need of intolerant outlook to be changed. One of the best ways to thrive tolerance & acceptance in society is by educating people of different backgrounds, about different backgrounds, be it religious, cultural or architecture. Architecture, using its own way of expressions, can try to tell about/translate these backgrounds and their experiences. Because of the importance of this issue, this thesis aims to stress the role of architecture in providing an environment, which is inclusive, which is welcoming, and which helps to understand and cherish identities. As I have stated above, the complexity can include many religious, architectural & cultural differences, nonetheless the main intent of this project is to find methods to encourage different people & create an event for people to come together to achieve the aim of inter-communal harmony by highlighting diverse religious, cultural & architectural timeline of the city of Lahore. The project intends to be a meeting site for different characters & functions where it will be attracting people towards mutual human qualities to integrate and to aim to highlight not only the diversity of people but of also the diverse cultural & architectural history of our own city for asserting its character trying to act as a bridge of understanding and discovery between people & architecture itself.