Studio Title / Low-Tech Architectural Remodelling as a means of Climate Change Resilience In Low Income –
Hyper Transforming Contexts like Orangi town in Karachi
Tutor / Asiya Sadiq
Topics – Key Words / Low Tech, Low Cost, Architectural Remodelling, Climate Change Resilience, Hyper Transforming Urban Cultures, South Asian Low Income Housing Settlements
Engagement / Urban Cultures
Language / English
Location / Campus Sint-Lucas Brussels
“Public architecture and related open spaces are situated within the larger context of any city and the city is a living organism, within which all architecture, urban design, public open spaces and networks become integrated via formal and informal public engagement and an understanding of collective problem solving, finding innovative ways to reclaim and reimagine contemporary cities.”
-Asiya Sadiq
The Rising Tide Exhibition Catalogue, Curated Naiza Khan, 2010, Artists Statement
12th Karachi Studio – Context
This studio will be the 12th in the thematic of Hyper Transformation Studios – Case Karachi. Initiated in 2013, the Karachi studio aspires to address the emergent urban cultures and spatial issues faced by hyper transforming contexts and the role of the design practitioners in solving these. Responding to the critical urban cultures issues identified by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the COP26, Karachi studios have worked on the various scales and issues of urbanity and urbanism, making equitable and harmonious future cities across the global South.
About the Case Study
Low-tech, low-cost architectural remodelling offers innovative solutions for climate change resilience in urban settings, especially in low-income housing settlements like Orangi town in Karachi, Pakistan. Orangi town, a densely populated area, thriving area known for its informal, self-built homes and a lack of infrastructure. In response to the challenges posed by climate change—rising temperatures, water scarcity, and flooding— settlements like Orangi require adaptive, resource-efficient strategies to enhance resilience while maintaining affordability.x
Low-tech solutions rely on locally available materials, simple construction techniques, and community-driven approaches. These methods can drastically reduce costs while improving the liveability and sustainability of homes. For instance, techniques such as passive cooling, which involves natural ventilation and the use of materials with high thermal mass, help mitigate heat during extreme summer months. Using locally sourced clay, recycled materials, and bamboo, households can implement affordable modifications to improve energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint.
Additionally, low-cost, low-tech remodelling fosters community empowerment, with residents playing an active role in adapting their homes to meet environmental challenges. This bottom-up approach contrasts with traditional, high-cost, top-down solutions, which are often inaccessible to low-income families. Community-driven projects, such as improving water management through rainwater harvesting and constructing resilient drainage systems, can significantly mitigate flooding and water scarcity risks.
In Orangi town and similar settlements, these innovations align with broader global trends toward hyper-transforming urban cultures, recognized as dynamic spaces for growth, adaptation, and creativity. With the right support, low-tech, low-cost architectural remodelling can be a key strategy for enhancing climate resilience and improving quality of life in South Asian low-income neighbourhoods.
The 12th Karachi studio offers an opportunity for para-architects trained by TTRC and master’s students from Karachi Studio at FA-KUL to collaborate with local craftsmen, materials, crafts, facilitating a two-way exchange of knowledge. This low-tech architectural remodelling studio aims to create climate-appropriate architectural and public spaces that nurture collective culture in Orangi town. The outcomes achieved, both tangible and intangible, will contribute towards the development of a pilot project making low-tech climate-efficient buildings and public spaces in Orangi town as well as other areas of Karachi.
Design Question and Framework
The current studio topic of Low-Tech Architectural Remodelling as a Means of Climate Change Resilience, will address the socio-spatial question below,
“Can architects, para-architects and local craftsmen collaborate to bridge the existing social, technical and knowledge gaps hindering the Remodelling of Low-Tech Buildings in Orangi town making them Climate Change Resilient?”
Research and Design Parameters for the above questions will be.
1. Identifying the current socio-spatial issues faced by the low-income communities living in low-tech architecture in hyper transforming societies like Orangi town(documentation)
2. Understanding the current process of building making and the respective roles of the architects, para-architects and local craftsmen in the making and remodelling of low-tech architecture (interviews, profiling)
3. Identifying the social, technical, financial and knowledge gaps (mapping, data analysis, case studies, design solutions)
4. Working within the framework of the City, Citizens and Spaces the above thematic will be researched and responded to proposing innovative design ideas and strategies within the global overarching debates of; globalization, neoliberalism, land scarcity and density, climate change, migrations, increasing populations, decreasing resources, multiple disparities, and impacts of any impending pandemic.
Studio Methodology
1. The studio is organized as teams of 2-3 students.
2. Weekly outputs are presented digitally in class and uploaded to a google drive provided link for the data to be accessible to all students.
3. Data from the previous 11Karachi studios as well as for the current studio are available digitally.
4. Each student is marked weekly based on their individual and team participation and outputs.
Studio Planning and Outputs
Exploring and Knowledge Building
1. Weeks 1-3 – Introduction to the Topic, Context, Stakeholders, Morphology and Typologies Orangi town (Lectures, Readings, Case Studies)
2. Week 3 – Conclusion and Pin Up
Informed R&D Built Up
3. Weeks 4-7 -Documentation and Analysis Leading to each team having a Conceptual Framework and Design Concept and Strategy, responding to the given Design Question and Framework (documentation, interviews, profiling, mapping, and other data analysis concluding as Socio-Spatial Strategies, Design Programming)
4. Week 7 – Conclusion and Pin-up, Submission First Draft Booklet
Reflection and Development
5. Week 8 – (Workshop Week)
6. Week 9-10 – Easter Break
Concretizing and Sum Up
7. Weeks 11-13 – Design Development (Plans, Sections, Visualizations across relevant scales) Design Finalization
8. Week 13 – Pre-Final Jury /Submission Second Draft Booklet
9. Week 14 – Preparing Final Presentation and Submission (1 day before Presentation)
10. Week 15 – Final Presentation
Individual and Team Wise Submissions
1. Individual Work and Weekly Digital Uploads to the Google Drive
2. Cumulative Digital PPT uploaded to the Google Drive (1 day before presentation)
3. Cumulative Digital Booklet and Posters uploaded to the Google Drive (1 day before presentation)
4. Hard Copies Posters (2 x A1) on the day of the Final Presentation
5. 02 Hard Copies Booklet on the day of the Final Presentation
Links
• Previous Karachi Studios Expo/Book/VDO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFP1jwQzrpE
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vva0krrk2bqn6ya/KARACHI_Booklet_FINAL.pdf?dl=0
• SAP Architects https://sadiqandpolack.com/
• Technical Training and Resource Centre – Karachi https://www.facebook.com/TechnicalTrainingResourceCentre/