Architecture Pakistan: True Blue in Lahore

Posted on February 19, 2008
Filed Under >Owais Mughal, Architecture, Photo of the Day
10 Comments
Total Views: 24885

Owais Mughal

Photo Credits belong to Zafar Iqbal at trekearth.com. The subject is a brightly colored house in Lahore. Also note the use of spot lights for night illumination as well as the few resting pigeons at the scaffoldings.

Gawalmandi Lahore

10 responses to “Architecture Pakistan: True Blue in Lahore”

  1. Pervaiz Munir Alvi says:

    ……but Tina this is not a ‘wooden house’……not even the balconies……unless you are referring to the magenta painted wooden doors and windows here.

    But I get your point. There are some old ‘havailies’ still standing from the Sikh and the Mughal periods with wooden balconies and shutters. But most of them are decayed now with rotten woodwork and considered beyond repair. It will cost millions to repair and restore them. There is no real interest in their restoration.

  2. Tina says:

    Its kind of nice to see one of these old wooden houses being kept in good repair. So many are just falling apart and the balconies and pillars being sold as antiques.

    The color is inappropriate and it would look much more beautiful natural. But the paint is a good protection.

    More posts on old houses, please! I love them, esp. the ones in Kashmir.

  3. kjjee says:

    Jo bhi hai….Lahore Lahore Hai :D

  4. Owais Mughal says:

    The reason I chose this photo was the initial shock I got looking at the choice of colors here. Overtime I’ve grown to like it. I think it is a beautiful attraction for bringing tourists to ‘Food Street’ Lahore. This choice of color has a definite commercial/business value. I may not want to paint my own residence in such bold colors but won’t mind looking and praising a business center as bold as this.

  5. Pervaiz Munir Alvi says:

    Other than the gaudy color scheme that does not belong to Lahore, this is an architecturally beautiful building from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The hybrid style incorporated many different architectural elements of European and local traditions. During this period the old and the newly British laid out Lahore saw many structures similar to this building. The Lakshmi Building at Mcleod Rd. is a prime example of this type of architecture. Most of these buildings were used for both commercial and residential purposes and were owned mostly by the effluent Hindu/Sikh merchant classes connected with the British interests. During 1947 riots many of these buildings were vandalised and then later used for shops (ground floor) and multiple-family housing/offices (upper floors). With time most of these structures have decayed and now are being pulled down to accommodate new commercial centers.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*