Syed Zaigham S.Jaffery: 1945-2023
Zaigham Jaffery was a prominent architect, educationist, planner and a prolific writer. Over the years he held many significant positions, being the Executive Director in the Master Plan Department of Karachi Development Authority (KDA), to being an active trail blazer in Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (PCATP). He had the honour of being the first Pakistani to serve as the Chairman of ARCASIA from 2001-2002 and as advisor from 2005-2010.
Architect Zaigham Jaffery also designed and led the sub-consultancy of the landscaping of Bagh-e-Quaid-i-Azam Mausoleum Garden complex and was also on the Board of Governors of IVS and played a significant role in its formative years.
Jaffery’s professional life offers a particular lens through which to understand Karachi, not simply as a collection of buildings and infrastructure design, but as a city shaped by planning decisions, institutional practices, histories, memories and struggles over the preservation of its built heritage. His association with the KDA Design Bureau and his engagement with architectural conservation, urban planning and professional networks placed him within important conversations about the city and its future.
Jaffery was celebrated by colleagues for his sharp wit, humor, and deep devotion to literature. He was an accomplished Urdu poet, publishing a widely regarded collection titled “A Drop Lost Time”.
He passed away on 9th December, 2023.
Scope of the Archive:
ADRL has received an immensely valuable donation from the family of Zaigham Jaffery which has been archived. The archive includes highly informative books, architectural drawings, urban documents, photographs, notes and project files. Part of the collection has been digitized and published on the ADRL website, and a complete listing of the archival material is also available. Some of the original documents, maps and drawings are held at the IVS main library, while other are held by the ADRL office, within the Department of the Architecture. This archive is freely accessible to IVS students, faculty and other professionals working on research projects related to Karachi, or to other cities within Pakistan.
The selected material is organised around several interconnected themes: the city of Karachi and its planning; architecture and heritage; the documentation of historic buildings; professional and institutional networks; and the personal and intellectual life of Jaffery. Together, these fragments reveal the breadth of concerns that occupied Jaffery and the ways in which architects, planners and institutions attempted to record, interpret and shape the city over the years.
