Nusserwanjee Park awaits completion

[Salman]

Nusserwanjee Park awaits completion

KARACHI : As part of its various community projects and going with the city government`s `adopt a park` scheme, the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture began working on Nusserwanjee Park adjacent to its campus last year.

Situated between the IVS (east wing side to Nusserwanjee Building) and Madressah Darul Uloom Sulemania, the park has been designed by the students and faculty of department of architecture and is nearing completion. The school administration and those who have put their time, creativity and energy into the construction of the facility intend to be responsible for the upkeep of the park and share its benefits with the community.

While a great deal of work has already been completed, a reasonable amount is still to be done. Moving around the park area gives a fair idea as to how well the students and faculty members have taken care of it. It`s no more a shabbily kept piece of land that it used to be and now looks a much better, cleaner spot.

Speaking to Dawn, IVS Executive Director Samina Khan said: `Nusserwanjee Park goes with the IVS philosophy of community service. Overthe years, the institution has come up with different projects to serve the community, and this is one of them. Another factor which contributed to it was that before the project was taken up, thisplace was used as a garbage dump. We had to do something about it because our campus was visited by a lot of people, including foreign dignitaries, and what lay next to us didn`t cut a good picture.Naturally we had to raise money to build the park and a lot of donors came to our help. Some helped us in cash, some in kind. Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee was also very kind; he helped us take part in the `adopta park` scheme. We still need between Rs500,000 and Rs1 million for the project completion, and are waiting for a couple of donors to honour their commitment. If everything goes well, it should be com-plete by July this year.

Since the park is right next to the building, it must have been trouble-free for students and faculty of the department of architecture to work on it. The maintenance issue too has to be factored in. After all, no park can survive without proper plantation management.

Samina Khan said, `Just like our students from the textile department are asked to work alongside craftsmen to get a hands-on experience, this project gives architecture students a similar opportunity. Once it`s done, other students too will have a space to draw, paint and sculpt. Then, since it is a landscape venture, we need 6,000 gallons of water on a daily basis to keep it watered. We have also tried to do away with the perception that our institution is elitist. We have sought help from the madressah people for the project as well.

As for the name Jamshed Nusserwanjee (the first elected mayor of Karachi), according to Samina Khan, the building and its adjacent park remind visitors of the city`s rich cultural and architectural heritage.