Core Team

PROF. SAJIDA HAIDER VANDAL

Prof. Sajida Haider Vandal, is an architect, cultural heritage specialist and CEO of THAAP (the only accredited NGO by UNESCO in Pakistan within the framework of Convention 2003). She served as the Vice Chancellor of the Institute for Art and Culture and is also the UNESCO expert facilitator under the Convention 2003 for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. She has worked in many countries of the Asia Pacific region including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and China. She has extensive experience of working both with tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Her latest works include the “Integrated Site Management Plan for two Gurdwaras in the Punjab” and the ongoing ISMP for Qila Kohna Qasim Bagh; Multan.” Prof. Vandal’s design practice among others includes the Mira Phailbus Center, Kinnaird College, Lahore. Prof. Vandal has served as Professor of Architecture and Principal at the National College of Arts, Lahore.

PROF. PERVAIZ VANDAL

Professor Pervaiz Vandal is an award winning architect/planner, an acclaimed educationist, architectural historian, planner and heritage expert.   Prof. Vandal has been in the forefront of planning and establishing schools/departments of architecture in the private and public sector universities. He is credited with intellectualizing and designing the transformative educational system that engendered the federally charted Institute Art and Culture in the private sector in 2018.    He was the founder Pro – Vice Chancellor at the IAC during which time he set the direction for the university which distinguished IAC as an innovative center of learning. Previously he was responsible for establishing the Department of Architecture and Design at COMSATS University and remained the founder Advisor for many years.  He also headed the Department of Architecture at University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, where along with his teaching and administrative responsibilities, he was the head and lead architect of the University Design Directorate, from 1972 to 1992.

Prof. Vandal is the founder director of Pervaiz Vandal & Associates, a firm of Architects, Planners and Engineers conducting their business from Lahore. The organization brings in partnership the rich and varied experience of Professor Pervaiz Vandal and Professor Sajida Haider Vandal. The firm has a vast experience of consultancy in the field of planning and architecture ranging from master planning to architectural design of individual buildings and conservation and heritage site planning projects. The firm was the recipient of the prestigious Sir Robert Matthew Commonwealth Award for Excellence in Architecture.  Pervaiz Vandal is also a founder member of Lahore Conservation Society and founder director of the THAAP Group and its subsets.

From 1990 to 2002, Professor Vandal was a consultant to the World Bank, in which capacity, he has also been involved in several IDA funded projects in Pakistan and abroad. He was a consultant to World Bank for health projects, in particular Family Health Projects, mid-term review involving assessment of project planning, implementation, modifications and specific targeting for the remaining years; study on Maintenance and Repair of Schools in Pakistan for Multi-Donor Support Unit for Social Action Program, World Bank Resident Mission in Pakistan; Consultant to World Bank mission for Education Sector Institutional Reforms (ESIR) in Pakistan; Consultant to the World Bank for supervision (evaluation of design and monitoring of implementation) of the civil works component of IDA funded projects in the field of Education and Training.

PROF. DR SAMRA MOHSIN KHAN

Dr. Samra is an architect, educationist, architectural and cultural heritage specialist. She received her PhD from the Faculty of Architecture & the Built Environment, University of Westminster, London, UK. She was the Founding Director of NCA Rawalpindi Campus. She has served at COMSATS University Islamabad since 2007, as Head of Department, Chairperson and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture & Design. She has hosted international conferences on History & Memories of Rawalpindi (2007), Lok Tamasha (2007), Harappa International conference (2016, 2017), Architectural Pedagogy (2018), Urbanism and Masterplan of Islamabad (2019) and Islamabad Art Fest (2019). She has actively contributed to the development of curriculums of Architecture, Design and Fine Arts. She has worked on UNESCO funded projects on the ICH of KPK and FATA. Her areas of research are heritage preservation, culture & history of traditional cities, traditional courtyard houses (havelis), traditional Bazaars, Mughal era caravanserais, decorative elements of heritage architecture, environmental aspects of courtyard design, truck art, colonial architecture of Rawalpindi, architecture and urbanism in Islamabad etc. Her professional work includes national and international projects including the Islamabad and Lahore International Airports, Army Welfare Trust Plaza (Rawalpindi), Galway Uni Students Housing (Ireland) among others.

AISHA ASIM IMDAD

Aisha Asim Imdad has a diverse experience of working as art practitioner, educationist and crafts and heritage expert. She has been working in the Value Chain of the Cultural and Creative Industries Sector as Principal Designer and researcher. Her forte is contemporizing traditional design for the modern market and strategizing for safeguarding the traditional craft making assets of the communities and groups. Aisha has worked closely with the artisan community, strengthening collaboration between the artist and the artisans and building capacity of the artisan in many remote locations of South Punjab. For this purpose she has developed an array of teaching material and methodologies which amalgamate the tradition and contemporary systems and holding a series of workshops since 2010 in region of South Punjab to train master trainers in preparing products for the contemporary market in order to alleviate poverty and help generate economic opportunities for the local communities of the region. Aisha was part of the team engaged with uplifting the village economies of over a 100 villages in South Punjab through their tangible and intangible cultural assets. The layered and complex world of the craft tradition in Pakistan where stories, skills and knowledge is interwoven and where the mundane meets the spiritual has been explored by Aisha in many of her research endeavors.  Her research has been published in national and international journals and she has been invited as a speaker in many forums. As a practicing artist, Aisha has exhibited her art work in numerous exhibitions across the country. She has also been teaching Art History, Design and Cultural Studies for more than a decade. She also has a Facebook/Instagram page: “Pakistani Art and Culture Journal” which aims to highlight thousands of years of visual cultural heritage of Pakistan. 

Her research interests include Traditional Arts and Crafts of South Asia, Intangible Cultural Heritage of South Asia, Decorative Design Motifs of South Asia, Cultural Studies, Traditional Decorative Elements in Built Environment of South Asia, Gender Studies, Historical Study of Art and Architecture of South Asia. 

MEHREEN MUSTAFA

Mehreen Mustafa is an architect, cultural heritage consultant and academic. She has been working with THAAP as Secretary and Cultural Heritage Expert. She received her master’s degree in Design for Development: Architecture, Heritage, and Urban Planning in the Global South from Politecnico Di Milano, Italy. She has worked on the UNESCO, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation & Swiss Embassy-funded projects related to the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), Cultural Heritage ( Tangible & Intangible), and enhancing the educational role of museums in Kalasha Valleys, Swat, and Swabi respectively. She has also conducted various outreach programs and capacity-building workshops as an ICH trainer in Lahore, KPK, and South Punjab and has also worked in Africa (Mozambique, Maputo) and Milan (Italy) on projects related to international cooperation.

Mehreen has presented her research on cultural heritage, community development, and Urban development nationally and internationally i.e., UK, Denmark, Turkey, China, and Sri Lanka. And has numerous research papers and book publications to her credit. As a practitioner, she has been involved in architecture and urban projects based in tourist and protected sites such as Malam Jabba, Ayubia National Park, Nathiagali, Skardu Valley, Hunza, Okara, Harappa, Multan, and Lahore.

Furthermore, she is working with Architorque as a Principal Architect and with Punjab Tourism for Economic growth project as a consultant architect. She has been engaged with the PUCAD (2022- To date) and IAC as an Assistant Professor (2014-2022).

MEEZA UBAID

Meeza Ubaid, is an architect and cultural heritage professional. Her forte is cultural heritage management and safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Communities, Groups and individuals ranging from the Building Crafts to the more nebulous folk oral traditions, poetry and stories. Having trained as architect she has developed methodologies to ascertain the associated ICH of the heritage buildings and premises. She has over seven years’ experience of working both with tangible and intangible cultural heritage, marginalized and minority communities. Meeza has extensive experience of working for the safeguarding and preserving the heritage both tangible and intangible of the Kalasha Community (smallest indigenous community of Pakistan) since 2016.

Meeza, experience of administration in the THAAP Group is also valuable.  She served as the Secretary to the erstwhile Culture and Development program of THAAP and now works for THAAP Heritage outreach program focusing on capacity building of communities for their informed participation in inventorying of cultural assets and in the implementation of Integrated Site Management Plans of cultural sites. She is also the Liaison for THAAP’s international partners and accrediting agencies (NGO Accredited by UNESCO within the framework of Convention 2003, APHEN-ICH ICHCAP and Fondazione Santagata Torino). Associated with THAAP since 2015, Meeza has participated in many of the significant projects of the Group. Ms. Ubaid also serves as a visiting Lecturer at the National Engineering University (NED), Karachi.

GHIASUDDIN PIR

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Ghiasuddin Pir has been contributing significantly towards the educational, cultural and social sectors of Pakistan soon after completing his Masters in Anthropology from the University of Aberdeen (UK) in 2014. As an anthropologist, academic, researcher and project manager, he has been involved in teaching, research and development initiatives primarily in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan. The work benefitted the communities of Pakistan and also raised concerns at an international platform, increasing the impact level many folds. He has been involved in various projects aimed towards the protection and promotion of the cultural heritage of the Kalasha communities in Pakistan. Through these projects, an old traditional practice of “Suri Jagek: Traditional Meteorological and Astronomical practice of observing the sun, moon, stars, and shadows” in reference to the local topography, got inscribed in the 2018 UNESCO’s list of ICH (Intangible Cultural Heritage) in need of urgent safeguarding.

SYED ZAEEM ABBAS NAQVI

Syed Zaeem Abbas Naqvi is a Chartered Accountant. A CA finalist with 7 years of diverse experience and accumulation of a wide array of skills, he is currently working as the Manager Finance at THAAP. A highly organized and conscientious individual, his current duties consist of management of internal accounts, preparation of budgets and their monthly reports, finalizing the annual audit, filling of quarterly/annually withholding tax statements, filling of Statutory Forms & other compliance of the Company with SECP.

Muhammad Zubair

Muhammad Zubair is an architect and researcher. He graduated from COMSATS Lahore and is currently in THAAP as an architect working on several projects. According to him, good architecture encompasses of all the tangible and intangible aspects, providing a union of the structure, environment and human wellbeing, not hidden underneath a veneer of artificiality. He is also researching Sufism’s effect on architecture in different areas of Pakistan, and how these spaces helped bridge different people of the society, and for the past year has been working with the local community of Rakh Burana, Noorpur Thal, Khushab.

 

Saira Yasir

Saira Yasir is a training specialist, production manager & architectural drafter. With over a decade’s worth of experience in architectural projects, her acquired knowledge of Pakistan’s cultural and creative industries, and having closely worked closely with artisans and craftsmen, she has provided invaluable contribution to the organization. Her significant contributions as a training specialist include projects such as UNESCO Islamabad’s Empowerment of Women Through Crafts in District Bahawalpur and Multan, Promotion of Cultural Industries in District Bahawalpur: Disaster Mitigation through Promoting Alternate Income Opportunities in Dingarh (Cholistan), UKAID’s Skills of Market, PSDF, and Strengthening of Hand Embellished Value Chain in South Punjab under MEDA-USAID Entrepreneurs Project. Associated with THAAP since 2010, she has since accumulated a diverse set of skills and continues to lead and work with her team.

 

Anamta Zahid

Anamta Zahid is an architect and researcher. She graduated with honors in B.Arch from National College of Arts (2022) and is currently working in THAAP Heritage. She believes in architecture which grows ‘naturally, logically and poetically’ out of its conditions and context, and enriches its surroundings. Her most recent work is the documentation of Lahore’s once iconic Regal Cinema and its context, and a proposal for its reintegration into the urban fabric, playing with notions such as time, memory, culture and identity.

 

BIlal Mushtaq

Bilal Mushtaq is a Senior Project Data Management & Maintenance Officer at THAAP. A dependable team member, he facilitates the group through gathering and analysis of data, and presenting it in data-driven reports; he also expertly assists with equipment and maintaining the company’s archives. He has assisted in projects of note, such as ‘Development of Integrated Site Management Plan (ISMP) for Qilla Kohna Qasim Bagh Multan’, ‘Safeguarding Cultural Heritage through Awareness Raising of the General Public and Mobilizing School Going Youth’ and ‘Development of Integrated Site Management Plan (ISMP) for Gurdwara Rohri Sahib and Gurdwara Sacha Sahib, Punjab.’