Habib Fida Ali
Habib Fida Ali was one of Pakistan's most prominent architects, working in the modernist tradition.
Early life
Fida Ali was born to a Dawoodi Bohra family in Karachi and attended St. Patrick's primary school there, before in 1952 becoming a boarder at Aitchison College, Lahore, to take his O and A levels examinations. He then became the first Pakistani student to be admitted to the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, from where he graduated in 1962. He returned to Pakistan in 1963 to join William Perry's architectural practice in Karachi, and established his own practice in 1965.Career
Habib Fida Ali had worked on the following buildings and architectural projects.Corporate projects
- Shell House
- Commercial Union
- National Bank of Pakistan Head Office Building
- Cavish Court, Karachi
- Sui Southern Gas Company Head Office Building
- Sui Northern Gas Company Head Office Building, Lahore
- Commercial Union Assurance Regional Office Building, Karachi
Hospitality projects
- Midway House Hotel at Karachi Airport
- Memon Medical Institute
- Infaq Medical Center
- Bait-ul-Sukoon Cancer Hospital
- Master Plan JS Hospital, Sehwan, Sindh, Pakistan
- Police Hospital, Garden Road, Karachi
Educational projects
Honors and distinctions
- Lifetime Achievement Award by the Institute of Architects, Pakistan
- Nominated for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 1986
- Speaker at the forum 2001 at Sri Lankan Institute of Architects, Colombo Sri Lanka to speak on his Fair Face Concrete Buildings.
- Karachi conformance of Building & Material Exhibition My Architects – Our Architecture IAPEX 2004
- Designed Karachi American School along with William Perry in 1962
Professional affiliations
- National Vice President of the Institute of Architects, Pakistan
- Member, Master Jury, Aga Khan Award for Architecture, 1983