Breath and Brick
Breath and Brick explores Pakistan’s cultural memory through language and architecture as parallel forms of archive. Drawing from poetry, regional languages, and historic built environments, the project examines how words and structures carry identity through migration, faith, resistance, and remembrance. Through editorial and installation-based forms, the work considers how graphic design can preserve fragile cultural histories threatened by erasure, urbanization, and the loss of traditional craft.
This editorial explores the architecture of Pakistan and its lost languages. It looks at Pakistan’s architectural history as a study of continuity and rupture as well as a chronological evolution of styles, by following the development from prehistoric urban planning to the effects of Partition on architecture.
Medium 1: Breath and Brick - Editorial
Medium 2: What Walls Remember - Installation piece
“What walls remember” is an installation piece that explores the idea of combining two important topics: ‘Language’ and ‘Brick’. Lanterns hold an important place in Pakistani households. During power outages, families often gather together around a single lantern as it illuminates the room. These moments bring every member of the household together, creating a shared and immersive sense of warmth, connection, and community.
Language was represented through tapestry, with velvet chosen for its strong presence in Pakistani households, seen in carpets, cushions, curtains, and other domestic textiles. By combining these materials, the installation creates an immersive experience that reflects the warmth, familiarity, and comfort of a Pakistani home, allowing the audience to feel a similar sense of connection and intimacy.
That Story
Desire
Storytale
Gateway
