Designing for Wellness by Architect Fawad Suhail Abbasi

Design as a Labor of Love

The design process and its spontaneity are driven by emotions. One must let their imagination run free to seek and achieve mystery, intimacy, and beauty in their architecture. 

In architecture, the challenge is to discover buildings little by little, each time, in a slightly different manner. A building should possess an air of mystery; without it, the architecture lacks authenticity. Design should harmonize both serenity and vitality, offering protection from life’s daily rigors without disconnecting from its surroundings: the scenery, unfolding views, the sky, stars, vegetation, water, people, and birds.

A story that inspires Big Joy.

Good architecture must have a soul. It should whisper the story of its existence-a story that inspires, brings joy, and adds spirituality to our lives. Architecture and its setting should not be hostile to the environment but rather complement and improve it, providing something meaningful. True architectural experiences come to life when they acknowledge and embrace the outdoor spaces framing their views, light, and proportions. When combined thoughtfully with vegetation, water, and color, these exterior spaces become a source of joy.

The goal should be to find happiness in design, expressing a sense of belonging and an understanding of culture, technology, and the environment-key elements of all great places. It should emphasize simplicity, proportion, energy efficiency, context, openness, and light-filled interiors. The design approach should leverage the site, natural light, and air to create an overall quality of space while preserving privacy. Multiple design iterations are explored, often incorporating self-created or natural hard and soft landscaped gardens, all-private or semi-private rooms, verandas, balconies, roofs, and more.

A well-executed design includes an element of surprise, offering something to anticipate. This may be achieved by exposing materials, celebrating natural greens outside, or creating new elements where necessary.

The Central Garden

Gardens have always been considered the heart of every building. However, due to high land prices and client requirements, architects often have limited space for gardens that soften the structure. Contemporary homes today draw from history, context, and experiences, incorporating the preferred needs of family values, lifestyle, and sustainability. They maximize daylight while maintaining privacy, inspired by regional context and environments-an outcome of subconscious recollection of experiences, aesthetics, and day-to-day social functions.

In interior design, there is a preference for natural materials, often selected in collaboration with clients, including artworks, accessories, furniture, and lighting to infuse life into various spaces. While white and grey tones dominate globally, homes should reinterpret traditional elements, both in the interior and exterior, creating a unified connection between the transient and the permanent.

Scale

Buildings should age gracefully, grow richer with time, and become part of the landscape. Physical and psychological comfort are paramount, and the form and experience of the building should be welcoming without being overwhelming. The design must consider human scale, massing, material selection, and detail while thoughtfully manipulating the site to fulfil client requirements and creating a balanced design.

Planning

In Pakistani households, spaces serve as places for families to gather, spend time together, eat, relax, and stay connected throughout the day. A well-designed space evolves over time, emphasizing simplicity, openness, and light-filled interiors.

The focus should always remain on utilizing natural light and air to create an overall high-quality space. The ambient and spatial quality of a house depends not on specific properties of internal spaces, but on their position within the work they are a part of. This principle as an expression of balance, order, and unity shapes the architecture.

The Right Approach

Regionalism and sustainability should be integral parts of architecture, firmly rooted in vernacular design. Incorporating elements like verandas, courtyards, water features, and landscaping within buildings is essential. Architecture should utilize features that do not require excessive energy consumption to ensure a comfortable environment, and materials should be locally available and easily reusable, becoming strong elements of architectural design.

This approach allows for the creation of modern buildings that incorporate traditional design elements, motifs, and patterns, connecting them to the local culture. As beautifully summed by Geoffery Bawa: “The architecture that one does comes out of two things- the need of the person and the type of materials available for use. Ultimately, the rest comes out of you.”