Author: Usama Ahmed
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My model for living a life
I am often thinking of a model of life that, at least in my view, is closer to my nature. In my model, life has a quality; every day and moment has a quality or taste that you love to have. In today’s world, we are mostly consumed in doing things that don’t offer that…
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Progress of Man Series -visual series documenting Lahore’s quiet transformation
“Progress of Man” is a visual series by Usama Ahmed documenting Lahore’s quiet transformation—from fertile farmland to concrete sprawl, and from self-sustaining communities to displaced livelihoods. It invites reflection on what we call progress, and what we leave behind.
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Modern house built with Compressed Stabilized Earth Bricks
There are several ways to build with mud, or earth as you call it. What is more common in Pakistan are either burnt red bricks, which are most common, or kachi or unburnt clay bricks that we see in villages and rural areas. While red kiln bricks are attributed to environmental pollution, the kachi brick…
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A Community made with compressed earth Bricks in Punjab
Location: Pak-pattan This a fascinating project carried out in 1977. The home owners were included in the process of house making. They were given training & material to build their own homes. The homes are still in good condition today & Can be visited. I highly encourage people from academic institutions — students, teachers, and…
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From dreaming to escape reality to dreaming to build reality.
I was wondering if there are people who consciously use dreams in the same way many people use alcohol—to escape into another world. Only recently have I started to realize that my dreaming patterns contain traces of escapism. But perhaps that’s exactly what nature intended for a powerful tool like the mind? I don’t know…
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Are you killing your soul?
This is a question I have been asking myself for a long time: Do I do things I don’t want to do? If I had the money, would I still do what I do? These are profound questions. Sometimes we know the answer, but we don’t know what to do. Money and finances have become…
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Incremental house at Belapur by Charles Correa
While I am searching for architects in India who have been looking creatively into addressing the challenges of assimilating low-cost houses for urban areas, Charles Correa was a recurring name. Though his materials were not natural, he appeared to have empathy and simplicity in his design, and he really believed everyone, regardless of their social…
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A community that makes less then $200 a year.
This is a video post. Below is a video by VICE Asia about a community in China that has an alternative way of life. They still eat free & locally source food. Free from Supermarket, they live under $200 a year. This is less then 5000 Pakistani Rupees per month.
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What If Life Didn’t Revolve Around Money?
During COVID, I was exposed to the very terrifying reality of so many people losing their jobs. They had lived in rented apartments all their lives, bought from grocery stores, paid electricity and gas bills, and sent their kids to expensive schools. Missing a paycheck was like a death sentence to them. If you go…
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A Journey in exploration of Indigenous materials & Architecture styles for housing through two Contemporaries Artists In the sub-continent.
Embracing Self-Sustainability and Minimalism Owning a house of your own is a lifelong dream of many people in our country, right from lower to middle and upper middle class, man from all these economic stratas are longing to build a house of their own, however, more often this dreams remain unfulfilled or by the time…