Architecture with Impact

Photo Credit: Aga Khan University

In a recent Aga Khan University article, our client features the Karachi plastering business, Ghaffar & Sons, who have installed the “weeping plaster” on every building at AKU since the 1970s. The installation technique has been passed on through three generations, and while this small 10-person company has many clients in Karachi, AKU has been such a mainstay that Abdul Ghaffer has been able to earn and save enough money to send his four children to school.

Photo Credit: Aga Khan University

While AKU’s healthcare and educational missions lie at the core of how anchor institutions – such as hospitals and universities – support civil society, Ghaffar & Sons is one of many examples of the economic impact generated by AKU’s operations. This is no less true here in the US, but we tend to take the existence of these institutions and their benefits for granted (at least I do). In a country that is struggling to develop and sustain a civil society, these benefits are far-reaching and tend to have impact on an individual, rather than corporate, level.

Further reading on AKU’s economic impact.

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Legacy of Great Healthcare & Design: Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi