Islamabad Today

In 1962, the architectural firm Ponti Fornaroli Rosselli was commissioned to design and build part of the new ministries district capital of West Pakistan, Islamabad, which was under construction according to the master plan of Constantinos Doxiadis and Robert Matthew. Fifteen one hundred architectural drawings and less than two years later, the buildings were completed. At times, five thousand workers were on site same time. Project manager Alberto Rosselli said the idea was not to transfer their Western knowledge to Pakistan, but to create a new Pakistan. Fascinated by this project, where the personal stories of the Ponti and Rosselli meet against a backdrop of architectural and political history, Giovanna Silva visited Islamabad in 2020 with Paolo Rosselli, nephew of Gio Ponti and son of Alberto Rosselli. It was a journey through architecture, personal memories and a city built in the desert as a future capital of a new world, with the magnificent landscape of the Margalla Hills. Silva's photographs show the buildings in their daily public function, with an emphasis on spaces such as that they are used by their users. The book also contains archival footage of the construction site and construction, as well as a narrative text by Paolo Rosselli retracing the history of the project and his reactions during its first visit to his father's work in Islamabad.