Basic
Technology:
Hala Tiles
Technology Revives
Tradition at the Aga Khan
University and Hospital
Traditional factory,
Present Day Technology
Revives Traditional Art of
Decorative Ceramic Tiles
Text and photographs
by Farouk Noormohamed
and FaruqJasani
Shah Jehan Mosque,
Historic examples reveal
that in Islamic architecture, the
interior is like a soul of a
building and contains a wealth
of cultural, historical, theological
and symbolic values. In this
respect, "traditional" ceramic
tiles together with works of
other indigenous artists and
craftsmen have been
extensively integrated
throughout these institutions.
These works of the local
artists and craftsmen, however,
have not been incorporated
directly in their "as found"
traditional state. The visual and
performance characteristics of
the items were thoroughly
investigated by the design team.
Where performance or
production problems were
encountered, the team
collaborated intensively with the
traditional craftsmen and local
manufacturers to experiment
with modem production
techniques so that the
finished product could be
"manufactured" efficiently to
meet the performance
requirements, quantity and time
constraints implicit in an
Karachi like many other cities of
the Islamic world, is being
transformed by modem
building technology. This has
resulted in an environment of
massive concrete structures
which seldom seem to 'belong'
to the region and rarely express
the deeply rooted traditional and
cultural values.
The recently inaugurated
Aga Khan University and the
Aga Khan University Hospital
Complex in Karachi was
conceived as a cornerstone of
philanthropic commitment to
demonstrate leadership in
education of health professionals
and the efficient and effective
delivery of health care in the
region. The project has received
meticulous and prolonged
design attention by His
Highness the Aga Khan, Prince
Amyn Aga Khan and the design
team to ensure a modem
architectural solution which
would preserve the essence of
the culture while reflecting the
rich heritage ofIslam.
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undertaking of this magnitude.
The challenge was to retain the
traditional artistic characteristics
of the tiles as a decorative artifact
reflecting the indigenous cultural
values of the original inspiration
and practice. These processes of
integration of tradition and
technology have been long and
arduous and in the case of Hala
tiles, took about two and a half
years.
300 Year Old Tradition
Hala is a small town 180 miles
from Karachi in the interior of
Sind (southern Pakistan) and is a
major traditional tile making
centre, where the indigenous
craft of making' decorative tiles
still survives in its original form.
These tiles are locally known as
Hala tiles.
The tradition of making
these tiles dates back many
generations and the skills and
techniques have been passed
down from father-to son
without any significant change
to suit the development of
modem buildings and their
specific requirements. The tiles
being produced today are
visually no different from those
that have been utilised in many
historic monuments of the
Mughal period, for example, the
Shah Jehan Mosque in Thatta.
The quality of these visually
exciting tiles however has
steadily deteriorated over time,
mainly due to salinity of the soil
and to some extent, by the
decreasing demand for these tiles.
The traditional production
process is very rudimentary and
carried out in makeshift
arrangements. Briefly, first the
clay bisk is obtained by hand
rolling and hand cutting of the
"clay dough" to standard sizes.
These bisks are laid to dry in the
sun until ·they become hard
enough to be worked on. The
patterns are hand drawn on
thern and colours are then
applied to the pattern through a
human production line, where
each individual paints on specific
parts of the pattern by hand.
The glaze is then hand applied
over the painted bisks, which are
then stacked in an archaic kiln
and fired for approximately 24
hours. Inspite of the apparent
lack of quality control, the
product is a handsome,
handmade and hand-painted
individual Hala tile.
Dimensions of the Problem
Initially, the efforts of the design
tearn were based on the hope
that with some technical
design team found one such
enterprise, Shabbir Tiles, who
were not only supportive of
the objectives and agreed
to participate in the long
experimentation process, but
agreed to do so without any cost
to the client. In a manner of
speaking, writing off the costs as
a research and development
expense.
Numerous samples were
produced, both by traditional
methods and completely
mechanised ones. The
mechanised methods attempted
to obtain the traditional patterns
using screen processes instead of
hand painting, factory paints
instead of the traditional
pigments, etc. This work
revealed that neither the totally
traditional method nor the
totally mechanised method
delivered the required results.
Efforts were then concentrated
on attempting to marry
the traditional craft to
the manufacturer's highly
mechanised and sophisticated
tile manufacturing process to
resolve the problems of
compatibility. The challenge
was to integrate a painstakllig
traditional technique into a
high-speed process thus needing
a structured experimentation to
achieve success.
assistance and quality control,
improvem~nt in the tile quality
would result to enable its use in
the project. But many months
of work indicated that although
some improvement had been
achieved for it to be used in the
earlier completed School of
Nursing building, the
unpredictable deliveries, m~or
dimensional deviations, poor
glaze quality, together with
flaking of the tile surface would
rule out the possibility of its use
in the main Hospital Complex
- where both high standards of
hygiene and production
schedule requirements of an
international contractor would
have to be satisfied. These
constraints, together with
the aspiration of developing
the local craft without
compromising the performance
and aesthetic appeal of the
traditional art became the
guiding principles of the study.
Tradition and Technology
Became Compatible
Careful analysis indicated that
the artistic hand painting skills of
traditional tile makers were
extremely good. In order to
overcome the shortcomings of
the performance and inherent
production problems, a number
of local commercial tile
manufacturers were approached
with a view to arrive at a hybrid
manufacturing method. The
The Experiment
A long experimentation
process, involving about 2,500
experimental tiles altogether,
finally showed that the desirable
end product could be achieved
by the use of the factory bisk,
modified factory pigments and
hand painting on the bisks by
Hala craftsmen. The latter had
to actually move temporarily to
the Karachi factory to paint the
tiles. The final glazing and firing
was done by the factory process.
At this stage, we felt we had
resolved the production process
satisfactorily. However, we
were still dissatisfied at not being
able to capture the visual appeal
of the traditional tiles in the
samples of our calligraphic tiles.
These stylised calligraphic tiles
were intended to blend with
traditional tile designs, but
were designed with a brighter
Shabbir Tile ManuJacturer'sfactory.
71
Photographs show major steps during
the experimentation process.
Introduction oj tmditional colour palette
and characteristics.
Research Team
Farouk NOOJ'mohamed, Architect
(Team Leader)
Muzaffar Ansari, Architect
Najeeb Omar, Al'Chitect
Advisor/Calligraphy Tile
Designs
Moz han Khadem , Design
Consultant
Special Thanks to
Hala Cmftsmen and Shabbir Tiles
range of colours than used
traditionally. Also these tiles did
not follow the traditional
practice of containing lighter
colours in outlines of dark
colour.
We realised that in order to
capture the required character,
we would have to take a few
steps back and try to incorporate
the major visual characteristics
of the traditional tile designs.
Introducing the Hala colour
palette and containing the light
colours within darker outlines
delivered the required results for
our new tile designs.
In order to meet the tight
time schedule, we studied the
process further and found that
using a screen process to obtain
the outline of the pattern only,
(the resultant infill painting
being done by hand) gave us
satisfactory results, thus
reducing the time and cost of
manufacture.
The final product was
durable, had consistent glaze and
size, met hygiene requirements
and was capable of being
produced in large quantities
within the time constraints.
With the hand-brush strokes,
visible in the final product, the
tiles captured the beauty and
individuality of the traditional
tile. Our research clearly
demonstrated that whereas our
present technical advances and
understanding of materials may
be superior to the traditional
methods and materials, our
understanding of the design
elements, colour balance and
artistic values has much to learn
from traditional craftsmen and
artisans, who in their own way,
contributed to a true marriage of
the past and present, where each
had gained in this union.
The use of this technologically advanced traditional
tile has been invaluable in
strengthening the indigenous
"sense of belonging" of the
recently-completed project. It has
also stimulated demand for the
products of both the local
traditional tile-makers and the
modem tile factories for the
benefit of the building industry,
the people of Pakistan and the
culture of the area.
Applications at the Aga Khan University and the Aga Khan University
Hospital, Karachi.
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