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Abstract

Composed by Ismaili pirs in the aftermath of the Fatimid Caliphate in the 13th century, Ginans, a form of mythical devotional sung poetry, conveyed spiritual guidance through allegories often depicting landscapes of Paradise leading to spiritual enlightenment, fostering resilience among the displaced Ismaili community of the Indian Subcontinent. This project explores the contemporary potential of Ginans to inspire a design framework amidst socio-political fragilities in Pakistan, in the neighborhood of Gari Shahu, Lahore. This proposal is a gesture of wayfinding along the path of Habibullah Road, leading to the Jamatkhana—the city’s sole Ismaili community center and Mosque. The project consists of rethinking three urban voids as metaphoric Gardens—symbol of paradise—positioned near typologies of the everyday, along Habibullah road, providing opportunities for gathering while formalizing the journey to the Jamatkhana, making it safer and more accessible. Inspired by the Indo Indigenous storytelling methods of Mughal miniature paintings and Islamic crafts, the project approaches graphic translation through experimentation of this traditional visual language as a celebration of cultural heritage, decolonizing western architectural representation to embody the Ginan’s ethos in lived space. [An updated file with minor revisions was uploaded on 2025-10-30.]