As the doors of tourism are again opening for Pakistan to be visited, seen and it’s rich culture experienced by foreigners
from all over the world, there is a valuable role our Cube Edu-Tours can play in the creation of an educated, softer and
accessible Pakistani image.
The Cube “Edu-Tours” began in 2012. At a time when there was little to no local or international tourism happening
in Pakistan, especially in Sind. It was at that point when I discovered that many Pakistanis have little to no
awareness of Sinds diverse and rich architectural history. Along with that of the other provinces.
Since it’s inception, we have been taken groups of Architecture students and school students of all ages, retired
adults, teachers and professional adults from other fields not connected to design or architecture to a series of
sites all over Sind and to other parts of Pakistan. All the edu-tour groups have been designed with an infusion of
historical facts and content which create the context of who we are as a people, nation, culture and identity
given a past that one can trace back thousands of years. Unlike any other tour, they focus on the educational
facet of our architectural history. The tours look at maps from antiquity to present day and are exposed to the
movement of various empires, their interest in this region, the immense importance of our location, geography,
landscape and the great River Indus, as the gateway to the rich orient. Each and every one of these tours looks
at where the patrons of these magnificent structures came from, our ancestry through them, ways of defining our
cultural lineage and looking at the inherent imbedded cultural variety in our own present blood lines.
We are not and have not ever been an isolated, inaccessible indigenous people. That diversity is our strength
and our pride. To celebrate.
The topics of “culture” & “identity” are often at the mercy of media manipulation. Our tours take those
interested in history and our land, back in time to places of immense power, wealth, artistic and design
peaks which most are unaware of and never associate with Pakistan. The sites we go to at the moment on our
portfolio are the most profound and fundamental ones:
Each locations history and relevance to Pakistanis as well as international tourists is prepared and shared
with the group through Visuals in “pop-up” classrooms set at very site. Local story telling, cuisine, crafts
and music are often included for a complete cultural immersion.
Architecture is the best blueprint to learn about our history as people and about the cultures of the people who have influenced us when they came to visit and stayed over the past several millennia.
We believe it would be extremely useful for our government, educational institutes, tourists and visitors to learn about our history through these architectural heritage edu-tours.
There is no better to learn about who we are than through traveling across Pakistan.
One must start asking the questions, doing the research into where we came from, who influenced us and which ancient empires left us jigsaw puzzle pieces of their genes to make our own.
With pride, we can take ownership of this diverse genetic cultural architecture that makes us unique and rich like no other land.
This identity is worth being proud of and connecting to the soil of, through an experiential learning of our forgotten architectural heritage gems.