United States Embassy, Karachi

Facade of the Chancery of the US Embassy in Karachi, Pakistan

United States Embassy, Karachi

The embassy compound is a group of disparate structures and materials that are shoved together rather than successfully integrated or intentionally contradicted. According to biographer Thomas S. Hines, to decorate the warehouse/auto-service wing of the embassy, Robert Alexander sought to enliven the composition by using cylindrical molds for casting concrete forms, resulting in the row of vaults at the west end of the compound. The long, four-story office building to the east is kinked in plan to address the triangular-shaped green space across the road and the park beyond. The upper three floors of the office building cantilever jut out uncomfortably toward Victoira Road. The cantilever is placed symmetrically above a short decorated wall, an element that usually would be elongated and used to tie one part of a building to another or to the site. On the roof, a small extruded dome hides mechanical equipment. It was a prestigious commission for Neutra and Alexander, one of the new embassies commissioned by venerable world architects such as Walter Gropius, Eero Saarinen, and Edward Stone. As Hines suggested, it also manifested the unresolved architectural tensions between Alexander and Neutra.

Adapted from Neutra – Complete Works by Barbara Lamprecht (Taschen, 2000), p. 373.

Project Detail

Year Built

1959

Project Architect

Neutra u0026 Alexander

Client

United States, Department of State

Location

Brunton Road and Victoria RoadrnKarachi, West Pakistan

Current Status

Listed as a Sindh Cultural Heritage Site

Photo Gallery

Water color rendering of the US Embassy in Karachi, Pakistan
US Embassy in Karachi, Pakistan
Architectural drawing of the US Embassy in Karachi, Pakistan
US Embassy in Karachi, Pakistan
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
Elvation of the compound shot facing south east.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
Shulman Photo Archive Getty Research Institute.
Shulman Photo Archive Getty Research Institute.
Shulman Photo Archive Getty Research Institute.
Shulman Photo Archive Getty Research Institute.
Shulman Photo Archive Getty Research Institute.
Shulman Photo Archive Getty Research Institute.
Shulman Photo Archive Getty Research Institute.