EKISTICS, OR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, THROUGH THE

PARADIGM OF THE MASTER PLAN OF ISLAMABAD

Anastasia Sakka
PhD candidate in Architecture at the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.

Abstract

The Greek architect and urban planner Constantinos Doxiadis belonged to the group of
professionals and thinkers who challenged the quality of urban environment and living, as
it had been evolved up to the mid of the 20th century. Doxiadis identified the need for
revisiting policies in modern urban planning and he mobilized any available means –
theory, practice, education and communication- towards this end. Providing his services
as a government’s consultant in several countries of the under-development world during
the fifties and sixties, having established solid liaisons with distinguished Institutions in
the U.S.A., having a remarkable portfolio of materialized projects with global impact and
respectively a remarkable volume of written work, research and publications, having even
created an Institute for postgraduate studies on the field, he went further beyond. He
declared the necessity for a radical change in urban planning, by means of introducing a
new scientific domain in the service of human settlements, that of Ekistics.
The proposed paper aims to explore the idea of Ekistics, through its implementation at the
Master Plan of Islamabad, or otherwise the City of the Future. Doxiadis was assigned to
design the new Federal Capital of Pakistan and he seized the opportunity to launch Ekistics
with this project of global magnitude –both Islamabad and Ekistics could be benefited from
such a gesture. Ekistics transcended the strict boundaries of urban planning, as social,
political and economic factors were also involved. It constituted a holistic approach, which
aimed towards the balance of the five primal elements of human settlements, namely
Nature, Man, Society, Shells and Networks. And it is not the agenda pursued by means of
the modernist functional city that is abandoned, it is rather that changes in the processes
followed can be observed.

Keywords: Ekistics, Islamabad, Internationalism, Ecumenopolis

Challenging CIAM

“Crisis or Evolution?” (Mumford, 2002, p.248) The works of CIAM 10 in Dubrovnik

have been commenced with this question. A question that was addressed by Le
Corbusier and by means of a message that he sent, so as to be read in his absence.
Anastasia Sakka, Ekistics, or the science of human settlements, through the paradigm of the master plan of
Islamabad

A question that practically signified the advent of the Post-CIAM era. The ideals,
regarding the Functional City that for a first time have been concretely expressed
in Le Sarraz of Switzerland and through the works of CIAM 1, which found their
most mature expression on the deck of Steam Ship Patris II and while sailing from
Marseille to Athens, were now under questioning. This is to say that the Athens
Charter –the epitome of modern urban planning-, or otherwise the outcomes of
CIAM 41, were to be severely challenged by the CIAM 10 delegates, who have
been already oriented in defining the Charter of Habitat2. Le Corbusier was fully
aware3 that a first circle of CIAM’s contribution has been completed. Respectively,
he was aware that the ends towards which CIAM has been aiming were still to be
reached. Therefore, he could not do other than salute “Long live the SECOND-
CIAM!” (Mumford, 2002, p.248)

Maybe the answer to the Corbusian question should be crisis due to evolution, as
the inner criticism that terminated the idea of CIAM meetings signified the
comprehension that intellectual circles had to take steps, in order to better
respond to the emerging needs of a rapidly evolving society. If it is to be taken
under consideration, either the phenomenological approach of Team X (Frampton,
1981), or its respective sensitivity concerning historical and vernacular settings
(Goldhagen and Legault, 2000), both viewed in their wider context, it would seem
more likely to realise that the actual distance between them and the functional
city is not so immense. Anyhow, the functional city was not meant to be an end
per se; it was rather the means towards a new socio-economic order and
ultimately towards a new mode of living. Considering the initial threefold, namely
dwelling, producing and relaxation, as well as its subsequent, which further
included the function of circulation, an emerging portrait of life can be perceived.

The idea of challenging and revisiting the dogmatic rationality of the functional
city, which has been more than adequately serviced through the CIAM activities,

1
The Athens Charter might have been published ten years after the works of CIAM 4 took place, however it
constitutes the absolute basis of the meeting’s conclusions.
2
“’Habitat’ is a word used by the French to describe not only the home but also its environment and everything
appertaining to it.” (Goldhagen and Legault, 2000, p.56)
3
Le Corbusier prior the last meeting of CIAM takes place insisted in transferring leadership to the younger members
of the Congress. (Bullock, 2002, p.145)

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should not be considered as an abandonment of the modernist ideals. On the

contrary, this turn could be appraised as a turn towards more sophisticated and
effective gestures, which could affect the very essentials of human beings either
examined as individuals, or as members of the social strata. For instance, it should
not be perceived as an abort of internationalism the fact that attention started to
be paid in local features and values. The established dialectic relationship between
localities and international modernism might have been originated in the fact that
architecture transcended the boundaries of the European territory, leaving behind
the familiarity of its own culture and roots. Modern architecture was destined to
find a quite fruitful field of action in the countries of the developing world,
suggesting Africa, Middle East, or South America, claiming its international
character not only in theory but also in practice. In order to acquire roots and
flourish at the most distant and diverse corners of earth, a kind of mingling with
local features appeared to be inevitable. It is not a story of denying
internationalism; instead, it is a story of propagating it.

Constantinos Doxiadis

The Greek architect and urban planner Constantinos Doxiadis belonged to the
group of professionals and thinkers who severely challenged the quality of the
urban environment, as it had been already evolved up to the mid of the 20th
century. Characteristically, he talked about “urban nightmares” (Doxiadis, 1963,
p.19), or otherwise “dystopias” (Doxiadis, 1968, p.4). Even though, he credited
the revolutionary spirit of the Modern Movement’s leading figures, such as Gropius
or Le Corbusier, for breaking the bonds with academism, yet he considered the
goal as a non-fully achieved. To some important extent, he identified as critical
factor for the experienced failures the reluctance of his colleagues to transcend
the conventional boundaries set by the role of a designer and instead to become
master builders (Doxiadis, 1963). Doxiadis did not hesitate4 to make this leap, as
per his own words; “Personally I often feel like an itinerant master builder of the

4
Doxiadis not only did not hesitate becoming a builder, but instead he considered it a duty and privilege, according
to his own words; “So as to be privileged of building even one step, instead of waiting for others to become builders
and keep for myself the role of a well-dressed man climbing up the stair, which was built by others.” (Filippidis,
2015, p.18-19)

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Islamabad

past, travelling around the world and offering my services.” (Doxiadis, 1963,
p.21). Pakistan, one of the newly emerging countries of the 20th century
decolonization period, has been a benchmark concerning Doxiadis’ global activity5.

Pakistan constitutes a par excellence nation-state building paradigm of the

preceding century’s developing world. The withdrawal of the British imperial forces
from the Indian subcontinent in 1947, led to the peninsula’s segregation according
to absolute religious criteria and therefore to the establishment of two
independent nation-states; Pakistan, the land of Muslims’ and respectively the
Hindus’ India. This story of nation-state building included, as expected, political
legitimization agendas, developmental policies, social reformation procedures,
international alliances making, collective consciousness moulding, as well as
modernization opportunities. However, Doxiadis identified in this case, beyond the
obvious opportunity for growing his reputation as a consultant of international
esteem, a great opportunity for scientific research to take place. The case study
for this research was meant to be Islamabad, the new federal capital of Pakistan,
the master plan of which was assigned to “Doxiadis Associates”, or more
accurately was entrusted to Constantinos Doxiadis by President General Ayub
Khan.

Islamabad can be considered to be mostly a political project. The idea of creating

an ex-novo urban scheme bearing the magnitude of a country’s capital city, which
was developed according to the most modern trends and internationally accepted
standards, acquired a highly symbolic meaning. In fact, it was heralded as the
ultimate symbol of national consolidation and progress, or otherwise as a
“historical project on which the hopes and dreams of the Nation depend.”
(Doxiadis Associates, 1964, p.1) Doxiadis found himself in charge of a highly
ambitious urban project, which was supposed to produce remarkable impact both
at national and international level and which also enjoyed complete support from

5
As per the memoirs of an architect who was member of the Capital Development Authority and worked closely
with Doxiadis, “Dr. Doxiadis, on the other hand, went from strength to strength and never looked back from the
time in 1954, when I first met him in New Delhi at the UN Conference on Low-Cost Housing as a Town-Planner
whose reputation had not yet travelled beyond the shores of Greece. Within a space of ten to fifteen years however,
he gathered around him a vast empire and had works extending from Vietnam to Iraq, Ghana, Saudi Arabia and
various other countries of South America as well as works even in the USA including the role of adviser on the
Washington master plan.” (Khwaja, 1998, p.111-112)

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the country’s political leadership. All efforts and gazes were turned on the
Islamabad project, which if taken under consideration along with the fact that it
was implemented on a “tabula rasa” basis, or otherwise on a basis of minimizing
undesired commitments, it seems reasonable to conclude that Doxiadis has been
offered the perfect ground, in order to deploy and communicate his philosophy,
regarding modern urban planning.

Introducing Ekistics

Doxiadis identified in the weaknesses of modern urban planning the source for a
series of acute social problems and respectively he appraised as defining factors,
in regards to any potential solutions the emergence of three basic phenomena,
namely the unprecedented global population increase, the advent of machine’s
dominance, as well as the gradual shift of interest in masses (C.A.D.A., Pakistan
v.16, DOX-PA 29, 1959). In other words, after interrelating the existing social
malaises with poor urban planning, a reversed process seems to prevail, which
suggests the pursuit of social reformation on the basis of sound planning practices,
following a deep understanding both of current needs and future demands.
Otherwise and according to the terminology introduced by Doxiadis, Ekistics –the
science of human settlements- could drive humankind to a deserved prosperous
future.

Ekistics (from oikos, the Greek word for a house or dwelling) is the science
of human settlements. It coordinates economics, social sciences, political
and administrative sciences, technology and aesthetics into a coherent
whole and leads to the creation of a new type of human habitat. (Doxiadis,
1963, p.96)

In more detail, Ekistics constituted a holistic approach, which aimed towards the
balance of the five primal elements6 of human settlements, namely Nature, Man,

6 The five ekistic elements can be defined as follows “Nature: the total natural environment which provides the
basis for the creation of settlements and the context in which they function. Anthropos: the inhabitant, as an
individual. Society: the systems of interactions between Anthropoi. Shells: the structures which shelter Anthropos,
his functions and activities. Networks: the natural and man-made connective systems which serve and integrate
settlements, such as roads, water supply and sewerage systems, electrical generating and distribution facilities,

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Islamabad

Society, Shells and Networks. Practically, these five elements constitute the
fragments of two broader divisions of human settlements – the content’s and the
container’s (Doxiadis and Papaioannou, 1974). This is to say that human beings,
either perceived as individuals or as social entities, shape the habitat’s content,
while all of the rest elements –both natural and man-made-, define the container.
Nevertheless, “The essential nature of settlements results from the fusion and
interactive balance between their container –or physical structure- and their
contents –or Anthropos.” (Doxiadis and Papaioannou, 1974, p.7) As a key factor,
in terms of defining the level and nature of achieved balance, can be highlighted
the nexus of potential correlations that are being created among the diverse
ekistic elements and the relevant scientific disciplines –economic, social, political,
technological and cultural. As per Doxiadis, if all the potential combinations are to
be calculated, then we come across with the amazing number of more than thirty-
three million alternatives (Kyrtsis, 2006). The ultra-dynamic character of human
settlements is depicted by means of the “Ekistic Grid”, which constitutes a valuable
working tool both at the levels of analysis and planning.

In fact, the “Ekistic Grid” becomes a visual testimony of Doxiadis’ perception,

regarding human settlements. This is to say that the latter are interpreted as
systems and more accurately as systems identical with that of life (Doxiadis and
Papaioannou, 1974). This kind of radical interpretation is expected to offer a fresh
insight and to open new paths in the field of urban planning, which after being
systematized, it can be scientifically analysed, its main features easily captured
and processed and ultimately controlled. Following Doxiadis’ vocabulary, it can be
read “Human settlements are a great deal more than static, built up areas.
Settlements are processes, systems in a continuous state of flux…” (Doxiadis and
Papaioannou, 1974, p.7). And at this point, it can be introduced the leading
parameter, in terms of maintaining habitats’ dynamic state, which is no other than
the one of time. For the present analysis, regarding the urban planning
methodology of Doxiadis, the factor of time possesses a paramount position.

communications facilities, and economic, legal, educational and political systems.” (Doxiadis and Papaioannou,
1974, p.9)

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According to him, ‘the analysis of settlements cannot be separated from the fourth
dimension, that of time.’ (Doxiadis and Papaioannou, 1974, p. 7)

Implementing Ekistics at Islamabad

Summarizing, Doxiadis had been offered the empty plains of Potwar Plateau in
Northern Pakistan, neighbouring the existing city of Rawalpindi, so as to
implement his ekistic theory and create Islamabad, the first fragment of the city
of the future7, or otherwise the first fragment of a universal system of life. In other
words, a capital city was about to be established, which would be consistent in
terms of economic, social, political, technical and cultural factors, while it would
maintain its functionality in the infinity8. Alternatively, Islamabad was about to
emerge, following two of the Ekistics’ principles, namely the “Unity of Purpose”
and the “Four Dimensions”. Equally respected were supposed to be the other two
principles, which complete the ekistic theory, suggesting the “Hierarchy of
Functions”, as well as “many Masters and many Scales”9. Therefore, Islamabad
was meant to be a coherent system of life, which could be perpetually growing
and evolving, while maintaining its initial virtues and functional competence,
through a series of hierarchically ordered and highly integrated sub-systems. The
basis for materializing the above mentioned ideal has been the introduction of
“Dynapolis”. Doxiadis again introduced this kind of urban development pattern,
which presupposed a linear and simultaneously parabolic model of expansion both
of the residential and the city’s central functions. The existence of a modular
human community, which could be perpetually reproduced, constituted the key
parameter for the materialization of the Dynapolis model. For Islamabad the Class

7
Islamabad was considered to be the first materialized fragment of “Ecumenopolis, the inevitable city of the future”.
Ecumenopolis, a term also introduced by Doxiadis, signified the unified global human settlement, the
implementation of which has already been initiated, while its completion was estimated to take place in the year
2100. (Doxiadis, 1968)
8
“The only way to envisage our goals in size is to relate size to time. Our goals, expressed in size, must be dynamic.
Our new city must become the Federal Capital not for today, not for tomorrow, but from now on and as long as the
government of Pakistan feels that it is the best place for a capital.” (Doxiadis Associates, 1960, p.416)
9
More information on the four principles of Ekistics –Unity of Purpose, Four Dimensions, Hierarchy of Functions,
many Masters and many Scales- can be found in page 317 of ‘The spirit of Islamabad’, in Ekistics; Abstracts on
the problems of science of human settlements, ed. by Doxiadis Associates (vol.12, No.73, 1961), p.p. 315-335.

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Islamabad

V human community was defined as its modular and the southwest direction as
its only possible way towards expansion.

In more detail, the creation of Pakistan’s federal capital presupposed the formation
of a metropolitan area, which included the area of Islamabad with distinguished
national features, the area of Rawalpindi destined to maintain its regional
character and the National Park, corresponding and serving both Islamabad and
Rawalpindi, by means of retaining agricultural functions, as well as special
functions with either cultural or educational orientation. For the development of
Islamabad, a narrow triangular10 area had been reserved, strictly defined from the
one side by the Margalla Hills and from the other side by Rawalpindi and the
National Park, leaving only the southwest direction unbounded. Respectively
Rawalpindi had absolute boundaries from all three sides –Islamabad, National Park
and Soan river-, while again the southwest edge had been kept free to expansion.
Both urban schemes, namely the existing Rawalpindi and the created ex-novo
Islamabad, were designed so as to evolve in parallel and in a complementary
manner, following the Dynapolis model. It worth to be noted that this kind of
unlimited future development appears to be feasible, only by means of absolute
limitations at the stage of planning. According to the inspirer of this urban model:

The proper name for the city of the future is Dynapolis, the dynamic polis
or city, which in contrast to the static polis or city of the past will possess
the characteristics of dynamic development built in it. Thus this city will be
able to develop freely and naturally along a planned and predetermined
course. (C.A.D.A., DOX-PA 77, 1960, p.134)

Since human settlements are identified as systems of life, then it seems perfectly
reasonable the idea of human community to be the ideal of any urban planning
process. Anyhow, it was towards social reformation that urban planning aimed,
which was not irrelevant with architecture’s socialization11. One of the

10
Additionally, the selected triangular area secured the coherence of scale at all stages of urban development.
11
“This is because the architect must now build for the masses, creating architecture for everybody and not for a
certain leading class alone. At the same time, he has to build much larger numbers of houses and buildings.”
(C.A.D.A., DOX-PA 115, 1961, p.38)

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fundamental principles, regarding the creation of the federal capital is highlighted

here below.

Planning aims at creating integrated human communities and not just

conglomeration of houses. People live in communities, where they must
satisfy the great variety of their needs and desires. The community should
therefore always be the unit of planning and include residences, places of
work, residential facilities and all services necessary for healthy and
pleasant living. (C.A.D.A., DOX-PA 29, 1959, p.3)

Therefore, if the community was meant to be the unit of planning12, then it could
be assumed that a predefined social tissue was intended to be materialized
through a properly designed urban tissue. The master plan of Islamabad had been
utterly based on a series of autonomous human communities of various scales,
which were, nevertheless, in an absolute and hierarchical manner interrelated –
as specified by the ekistic principle, concerning the hierarchy of functions. This
sequence of hierarchically ordered communities resulted to the already mentioned
Class V human community, which presented the higher level of complexity and
constituted the most extended area under the dominance of the human scale. This
is to say that Class V human community, which was defined in spatial terms by
means of a 2x2km square terrain and which could be fully accessible on foot by
its inhabitants, without any real dependence on the machine, constituted a static,
however autonomous and of a highest order integrated system of life, which
became the modular for the development of Islamabad, or otherwise the city’s
sector.

The classification of human communities in Islamabad took place according both

to their size and functions. More precisely, class I constitutes the elementary
community, which derives from the coexistence of 10-25 families. A community
classified as Class II, consists of approximately 75 families, or in other words of
3-5 communities specified as class I. Following, community class III, numbering

12
Further, on the interrelation between the new capital city’s physical and social features, “The basic principle that
should be observed in the structure of a residential community is that its physical pattern should be in complete
accord with the social organization of the human group that is expected to settle in them.” (C.A.D.A., DOX-PAK-
LH38, 1966, p.3)

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Islamabad

600-700 families, is the outcome of several class II communities’ coexistence. In

its turn, class IV community, with an indicative population of 7.000-10.000 people,
derives from the gathering of some class III communities. Finally, 3-4 class IV
communities organized together create a community class V –numbering from
20.000 to 40.000 people- which, as already mentioned, constitutes the “self-
contained and self-supported with respect to everyday life” (Doxiadis Associates,
1964, Bulletin 64) nucleus of the city. In complete analogy to size ordering,
function ordering follows. More specifically, each distinct type of community
shares a common functional element; for example, class II shares a playground
for the children, class III an elementary school, for a class IV community the
secondary school and a central market are the connecting elements, etc. The
interdependence of diverse functional entities becomes evident, nevertheless,
remains to be underlined the intention for “their grouping and structure”, which
“should be rationally programed and implemented”. (C.A.D.A., DOX-PA29, 1959,
p.12)

The following notes of Doxiadis, which correspond to one of his visits in India,
provide a clear aspect of his vision, regarding urban planning objectives and
instruments.

For hours we wander into these housing schemes. They have been built
during the last twelve years. They are all characteristic of the same spirit.
I could say that their defects are the following: a) there is no creation of
community spirit at all. There is no interconnection of the different
buildings. On the contrary they look as being thrown on a vast land with no
order. There is no formation of a social pyramid. No neighbourhoods, no
communities. (C.A.D.A., India Notes, 1955, p.35)

The urge for implementing master plans with the idea of social pyramid being well
kept in mind, signifies a lot. In fact, a strong commitment to social structuring is
unveiled, which expectedly will take place on a basis of the proper spatial
arrangements. Considering again the Islamabad case, as the ultimate criterion, in
order that the social pyramid to be portrayed, had been defined the one of income
–its objective features render it a highly efficient instrument. In more detail, all

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human communities of Islamabad were organized, in accordance with a pattern

of income status. To give an example and in reference to sector I9, four categories
of income groups it was decided to coexist. The lower income group –classified as
type A- corresponded to the 30% of the community’s total population, while a
percentage of 40% had been reserved for inhabitants belonging to income group
type B. Respectively, 20% of the population would be originated from type C
income group and the rest 10% would correspond to the financially stronger
members of the community (Doxiadis Associates, 1962, p.354). The lower was
the complexity of the community, the less was the intermixing of diverse income
groups –social integration was absolutely predetermined.

From the functional city to the functioning system

The human settlement of Islamabad, or otherwise the system of life of the

Pakistani capital city, was created on the basis of the Ekistic philosophy. The latter
constituted a multidisciplinary approach, which included extensive and exhaustive
layers of analyses and respectively a highly disciplined layer of synthesis. The
methodological approach of the Islamabad master plan offers a kind of
confirmation on that. Both its social and urban tissues have been fragmented to
the maximum possible extent, in order to be afterwards unified into a coherent
whole, providing an ultimate level of control. Pakistan needed at that time to
acquire a strengthened middle social class, as it was passing from the agricultural
era to that of intense industrialisation and Islamabad, by means of its shells and
networks, became the proper field for the desired social strata to flourish.

The ideal of the functional city, which constituted the cornerstone of CIAM
manifesto, should not be appraised as an element completely detached from any
humanitarian context. On the contrary and despite any failures of modern urban
planning, as expressed through the CIAM rhetoric, the aim of social reformation
was on the top rank of the modernist agenda. The idea of social equality and
humankind’s well-being went along with the propagation of the functional city and
more precisely it was considered that the viability of the former depended on the
successful implementation of the latter. Both privileges and responsibilities

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Islamabad

sourcing from the advent of the Machine Era concerned all members of the social
strata, or otherwise everyone who “have chanced to be touched by the sun” (Le
Corbusier, 1943, p.xix), as characteristically is referred in the introduction of the
Athens Charter edition of 1943. This is to say that solely the shift in interest from
spatial associations to human associations, as it was urged by the younger
members of CIAM, did not actually signify a reorientation, in terms of pursued
goals. Anyhow, the impact of the Machine Age could not be disregarded; mass
production activities in order to be viable required a competent audience –both in
terms of quantitative and qualitative features-, which at that moment did not
exist, but needed to become existent. The creation of a shared culture at a global
scale –where culture is comprehended as synonymous to mode of living- appeared
to be the key factor. And the vehicle in order to create the required social content
was considered to be the creation of the proper urban container both in the CIAM
and post-CIAM period.

Accordingly, Doxiadis might have challenged the modernist functional city,

however, he did not turn his back at the modernist ideals. On the contrary, he
might be considered as one of the dedicated supporters both in theory and
practice. His interpretation of the human settlement as a kind of system offered a
fresh insight, in regards to the way of approaching urban planning. This is to say
that it can be identified a shift in interest from the objective itself to the procedure
that should be followed, so as the final end to be achieved. This kind of highly
systematized and scientific approach, which included multidisciplinary research,
analysis and synthesis at various levels, permitted the efficient management of
complex and exceptionally changeable conditions. The idea of fragmenting all kind
of involved parameters before their synthesis into a unified whole –which as per
Doxiadis’ perception was expected to reach the limits of a universal urban
settlement-, implied the deep understanding and knowledge of these parameters
and ultimately their control at the maximum possible extent. In a sense, Doxiadis’
philosophy aimed to keep the path of dreaming wide open, or otherwise the path
heading towards the ideal accessible, while by means of a reasoned methodology,
protection against utopias was to be attained. Therefore, even though his gaze
was focused on the path leading to humankind’s future, equally and

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simultaneously he was attentive with the very essentials that secured the system’s
function. That is why he urged that “Our primary duty is to understand that we
must start preparing programs instead of plans” (C.A.D.A., DOX-PA29, 1959, p.2)

Figure 1. The Master Plan of the Metropolitan Area, including

Islamabad, Rawalpindi and the National Park. In yellow colour
the city’s sector (Class V community) is indicated, while in
blue colour the city’s central functions (the so-called Blue
Zone) can be seen. The southwest direction of future
expansion is also portrayed.

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Islamabad

Figure 2. Constantinos Doxiadis inspecting a model of

Islamabad at his office premises in Athens. (Source:
Constantinos A. Doxiadis Archives, © Constantinos and Emma
Doxiadis Foundation)

Figure 3. Aspect of a neighbourhood’s centre in Islamabad.

(Source: Constantinos A. Doxiadis Archives, © Constantinos
and Emma Doxiadis Foundation)

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Figure 4. Aerial view of two sectors in Islamabad (G6-1 & G6-

2). (Source: Constantinos A. Doxiadis Archives, ©
Constantinos and Emma Doxiadis Foundation)

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Doxiadis, C. (1968). Ecumenopolis: Tomorrow’s City. In Encyclopedia Britannica (Ed.)

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Eleb, M. (2000). An Alternative to Functionalist Universalism: Ecochard, Candilis, and

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Frampton, K. (1981). Modern Architecture: A Critical History. London: Thames and Hudson
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Anastasia Sakka. Self-employed architect -bDiploma in Architecture (National Technical

University of Athens) & MA in History and Theory of Architecture (University of East
London)-, involved in the architectural practice during the last eighteen years. PhD
candidate in Architecture at the University of Edinburgh. The above mentioned research
program is followed on a part-time basis and currently the 6th year of studies is to be
completed. General research interests are mainly focused in the field of history and theory
of architecture, while in particular the present research aims to explore the socio-political
aspect of architecture through the case study of Islamabad.

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