Abstract:
Pakistan is home to a huge variety of gemstone minerals, some of which make it
prominent in the mineral world, such as peridot, aquamarine, topaz, ruby, sapphire & emeralds.
Mining overall is a dangerous profession and Pakistan's history is one that is filled with political
strive causing very little inflow of foreign investment thereby slowing down the country's
potential economic growth from the gemstone sector. Our natural resources are being exploited
and depleting due to wastage caused by old methods of extraction. There is a huge lack of proper
infrastructure housing the cutting, polishing, and marketing of the gemstones. It is about time
that we realize, that without proper infrastructure, education, awareness, training and
regulations, the progress of the gemstone sector will continue to be slow and the probable
revenue from it will always remain unrealized.
The idea of this thesis is to provide awareness to the people linked to the gemstone
industry, and the general public, resolving the issues faced by the struggling miners and learn
how we can solve these problems through architecture. The lack of education, awareness and
proper training facilities prove to be a big loss, due to the underdeveloped infrastructure and
inattention of the government, our industry suffers from lack of modern observatories, research
laboratories, educational and training facilities. The gemstone industry is only confined to the
officials working in the field. The industry lacks a proper showcase of the precious and
semiprecious gemstones, along with their interaction with the general public.
There is need for a platform that not only helps showcase this resource, but also allows
its people to celebrate and own it. We need a center of excellence facility, which constitutes of
up to-date labs, research centers, training institutes and exhibition galleries for the interaction
of general public. The aim of this thesis is to provide a platform, that would attract the youth to
progress in this field, general public who will own these precious resources, and invite foreign
investors, tourists, and hobbyists to our country, providing it with international recognition.
