Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture

Welcome to IVS. In over a quarter century of our existence we owe a lot to our gifted and talented faculty who have led development of a sound curriculum in the fields of art, design and architecture.

Our programmes of higher education address the needs of an evolving society with knowledge of concepts and new developments, teamwork skills, effective communication and awareness of global and community issues. We evaluate our strategic goals every year to keep our curriculum relevant and engage our students in research across the curriculum.

We’ve been a part of the fabric of our communities since our founding in 1991. Our collaborations with partners in education, the non-profit sector and cultural institutions have strengthened us and the community we serve. Our strategic alliance and student and faculty exchanges with the Kennesaw State University – USA is an example of the kind of partnerships that exemplify our global spirit of innovation.

IVS makes a significant contribution to the well-being and prosperity of our community. We are committed to tackling the ‘wicked problems’ addressing such grand challenges as sustainability of natural resources, clean energy, green architecture and design to respond to climate changes, and an array of other intervention through innovations in design and art. We are now undertaking an interdisciplinary research degree which will work at the forefront of discovery in your chosen disciplines. Our strong focus on socio-economic challenges, as well as our track record in higher education, creates a highly stimulating setting for our postgraduate students.

The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS) was founded in 1989 by a group of professional architects, designers and artists who believed that Karachi was in critical need of a school of excellence encompassing the disciplines of Fine Arts, Design and Architecture.

The School is registered as a not-for-profit, private, degree awarding institute and is managed by an Executive Committee through the Executive Director, under the control of an independent Board of Governors that includes distinguished educationists, artists, architects, industrialists, bankers and media persons, in addition to three members nominated by the Government of Sindh. The Governor of Sindh is the Patron of the School.

IVS was granted an independent charter by the Government of Sindh in June 1994, thereby empowering it to award its own degrees. It was the fourth private institution of higher education learning in Pakistan to be given degree awarding status.

The formal four-year programme in Fine Art and Design and the five-year programme in Architecture began in September 1990 with the induction of 45 students. This number has progressively increased, with the current intake at 140 students. The overall student body has grown to over 510. Twenty batches of Fine Art and Design students and Nineteen batches of Architecture students have graduated.

The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture is dedicated to much more than producing technically competent artists, designers and architects. It strives to motivate and guide students to think, be curious, to keep themselves open to sources of experience and learning, to be politically aware and socially responsive and take an independent position, respecting knowledge and people of knowledge, with humility.

In an age of rapid social, technological and aesthetic transition, we feel committed to educating our students with the ability to analyse and critique experience, to nurture their creative abilities so they become active, outstanding members of our society, both personally and professionally.

We wish to go beyond technical instruction by placing emphasis on creative thought and action. Each department, despite its individual character functions in close collaboration with the others in order to develop an awareness of the essence of the visual arts, both traditional and contemporary. This underlying philosophy is reflected in our curricula.

Through an interaction with diverse practicing professional artists, architects, academicians, scholars, archaeologists, art historians and designers, students are exposed to the importance of ideas, concept development, intuition and the value of research in the development of the creative process.

We shall not feel content till we have succeeded in preparing our graduates to live in the world of tomorrow, enabled them to share in the responsibilities for social, economic and political problems and to apply their professional knowledge and abilities to the solution of such problems, so that besides being technically and aesthetically literate, they are above all, good human beings.

To impart education in art, design and architecture creating a culture of excellence in research and innovation, contributing towards a just and tolerant society and enable students to serve as instruments of positive change.