KARACHI, Sept 25: As many as 48 architecture students from different university and institutes participated in a day-long design solutions workshop on the topic of "police kiosk".

At the beginning of the workshop held at a local hotel, the participants, including male and female architects who graduated in the past two years, besides final year students in the discipline, were apprised of the relevance of the topic to urbanization and architecture.

The senior members of the Institute of Architects, the organizers of the workshops, as well as Traffic police DIG Muhammad Yamin Khan, and Transport EDO Tahir Soomro, presented their views on the police kiosks to help develop a design brief to be served as criteria for the workshop participants.

Students were required to prepare a design of a police kiosk at Old Numaish. The speakers asked the contestants to create a non-obtrusive and tucked away type kiosk at the intersection in line with the aesthetic needs of an urban centre.

Architecture Shehla Tasleem was of the view that the existing kiosks in the city were established on need basis and were mostly used as mini police stations, which should be done away, and they should be of reasonable size.

The Traffic DIG wanted the structure to be designed in a way that it served purely as a traffic kiosk- a place for traffic police to rest and sit- with a wireless room, challan room, camera room, a yard for lifted vehicles, toilet, kitchen and a space for 25-30 policemen.

Students belonging to the NED University of Engineering and Technology, Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture and Visual Study department of the University of Karachi, proposed different designs and ideas for the resolution of the issue.

Uzair Ahmad secured the first position, Hiba Rizvi was second, while Shamama Lakhani clinched the third position in the contest. Saifullah Sami and Sophia Qaiser were given consolation prizes.