Introduction
Architecture is often described as the art and science of designing buildings. For some people, though, it becomes a way of engaging with society, communicating ideas and creating opportunities for others. The journey of Ar. Muhammad Farhan Farhat Khalil reflects this wider understanding of the profession.
He is an architect by education, an artist by inclination, an entrepreneur by initiative and an architectural social activist by conviction. His career has moved through art, education, professional practice, entrepreneurship and community building, with one aim: to improve the visibility, communication and development of architecture in Pakistan.
Early Life
Farhan was born on 31 January 1999 in Peshawar. He grew up in the Khalil family, in a household where his father, brother and other family members were architects and artists. Design and creativity were part of everyday life for him from the start.
Even as a child, he was drawn to drawing, colour and visual expression, and this interest stayed with him through school and college.
Schooling
Farhan’s early education was at University Public School, which gave him the foundation for his later studies. It was also where his creative interests first began to show.
College
After school, he studied engineering at Concordia College Peshawar. This period gave him a grounding in mathematics, science and technical reasoning that he later carried into architecture. It also helped him see that engineering solves problems, while architecture also asks how people will experience the solution. That question led him towards architecture.
University
Farhan studied architecture at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Peshawar, Abbottabad campus. The programme introduced him to the relationship between space, form, function, technology and human experience.
His time at university went well beyond the studio. He took part in Institute of Architects Pakistan (IAP) activities, including IAPEX Peshawar, which brought him into contact with the professional community. In 2019 he attended an architectural conference that showed him the wider conversations shaping the profession.
His thesis was titled Meta Cyber Urban Hub: Architecting the Metaverse. He chose this topic in 2022, when artificial intelligence was not yet as prominent as it is today. The central idea of the project was that the metaverse should be designed by an architect rather than a graphic designer, because virtual spaces, like physical ones, need an understanding of space, movement and human experience.
Early Achievements and Activities
Farhan’s record of competitions, workshops and events began long before university:
- 2005: Afghan Refugees Painting Competition, associated with UNHCR, at about six years old
- 2011: Bridge-designing competition associated with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
- 2019: Architectural conference
- 2020: Design competition associated with the Galiyat Development Authority
- 2021: International workshop Shaping the Light
- 2022: Design seminar New Horizons
- 2023: Junk-art installation at UET Abbottabad, associated with PCATP
Taken together, these show a steady habit of looking beyond coursework. The early competitions show his interest in art and in the link between creativity and engineering. The later ones show his interest in light, materials, international perspectives and experimentation.
Awards and Recognition
Farhan’s work has earned several honours:
- Recognition in the design competition associated with the Galiyat Development Authority
- The honour of presenting his paper at PHATA
- The honour of having his paper published at the World Urban Forum 2026
- 2025: Guest speaker at IAPEX Peshawar
- 2026: Presented his paper at the international conference at IAPEX Islamabad
- 2026: Invited to present his work at IAPEX Peshawar and IAPEX Lahore
He is now regularly invited as a guest speaker at international conferences.
Career
Finishing architecture school meant learning how architecture works in the real world. After 2023, Farhan joined Suhail & Fawad Architects, an established practice, where he moved from academic exercises to the demands of professional work. After about a year, he moved to Hammad Hussain Architects and spent another year there.
Working in different firms showed him different approaches to design, project development, coordination, client communication and consultant relationships. Academic projects usually begin with a defined brief and a controlled environment. Professional projects involve changing requirements, budgets, technical constraints and client expectations. These years were a learning phase, and they gave him the foundation for his own practice.
Nouman & Farhan Architects and Engineers
The next step was to build a practice of his own. With his brother, Muhammad Nouman Farhat, Farhan established Nouman & Farhan Architects and Engineers. The firm covers:
- Architectural design
- Interior design
- Landscape design
- Three-dimensional visualization
- Construction-related services
Running a practice brought new responsibilities: client relationships, project coordination, financial planning, marketing and delivery. It also reflects his belief that a design is not finished when the drawing looks convincing. It has to deal with materials, construction, budgets, regulations and the people who will use the space.
Farhan works as a project architect at the firm. His projects include a triple-height, 2-kanal residential project at DHA Peshawar, the first of its kind in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Imarat Gallery
In 2019, while still a student, Farhan had an idea. He saw that many talented Pakistani architects, especially those from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, did not have a dedicated platform to showcase their work, share their experience and be recognised.
In 2023, that idea became Imarat Gallery. It is a platform where architects showcase their work, share educational insights and stay up to date with architecture in Pakistan. It is also a hub where professionals and enthusiasts connect, learn and inspire one another.
The platform exists because buildings are often documented through photographs of finished work, while the decisions, struggles and lessons behind them are rarely shared with students and the public. Imarat Gallery tries to close that gap, with particular attention to architects from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and across Pakistan.
Teaching and Workshops
Farhan believes architecture depends on the ability to turn an idea into something others can understand. He created a workshop series, Conveying Ideas through Visual Communication, which has been held at:
- UET Abbottabad
- UET Peshawar
- CECOS University, Peshawar
- NUST
- NCA
- Hazara University
The workshops teach students to communicate an idea clearly, build a coherent narrative and help an audience follow the thinking behind a design. Those skills matter in studio presentations, design juries, interviews and client meetings.
He also conducts juries at architecture schools, giving students honest feedback at a stage when it can shape their growth.
Research and Conferences
Alongside practice and teaching, Farhan is a researcher who publishes journals. His research includes work on illegal buildings in Peshawar, a subject that affects the city’s planning, safety and quality of life.
He has taken part in many architecture conferences, including the IAPEX conferences in Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar and the PHATA international conference in Lahore, representing Pakistani voices on a wider stage.
Social Work
Farhan sees architecture as tied to public life. In growing cities such as Peshawar, questions about land use, building regulations, density and the quality of the built environment affect residents as well as architects. As a social activist who promotes architecture in Pakistan, he works to raise awareness of the profession and of what good design can offer communities.
Future Plans
Farhan’s newest initiative is Meet the Architect: Architecture Hujra, a series built around the hujra, the traditional communal room where elders share wisdom informally. Each episode brings a senior, established architect to sit as the elder and talk with architecture students and fresh graduates over chai. There are no project presentations and no corporate formality. The conversation covers real career journeys, struggles, turning points and lessons, followed by open questions from students.
The series is made for Urdu-speaking audiences across Pakistan and India, and it also works as an archive of the senior architects who shaped the region’s architecture. Alongside it, the Architecture Hujra Ambassadors programme is building a community of architecture students across campuses, with ambassadors already onboarded from universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.
Conclusion
Born on 31 January 1999, Ar. Muhammad Farhan Farhat Khalil has built a career that keeps widening, from a child painting in a competition to an architect, entrepreneur and educator building platforms for others. His story is not only about becoming an architect. It is about using architecture to create, build, communicate and contribute to something larger than oneself.