In 1988, the Asian Congress of Architect held in Seoul Korea was attended by a delegation of architects and their spouses from Pakistan. Pakistani architects got an inspiration of developing an art and architecture school in Karachi from that event. Architects Arshad and Shahid Abdulla, Zaigham Jaffery, Shahab Ghani, Shama Usman, Akeel Bilgrami. came up with a concept of building an institution at Karachi that could provide an environment to nurture the young artists and architects. A temporary premises for Murshid Hospital‘s Nursing School was chosen first then Philanthropist Haamid Jaffer, the 10th Founder Member, offered a large family house for a period of three years. The original school comprises a drawing studio, constructed under a wooden trellis, a makeshift lecture hall built with a tin roof.