Karachi, 21 March 2021: The Second Cycle of the ADA Awards 2020 – 2021 premiered its Winners Announcement virtually on Sunday at 12 pm (PST) on their YouTube channel (ADA Magazine) due to the ongoing pandemic and thus, the inability to meet physically. Khalid Malik, the host of the show welcomed the audience in a Lahore setting, addressing the current circumstances and the inability to meet in a physical realm. It proceeded with the national anthem performed by the students and instructors of Habib University, part of the Center for South Asian Music. Moving forward, the Editor in Chief and Founder of the ADA Magazine and Awards addressed the virtual audience. Reminiscing over the First Cycle and hoping to meet soon in a physical ceremony, she also shed light on the current cycle and the challenges they faced as part of adapting and adjusting as a means of moving forward. Moreover, she highlighted that the creative industry coming together as Pakistanis to celebrate architecture, design, and art that impacts lives and inspires generations was a collective win for all of us. Finally, she ended her address on a high note by stressing on the need for honoring and celebrating the winners in the latter part of the year where we can hear their stories and creative journeys in a live setting.

This set the stage for the winners’ announcements where 15 individuals/studios were awarded whilst giving 11 honorary mentions. After the Art and Design discipline, a kalam by Faiz Ahmed Faiz was recited by Moazzam Ali Khan. A moving piece of poetry indeed, that was quite apt for current times. Finally, after the last discipline – Architecture, Anwar Maqsood gave his two cents on the respective disciplines of Architecture, Design, and Art. Stating that the foremost thing is that the “country’s design should be good”. Last but not least, the announcements were wrapped up with some snippets from the jury’s zoom sessions along with other behind-the-scenes footage to end the virtual show in a lighter tone.