Architect Syed Akeel Bilgrami received the prestigious Sitara-e-Imtiaz from the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi, honoring his lifelong contributions in the field of architecture and design since 1972. Twice elected President of the Institute of Architects Pakistan (IAP), the national body of Professional Architects in Pakistan, Mr. Bilgrami is also the first Pakistani to be elected Chairman of the prestigious Architects Regional Council Asia (ARCASIA), the 21-nation premier body of architects of Asia. “It’s a great honor for me to receive this civil award but this award is not just for me, I dedicate to each and every person who has been an integral part of my wonderful journey including my mentors, my partners, my students and most importantly my family. Since 1972, my only passion has been to serve Pakistan in the field of architecture and design” said Syed Akeel Bilgrami A pioneer of the country’s architectural landscape and industry, Syed Akeel Bilgrami has represented Pakistan at the triennial International Union of Architects (UIA) General Assembly in Istanbul (2005), Tokyo (2011) and Durban (2014) and at the Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) at Dhaka (2013) and has designed over 1500 projects in Pakistan, Bangladesh and UAE. Amongst the projects designed by NBCL is the master planning of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) at the Karachi University Campus with eight new buildings added to the existing infrastructure. Mr. Syed Akeel Bilgrami is also amongst the founding members of the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture (IVS), Karachi, a private, not-for-profit, Degree Awarding Institute set up in 1990, providing high quality education in the fields of Architecture, Textile Design, Communication Design and Fine Arts. Syed Akeel Bilgrami has been the Principal Architect and Partner of Bilgrami & Faruque since 1972 and Chairman and Principal Architect of Najmi Bilgrami Collaborative (Pvt) Ltd (NBCL) (www.najmibilgrami.com) since 2009. His firm, NBCL, has won several national architectural design excellence awards and three international A-design awards from Italy, the only Pakistani firm to have received this honor. Mr Bilgrami is a Trustee of several charitable, educational, environmental and social organizations.