Ijlal Muzaffar received his PhD from MIT in the History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture and Art, and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University. He also holds a BSc in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Punjab. His work has appeared widely in edited volumes, biennale catalogues, and peer-reviewed journals. He is a founding member of the architectural history research collaborative and publishing platform Aggregate.
His first book, Modernism’s Magic Hat: Architecture and the Illusion of Development without Capital (University of Texas Press, 2024) examines how modern architects and planners help resolve one of the central dilemmas of the mid 20th century world order: how to make decolonization plausible without accounting for centuries of capital drain under colonial rule. In the years after World War 2, architects and planners found extensive opportunities in new international institutions—such as the World Bank, the UN and the Ford Foundation—and helped shape new models of global intervention that displaced the burden of change onto the inhabitants. Muzaffar argues that architecture in this domain didn’t just symbolically represent power, but formed the material domain through which new modes of power acquired sense. Looking at a series of architectural projects across the world, from housing in Ghana to village planning in Nigeria and urban planning in Venezuela and Pakistan, Muzaffar explores how architects and planners shaped news ideas of time, land, climate and the decolonizing body, making them appear as sources of untapped value. What resulted, Muzaffar argues, is a widespread belief in spontaneous Third World “development” without capital, which continues to foreclose any global discussion of colonial theft.
Muzaffar’s second book project, called Settling Dreams, charts the formation of a “cotton belt” in the Sindh desert in southwest India (now in Pakistan) by the British colonial government in 1898 when the supply of US cotton to the British mills was disrupted by the American Civil War. Collecting oral histories from surviving members of the families (his own among them) who were transplanted from other parts of India to run this grand and improbable enterprise, as well as those who were displaced by the newcomers and mounted an armed rebellion for two generations against the British plans, Muzaffar explores what does it mean to settle and unsettle on scales ranging from the global to the personal. The introductory chapters of this book have already appeared in edited volumes.
These projects have given Muzaffar broad experience into the history, politics and transforming cultural landscapes of the non-Western world, particularly in South Asia, Africa and the Middle East in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Academic areas of interest
History of globalization and Third World development; History and theory of modern architecture, urbanism, and planning; History of Non-Western architecture; Political ecology and environmentalism; Cultural studies; Feminist and Marxist criticism; Post-colonial criticism.
Courses
Fall 2023 Courses
GAC 702G-01 - RESEARCH ISSUES
LevelGraduate
UnitLiberal Arts
Subject Global Arts And Cultures
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
FormatSeminar
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date
GAC 702G-01
RESEARCH ISSUES
LevelGraduate
UnitLiberal Arts
Subject Global Arts And Cultures
PeriodFall 2023
Credits3
FormatSeminar
ModeIn-Person
Start and End2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: TH | 9:40 AM - 12:40 PMInstructor(s): Ijlal MuzaffarLocation(s): Auditorium, Room 522Enrolled / Capacity: 15Status: Open
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Introduces a variety of interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisiciplinary approaches to thinking about cultural imagination and cultural production. Students explore their own research habits and consider the viability of standard as well as experimental approaches for the kinds of projects they want to pursue. Key to the work of the course is exploration of the challenges (definitional, practical, ethical) that arise in doing different kinds of research. A requirement in the first semester of the GAC MA degree, the course creates a common vocabulary and experience for all GAC MA students. The course will be run as a seminar, with weekly reading assignments, regular writing assignments, and in class discussion.
Enrollment is limited to Global Arts and Cultures Students.
A Master's Thesis is a substantive, research-based scholarly essay of at least 60 double-spaced pages that involves original research and makes an original intervention in the field. The culmination of the Master's Degree, the Master's Thesis is of publishable quality. This course supports the completion of the Master's Thesis. Students are required to work independently, in conversation with peers, and in individual consultation with their MA Thesis Committee to develop, complete, revise, and finalize the Master's Thesis. The Master's Thesis will be housed in the RISD Library in both print and electronic forms. Students are also expected to present work related to the Master's Thesis at the GAC MA Symposium. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Timeline for a clear sequence of required deadlines. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Guidelines and Policies for clarification of the goals and expectations of the GAC MA.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of GAC-798G and approval of the prospectus are required for enrollment.
Enrollment is limited to Global Arts and Cultures Students.
A Master's Thesis is a substantive, research-based scholarly essay of at least 60 double-spaced pages that involves original research and makes an original intervention in the field. The culmination of the Master's Degree, the Master's Thesis is of publishable quality. This course supports the completion of the Master's Thesis. Students are required to work independently, in conversation with peers, and in individual consultation with their MA Thesis Committee to develop, complete, revise, and finalize the Master's Thesis. The Master's Thesis will be housed in the RISD Library in both print and electronic forms. Students are also expected to present work related to the Master's Thesis at the GAC MA Symposium. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Timeline for a clear sequence of required deadlines. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Guidelines and Policies for clarification of the goals and expectations of the GAC MA.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of GAC-798G and approval of the prospectus are required for enrollment.
Enrollment is limited to Global Arts and Cultures Students.
Major Requirement | MA Global Arts and Cultures
Spring 2024 Courses
LAEL 1005-01 - WORLD ARCHITECTURE: FROM PRE-HISTORY TO PRE-MODERN: IDEAS AND ARTIFACTS
LevelUndergraduate
UnitArchitecture
Subject Liberal Arts Elective
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
FormatLecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date
LAEL 1005-01
WORLD ARCHITECTURE: FROM PRE-HISTORY TO PRE-MODERN: IDEAS AND ARTIFACTS
LevelUndergraduate
UnitArchitecture
Subject Liberal Arts Elective
PeriodSpring 2024
Credits3
FormatLecture
ModeIn-Person
Start and End2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: W | 9:40 AM - 12:40 PMInstructor(s): Ijlal MuzaffarLocation(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 106Enrolled / Capacity: 80Status: Open
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This history of architecture course, co-taught by an architectural historian and an architect, introduces key ideas, forces, and techniques that have shaped world architecture through the ages prior to the modern period. The course is based on critical categories, ranging from indigenous and vernacular architecture, to technology, culture, and representation. The lectures and discussions present systems of thought, practice and organization, emphasizing both historical and global interconnectedness, and critical architectural differences and anomalies. Each topic will be presented through case studies accompanied by relevant texts. The students will be expected to engage in the discussion groups, prepare material for these discussions, write about, and be examined on the topics.
Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Preference is given Architecture Students.
Major Requirement | BArch: Architecture, MArch: Architecture (3yr)
GAC 799G-04 - THESIS
LevelGraduate
UnitLiberal Arts
Subject Global Arts And Cultures
Period Spring 2024
Credits 12
FormatSeminar
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date
GAC 799G-04
THESIS
LevelGraduate
UnitLiberal Arts
Subject Global Arts And Cultures
PeriodSpring 2024
Credits12
FormatSeminar
ModeIn-Person
Start and End2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Instructor(s): Ijlal MuzaffarEnrolled / Capacity: 1Status: Open
SECTION DESCRIPTION
A Master's Thesis is a substantive, research-based scholarly essay of at least 60 double-spaced pages that involves original research and makes an original intervention in the field. The culmination of the Master's Degree, the Master's Thesis is of publishable quality. This course supports the completion of the Master's Thesis. Students are required to work independently, in conversation with peers, and in individual consultation with their MA Thesis Committee to develop, complete, revise, and finalize the Master's Thesis. The Master's Thesis will be housed in the RISD Library in both print and electronic forms. Students are also expected to present work related to the Master's Thesis at the GAC MA Symposium. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Timeline for a clear sequence of required deadlines. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Guidelines and Policies for clarification of the goals and expectations of the GAC MA.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of GAC-798G and approval of the prospectus are required for enrollment.
Enrollment is limited to Global Arts and Cultures Students.
Major Requirement | MA Global Arts and Cultures
GAC 799G-07 - THESIS
LevelGraduate
UnitLiberal Arts
Subject Global Arts And Cultures
Period Spring 2024
Credits 12
FormatSeminar
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date
GAC 799G-07
THESIS
LevelGraduate
UnitLiberal Arts
Subject Global Arts And Cultures
PeriodSpring 2024
Credits12
FormatSeminar
ModeIn-Person
Start and End2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Instructor(s): Ijlal MuzaffarEnrolled / Capacity: 1Status: Open
SECTION DESCRIPTION
A Master's Thesis is a substantive, research-based scholarly essay of at least 60 double-spaced pages that involves original research and makes an original intervention in the field. The culmination of the Master's Degree, the Master's Thesis is of publishable quality. This course supports the completion of the Master's Thesis. Students are required to work independently, in conversation with peers, and in individual consultation with their MA Thesis Committee to develop, complete, revise, and finalize the Master's Thesis. The Master's Thesis will be housed in the RISD Library in both print and electronic forms. Students are also expected to present work related to the Master's Thesis at the GAC MA Symposium. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Timeline for a clear sequence of required deadlines. Please see the GAC MA Thesis Guidelines and Policies for clarification of the goals and expectations of the GAC MA.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of GAC-798G and approval of the prospectus are required for enrollment.
Enrollment is limited to Global Arts and Cultures Students.
