2. BORN on 19th June, 1950 in Mumbai, Maharastra.
FAMILY- Parsi / Zoroastrian, Nationality : Indian,
Mother: Roshan, who was a teacher.
Father : Sorab Contrator , a businessman.
Education-He did his Graduate Diploma in architecture from
Mumbai in 1975 and completed his graduation from Columbia
University New York (USA) on a Tata scholarship and then went
on to pursue a post graduation degree from Columbia University
in New York.
Presently, he is a member of the Bombay Heritage Committee
and New Delhi Lutyens Bungalow Zone Review Committee.
Designed by Hafeez Contractor
3. Hafeez Contractor is a leading architect of
India. But as a school boy, he did not do
well. From the third standard onwards, he
seemed to have lost all interest in studies.
He was bad at languages. He hated
Mathematics. He had nightmares about his
Mathematics exam. He used to copy in
every test until he reached Class- 11.He was
pulled up at school. He received a caning
every week. He didn’t bother and he was
interested in playing and nothing else.
4. As a school boy, Hafeez Contractor
was more interested in games and
playing funny pranks on others. He was
a gang leader and would have gang
fights. He would plan strategies. He was
the Captain of school Cricket teram.
Hafeez says that he has learned
more by doing than from the books. As
for himself, the school life made him a
‘street-smart’.
5. At school, Contractor was more
interested in other things than studies.
If it rained outside the class, he would
think of the flowing water into a dam.
He would dream how much water the
dam would hold.
Every Saturday, the students were
allowed to go to a movie. Hafeez was
the leader and he collected money from
students to book tickets.
6. Hafeez Contractor passed his
matriculation only by copying.
However, when he reached his 11th
Class, the Principal called him and
advised him to act as a responsible
grown-up boy and take his studies
seriously.
The Principal’s advice had a deep
influence on Hafeez. For a whole
year, he didn’t go to playground and
studied all his books starting right
from the 5th Class. As a result, he
scored 50% marks in his SSC exam.
7. Hafeez wanted to join the police force
but his aunt wanted him to do his
graduation. It was not easy to join a
College with only 50% of marks but
Hafeez got admission in Jaihind
College, Mumbai by influence.
Hafeez had to opt for either French
or German. He had studied French at
school but knew nothing about it. He
decided to take German. But after
sometime, his German teacher died.
So, finally he had to take up French.
8. Hafeez Contractor started learning French
from his cousin whose husband was an
architect. So, Hafeez Contractor had to go
to an architect’s office.
One day, he saw somebody drawing a
window in this office. Hafeez pointed out
the mistake in the sketch and told the man
that the window would not open. Later, it
was found that Hafeez was right. His
cousin’s husband was impressed. He asked
Hafeez to draw a few sketches and design
of a house. Hafeez did it well at once. The
architect asked him to give up everything
and join architecture.
Lake Castle Apartment Designed
by Hafeez Contractor
9. The architect took Hafeez Contractor to the Principal
of the College for Architecture. But admission was quite
impossible for Hafeez Contractor with only 50% marks.
The Principal allowed him to appear the entrance test.
He got ‘A+’ grade. He stood ‘first class first’ in all the
subsequent examinations. After that, he never looked
back.
He did his Graduate Diploma in architecture from
Mumbai in 1975 and completed his graduation from
Columbia University, New York (USA) on a Tata
Scholarship.
10. Hafeez Contractor commenced his career in
1968 with his uncle T. Khareghat as an
apprentice architect and in 1977 he became
the associate partner in the same firm.
Between 1977 and 1980 Hafeez has been a
visiting faculty at the Academy of
Architecture, Mumbai.
He started his firm, ‘Architect Hafeez
Contractor’, in 1983. One of his first success
stories is the Vastu Building at Worli Seaface.
He then bagged projects in Pune for Karia
Builders and a lot of residential buildings. He
has
also
designed
The
Imperial
Towers, Mumbai, the tallest buildings in India.
His projects are spread across India.
The Imperial Towers
By Hafeez Contractor
