Yasmeen Lari

Yasmeen Lari is a Pakistani architect, writer, and historian who serves as the country's first female architect. She focuses her professional work on the intersection of architecture and social justice.

Early life and education

Lari was born in 1941 in Dera Ghazi Khan. She spent her formative years living in and around Lahore. Her father, Zafarul Ahsan, worked as an Indian Civil Service officer on various major development projects. These professional assignments exposed Lari to the field of architecture during her childhood. Her sister is the Pakistani politician Nasreen Jalil.

When she was 15 years old, Lari moved to London with her family. Although the trip was intended as a vacation, she and her siblings enrolled in school there. She initially faced rejection from architecture school. Consequently, she studied arts for two years in London before gaining acceptance into the School of Architecture at Oxford Brookes University, which was previously known as Oxford Polytechnic.

Career

Lari graduated from the Oxford School of Architecture in 1964. She returned to Pakistan at age 23 alongside her husband, Suhail Zaheer Lari. Together, they opened the architecture firm Lari Associates in Karachi, Sindh. As the first female architect in Pakistan, she encountered significant difficulties at construction sites. Workers often challenged her authority or her professional knowledge because of her gender.

In 1969, she became an elected Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Her professional portfolio includes the Angoori Bagh Housing in 1978 and the Taj Mahal Hotel in Karachi in 1981. She also completed the Finance and Trade Center in 1989 and the Pakistan State Oil House headquarters in 1991. Lari officially retired from architectural practice in 2000.

Following her retirement, she transitioned into humanitarian work and historical conservation. She serves as the executive director of the Heritage Foundation Pakistan, which is a UN-recognized NGO. This organization conducts relief work and historical projects in rural villages throughout Pakistan. Lari also acts as an advisor for UNESCO projects and serves as the chairperson of the Karavan Initiatives. In 2018, she helped found the Pakistani Chapter of the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism (INTBAU).

Since 2010, Lari has built approximately 50,000 homes to assist victims of flooding and earthquakes. She utilizes traditional building techniques and local materials like bamboo or mud-plaster. In 2013, she assisted villagers in the Awaran District following the Balochistan earthquake. She also designed a fuel-efficient chulah, or stove, in 2018 to reduce toxic smoke in Pakistani homes.

Personal life

Lari resides in Karachi, Pakistan. She was married to Suhail Zaheer Lari, who died in 2020 due to COVID-19. She has three children.

Awards and recognition

The Heritage Foundation received a U.N. Recognition Award in 2002 for its work in cultural conservation. In 2006, the Government of Pakistan awarded Lari the Sitara-e-Imtiaz. She also received the Pakistani "1st Wonder Women of the Year Award" in 2011. Her international honors include the Fukuoka Prize in 2016 and the Jane Drew Prize in 2020.

Lari earned the Laurea Magistrale ad Horonem in Architecture from Politecnico di Milano in 2021. In 2022, she was appointed The Sir Arthur Marshall Professor of Sustainable Design at the University of Cambridge. Oxford Brookes University awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in Design in May 2023. On 27 April 2023, RIBA announced that she is the recipient of the 2023 Royal Gold Medal.