Yasmeen Lari

Yasmeen Lari (born c. 1941; Urdu: یاسمین لاری‎) is the first woman architect in Pakistan. She is best known for her involvement in the intersection of architecture and social justice. Since her official retirement from architectural practice in 2000, her UN-recognized NGO Heritage Foundation Pakistan has been taking on humanitarian relief work as well as historical conversation projects in rural villages all around Pakistan.

Yasmeen Lari was born in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan and spent her early years in and around Lahore. Her father, Zafarul Ahsan, an Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer was working on major development projects in Lahore and other cities, through which Lari was exposed to architecture. Her sister is Pakistani politician Nasreen Jalil. When she was 15 years old, she first left Pakistan to go to London with her family. Initially there for a vacation, she and her siblings ended up enrolling in school in London. Upon her rejection from architecture school, Yasmeen Lari studied two years of arts in London before being accepted into the Oxford School of Architecture.

After graduating from the Oxford School of Architecture in 1964, Lari returned to Pakistan at 23 with her husband, Suhail Zaheer Lari and opened her architecture firm Lari Associates in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. She became the first female architect in Pakistan.

Initially, she faced difficulties when workers at construction sites would challenge her authority or knowledge because of her gender.

In 1969, Lari became an elected Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Her later projects included housing, such as the Angoori Bagh Housing (ABH) (1978), and commercial buildings, such as the Taj Mahal Hotel (1981), the Finance and Trade Center (1989), and the Pakistan State Oil House (PSO Company headquarters) (1991) in Karachi.

Lari retired in 2000 from architectural practice. However, she remains active with her historical preservation by serving as the advisor of the UNESCO project, Heritage Foundation Pakistan, the executive director of the non-profit she co-founded with her husband, as well as the chairperson of the Karavan Initiatives.

Since 2010, Yasmeen Lari has built over 36,000 houses for those affected by Pakistan's floods and earthquakes. Lari implements traditional building techniques and local materials in rebuilding the Sindh Valley region of Pakistan.

In 2013, she helped villagers in Awaran District who were hit by the 2013 Balochistan earthquake.

Completed projects

• Naval Officers Housing, Karachi
• Angoori Bagh Housing (also known as ABH) (1978)
• Taj Mahal Hotel, Karachi (1981)
• Finance and Trade Center (also known as FTC Building), Karachi (1989)
• Pakistan State Oil House (also known as PSO House), Karachi (1991)

Historical conservation and restoration projects (incomplete)

• Khairpur Heritage Centre
• Sethi house in Sethi Mohallah (2010–2012)

• ^ Kaleem, Ayesha. "Yasmeen Lari: The Architect and the Saviour". NUST Science. Retrieved 2015-10-27. 
• ^ Noorani, Asif (2012-10-29). "Fighting on different fronts". Dawn. Retrieved 2016-04-30. 

In 2002, the Heritage Foundation received the U.N. Recognition Award from the United Nations for its efforts and results to promote cultural and historical conservation.

In 2006, Lari was awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz, one of the highest civil awards by Government of Pakistan, in recognition of her services to the architectural profession and to heritage conservation of historical sites in Pakistan.

In 2011, she received the Pakistani "1st Wonder Women of the Year Award".

In 2016, she received the Fukuoka Prize for Arts & Culture.

Yasmeen Lari lives in Karachi, Pakistan with her husband, Suhail Lari. She has three children and a grandchild.