Yasmeen Lari
Yasmeen Lari (born c. 1941 in Urdu: یاسمین لاری) is the first woman architect in Pakistan.[1][2]
Contents
Early life
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 and Yasmeen Lari was exposed to architecture through her father. Her sister is Pakistani politician Nasreen Jalil. When she was 15 years old, she first left Pakistan to go to London with her family.[2] Initially there for a vacation, she and her siblings ended up enrolling in school in London.[2] Upon the rejection of an architecture school for not being able to draw, Yasmeen Lari studied two years of arts in London before finally being accepted into the Oxford School of Architecture.[2]
Career
After graduation from Oxford School of Architecture in 1964, at the age of 23, Lari returned to Pakistan with her husband, Suhail Zaheer Lari and opened Lari Associates in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.[2] She became the first female architect among the dozen architects in Pakistan.
Initially in her career, she faced many difficulties when workers at construction sites would challenge her authority or knowledge because of her gender.[3]
In 1969, Lari was an elected Member of Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).[4]
Her later projects included housings, such as the Angoori Bagh Housing (ABH) (1978), and business 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.[2]
Lari retired in 2000 from architectural practice.[5] However, she remained active with her historical preservation by serving as the advisor of the UNESCO project, the executive director of the non-profit she co-founded with her husband Suhail Zaheer Lari called The Heritage Foundation, and the chairperson of the Karavan Initiatives.[5]
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 Sindha Valley region of Pakistan.[6]
In 2013 she helped villagers in Awaran District who were hit by the 2013 Balochistan earthquake.[6]
Architectural work
Completed projects
Bibliography
Some of Yasmeen Lari's publications include:
- Slums and Squatter Settlements: Their Role and Improvement Strategy
- Our Heritage in Muslim Architecture
- Tharparkar and Sialkot after the War
- 1993 – Traditional Architecture of Thatta[8]
- 1997 – The Dual City: Karachi During the Raj (co-written with her son, Mihail Lari)
- 2001 – Karachi: Illustrated City Guide (photography by her husband, Suhial Zaheer Lari)
Awards
In 2002, the Heritage Foundation received the Recognition Award from the United Nations System in Pakistan for its efforts and results.[2]
In 2006, Lari was awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz, one of the highest civil awards, by Government of Pakistan in recognition of her services to the architectural profession and heritage conservation.[9]
In 2011, she received the Pakistani "1st Wonder Women of the Year Award".[10]
References
- ↑ "Yasmeen Lari", International Archive of Women in Architecture. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
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- ↑ Wonderwomen of the Year Awards. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
