‘YASMEEN LARI’ An Architect, Conservationist and Architectural Historian

Yasmeen Lari is the first woman architect of Pakistan. After schooling at Lahore, Pakistan, she graduated from Oxford School of Architecture (Oxford Brookes University) and was elected Member of Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1969.

In recognition of her services to the architectural profession and heritage conservation, she has been awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz by Government of Pakistan, and has received UN Recognition Award 2002 for promotion of culture and peace. Her profile has been published by UNESCO among 60 women internationally who have contributed most towards its objectives. She is the first chairperson of Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners, a past President of Institute of Architects Pakistan, and a Fellow of US based Ashoka, the well known international social entrepreneur organization.

As principal of Lari Associates, Architects, Urban Designers from 1964 to 2000 she has designed a large number of state of the art buildings for the upper circuit along with work in informal settlements, low income housing and vernacular technologies for the lower circuit.

As head of Heritage Foundation she has been instrumental in saving some unique heritage treasures of Pakistan, including the endangered Shish Mahal ceiling of the Lahore Fort as UNESCO’s National Advisor.

Since October 2005, in addition to emergency housing, she has lead Heritage Foundation programme titled Heritage for Rehabilitation and Development among communities in Hazara with focus on social infrastructure and livelihoods for women, along with sustainable seismic resistant constructions based on local materials and vernacular technologies. She has overseen the work of Heritage Preservation Centre, a joint project of ERRA and Heritage Foundation for documentation and conservation of heritage assets in Hazara and AJK. She is also responsible for UNESCO-Heritage Foundation initiative for improving livelihoods through crafts among women in post-conflict Swat.

She has authored and co-authored several monographs and publications on history and heritage.

Architect, Architectural Historian, Conservationist, Humanitarian Worker

Chair and CEO, Heritage Foundation; Chairperson, KaravanPakistan (earlier KaravanKarachi)

Trustee, Sindh Heritage Endowment Fund, 2009-

Member, Heritage Committee for NWFP, 2008-

Trustee, Transparency International Pakistan, 2007-

Board Member, ERRA (Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority), 2007-

Member, Government of Punjab Steering Committee, Conservation of World Heritage Sites of Lahore Fort and Shalamar Gardens, 2006 –

Member, UNESCO Technical Consultative Committee, Preservation of Moenjodaro, 2005 –

Fellow, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, US Based International social entrepreneur organization, 2004

• Sitara-i-Imtiaz (2006), one of the highest civil awards conferred by President of Pakistan, and several other awards.

• UN Recognition Award 2002 for promotion of culture and peace.

• Graduated as architect from Oxford School of Architecture, UK,  in 1963 and was elected Associate of Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1969. First woman architect of Pakistan.

• From 1964-2000 as Principal Lari Associates she designed several state of the art buildings e.g. ABN AMRO Bank Head Office, Pakistan State Oil Head Office and FTC (Finance and Trade Centre) in Karachi, as well as work in low-income housing, upgrading katchi abadis in Karachi and designing mud/adobe buildings in Bahawalpur.

• As President, Institute of Architects Pakistan (IAP) she lead the campaign for recognition of the professions of architecture and town planning in Pakistan and became the first chairperson of Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners, 1984, a statutory body for the two professions.

• As the head of Heritage Foundation since 1980 she has organized and documented a large number of historic assets and devised strategies for their conservation.

• From 2003-2005 as UNESCO’s National Advisor, she led the team that saved the endangered Shish Mahal ceiling in the Shah Burj of the Lahore Fort. She co-authored the Master Plan for preservation of the Lahore Fort.

• She has written several books and monographs on historic architecture of Pakistan and from 2000 has conducted KaravanPakistan (earlier KaravanKarachi) activities for engaging youth and communities in heritage safeguarding all over Pakistan.

• Since October 2005 she has led the work on guided self built KaravanGhar consisting of over 1,200 self built vernacular nuclear housing units in 75 villages based on improved indigenous technology in earthquake area in NWFP.

• She initiated Heritage for Rehabilitation and Development programme (in collaboration with Nokia and Nokia Siemens Network) in Earthquake 2005 Area. Community Development programme through  improved vernacular techniques and local materials: completion of 3 primary schools, 1 community cultural centre, 132 household latrines, 50 household kitchens have been completed while  a heritage museum and artisans’ workshops are under construction; plantation of 35,000 saplings and completion of over 8 km of mountain pathways through community particiaption. The women’s empowerment programme includes establishment of 55 Nokia-Karavan Craft Centres for the production of ‘Destiny Bracelets’ and other bead products. Other livelihood programmes e.g. Makai Tandoori Naan (maize traditional flatbread), and development of micro-enterprise for women. The programme area includes almost 400 families in several villages in remote mountainous areas.

• For sustained work in Earthquake Affected Area, in early 2008 she established a residential campus for KaravanPakistan Institute for Research and Training (KIRAT) in order to carry out research for maximization of local resources for poverty alleviation of local marginalized communities, particularly women and children.

• To alleviate the suffering of displaced families from the troubled area of Swat etc. she set up KaravanPakistan Volunteers Base in Sheikh Shahzad Camp, Mardan consisting of over 1,000 families. The programmes consisted of adult literacy for women and extracurricular activities for children in the camp. Future plans when the families return include low cost community built schools in local techniques and women’s livelihood programmes.

• In April 2009 has established the ERRA-HF Heritage Preservation Centre, and as Honorary Project Director, she has organized teams of architects for systematic cataloguing, documentation and conservation strategies for heritage assets in earthquake affected areas of NWFP and Azad Kashmir.

Sitara-i-Imtiaz

Yasmeen Lari is the first woman architect of Pakistan. After initial schooling at Queen Mary’s, Adbistan-e-Soofia and Kinnaird College, Lahore, Pakistan, she graduated from Oxford School of Architecture (now Oxford Brookes University) in 1963, and was elected Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

In 1964 she established Lari Associates, Architects, Urban Designers, one of the best known architectural practices in Pakistan, from which she retired in 2000 to devote all her time to writing and to the work of the Heritage Foundation Pakistan, a Lari family trust established in 1980. She has been instrumental in saving a large number of heritage treasures in various cities of Pakistan – from Karachi to Lahore, Bahawalpur to Peshawar and Abbottabad to Muzaffarabad.

In addition to several other awards, she is the recipient of the UN Recognition Award 2002 for promotion of culture and peace. Lari’s profile has also been included among the 60 Women who have contributed most towards UNESCO’s objectives in the last 60 years.

Since October 2005 Lari has led the HF-Nokia-Nokia Siemens Network project titled “Heritage for Rehabilitation and Development” among communities, particularly among women and children affected by the Great Earthquake of 2005. After her humanitarian work with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the camps set up in Mardan in 2009, since February 2010 she has led the UNESCO funded project in post-conflict Swat to empower women through training and revitalization of crafts such as embroidery and handloom weaving, benefitting over 500 women.

Lari is the highly respected author of several books and monographs on the architectural history and heritage of Pakistan.
In 2006, in recognition of her services to the architectural profession and heritage conservation, she was awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, one of the highest civil awards, by the Government of Pakistan.

Lari was born in Dera Ghazi Khan and attended Queen Mary’s, Adbistan-e-Soofia and Kinnaird College, Lahore, before proceeding to the UK for studies. She is married to noted historian Suhail Zaheer Lari. She has 3 children and one grandchild