CEO, Heritage Foundation of Pakistan
Co-Founder and CEO, Heritage Foundation of Pakistan (HF), Architectural historian, Heritage Conservationist, Humanitarian worker.
Yasmeen Lari, Pakistan’s first female architect, graduated from Oxford Brookes University in 1963.
She has built several landmark contemporary buildings in Pakistan and is considered among pioneers of Brutalist Architecture. She retired from architectural practice in 2000.
After retiring in 2000 she has been engaged in heritage management and humanitarian architecture. She has conserved several heritage assets at Makli WH, Lahore Fort WH and 19th century buildings in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar.
She has been published among 60 Women who have contributed the most towards UNESCO’s objectives. She was president Institute of Architects Pakistan in 1978 and chairperson of Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (PCATP) in 1983.
She is best known as a proponent of zero carbon footprint conceptions drawn from vernacular traditions and has founded Barefoot Social Architecture (BASA) that incorporates tenets of social and ecological justice for empowering marginalized sections of society.
She is the recipient of several national and international awards that include Jane Drew Prize 2020, Fukuoka Prize 2016 and national awards Hilal-i-Imtiaz (2014) and Sitara-i-Imtiaz (2006).
Awards for HF include UN Recognition Award for the promotion of culture and peace 2002, Islamic Development Bank Award for women’s empowerment and World Habitat Award 2018 for Pakistan Chulah stove.
She has authored and co-authored several publications. Her work has been exhibited at RIBA, Chicago, Oslo and Vienna. She has lectured widely in Pakistan and abroad.
