Architects: Yasmeen Lari

Yasmeen Lari (1941-present) is Pakistan’s first female architect and an influential figure in the intersection of architecture and social justice. Though she built her career designing “starchitect” buildings for oil interests and private parties in Pakistan, she shifted at the top of her game to what she calls “barefoot architecture,” focusing on the social consequences of architecture and historical conservation in rural villages. 

For Further Reading:

• Yasmeen Lari: Starchitect Turned Climate Activist
• Barefoot Social Architecture: 10 Projects by Yasmeen Lari, the 2023 RIBA Royal Gold Medal Winner | ArchDaily
• Yasmeen Lari, the pioneer of ‘barefoot architecture’ 
• Architects Should Serve Humanity | Architect Yasmeen Lari | Louisiana Channel 
• No to Handouts. Yes to Self Reliance | Yasmeen Lari | TEDxBath

This month, we’re talking about Architects. These women held fast to their visions for better futures, found potential in negative space, and built their creations from the ground up.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello. I'm Sarah Shleid, a producer at Wonder Media Network,
and I'm so excited to be guest hosting this episode
of Lamanica. This month, we're talking about architects. These women
held fast to their visions for better futures, found potential
in negative space, and built their creations from the ground up.

(00:30):
Today we're talking about the first woman to be recognized
as an architect in Pakistan. She spent decades building glitzy
high rises for the elite until an earthquake devastated northern Pakistan.
Ever since, she has maintained that architects should serve humanity.
Please welcome Yasmin Laurie. Yasmin was born in nineteen forty

(00:55):
one in southwestern pun Job, which a few years later
would become part of the new nation of Pakistan. In
nineteen forty seven, British colonial rule over India ended in
the violent partition of the country into two countries, India
and Pakistan. Growing up, Yasmin frequented Lahore, the second largest

(01:17):
city in Pakistan. Her father worked on development projects there.
The new country required a lot of new infrastructure, and
Yasmin's father noticed a need for qualified architects one day,
he suggested to Yasmin that she become an architect. This
stuck with her. Yasmin was fifteen years old when she

(01:37):
and her family visited London. While she was there, Yasmin
went to an interview at the School of Architecture. They
asked her if she could draw. When she said no,
they suggested you better go learn to draw first at
an art school. So Yasmin attended art school for two
years before enrolling at the Oxford School of Architecture. During

(01:58):
this time, Yasmin made married and gave birth to her
first daughter. After she graduated, she and her family moved
back to Pakistan, where Yasmin set up her architecture firm
in Karachi. There were maybe a dozen qualified architects in
the country. At twenty three years old, Yasmin was the
first and only woman. The first thing Yasmin built was

(02:21):
her brother's home. Slowly, she began designing more in a
brutalist style with blunt sculptural outlines and heavy concrete. Meanwhile,
she was also researching the history of architecture locally and
building some low income housing. But how she really made
her name and a fortune was through huge corporate commissions.

(02:44):
That would lead to her being dubbed a starchitect. She
designed hotels, the Finance and Trade Center in Karachi, and
Pakistan State Oil's headquarters, a towering building of concrete and glass.
After decades of this kind of work, Yasmin grew tired
of trying to please corporate clients. In two thousand, she

(03:07):
took a step back and stopped working. Instead, she focused
on studying and documenting the architectural history and culture of Pakistan.
She wrote books on the subject, and she and her
husband founded the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan to further this cause.
But Yasmin's retirement wouldn't last long. In two thousand and five,

(03:31):
a devastating earthquake shook northern Pakistan, destroying many buildings, killing
tens of thousands of people and displacing millions across Pakistan, India,
and Afghanistan. Yasmin wanted to put her skills to use
in helping people rebuild their lives, especially because she didn't
like the response of international aid agencies. They spoke of

(03:53):
displaced people as victims and built them costly shelters made
of concrete, iron, and tarps. Yasmin wanted to work with
local people using local methods and materials in tune with
Pakistan's heritage to build long lasting homes. Yasmin began designing
and teaching people how to build what she dubbed barefoot architecture,

(04:16):
structures made out of bamboo, lime, and mud. This architecture
would continue to be needed as Pakistan was affected by
more floods and earthquakes in the following years. In response
to severe flooding in the Northwest in twenty ten, for example,
Yasmin designed homes raised on stilts which survived other flooding
events afterward. Teaching people the skills to build these structures

(04:41):
empowered them to be able to rebuild if necessary and
to improve their livelihoods through their craft. These building methods
were also more cost effective and gentle on the local environment.
Yasmin also said that this method provided people with more
agency and dignity. For example, Yasmin tweaked the design of

(05:02):
traditional wood burning stoves, which were usually on the ground.
They often exposed families to contamination and to lung problems
from the smoke. She tweaked the design, called it a
chula stove, and taught women how to build them. The
new design brought the stove outside and elevated it so

(05:23):
that the women were not on the ground while cooking.
It required less wood and could even be fueled by cowdun.
The smoke was more enclosed within the clay structure, protecting
the women from exposure to smoke, and the women could
decorate the stoves with their own designs and paint. Since
Yasmin started that project in twenty fourteen, tens of thousands

(05:46):
of stoves have been built. Yasmin still lives in Karachi
and she continues to champion locally inspired architecture that improves
people's lives and is more resilient in the aftermath of
climate disasters. She has said that this shift in her
career from designing for the elite to building with local,
everyday people required unlearning, unlearning the egocentric ethics she was

(06:10):
taught in school that being an architect meant being a
star designing big, impressive projects. She encourages young architects to
meet the moment and design for the many instead of
the few. In twenty twenty, in a manifesto and letter
to a young architect, she wrote, I can reassure you

(06:31):
that nothing has been more enriching for me than the
exploration of unpaved vagabond pathways. Are you enterprising enough to
seek a new world order? For more information, find us
on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast. Special thanks to
Jenny and Liz Kaplan for having me as a guest host.

(06:51):
Talk to you tomorrow.