NEWS 5
© Heritage Foundation of Pakistan
© Heritage Foundation of Pakistan RIBA GOLD MEDAL
RIBA awards Gold Medal to Pakistan’s fi rst female architect Yasmeen Lari
RIBA has announced that Pakistan’s fi rst female architect, Professor Yasmeen Lari, will be awarded the 2023 Royal Gold Medal for architecture. The award is the fi rst to be personally approved by King Charles III, and “acknowledges Lari’s work championing zero-carbon self-build concepts for displaced populations,” said RIBA. The Royal Gold Medal is one of the
world’s highest accolades for architecture, and is awarded to a person or group of people who “have had a signifi cant infl uence on the advancement of architecture.” Presented since 1848, past Royal Gold Medallists include Balkrishna Doshi (2022), Sir David Adjaye OBE (2021), Dame Zaha Hadid (2016), Frank Gehry (2000), Lord Norman Foster (1983), Frank Lloyd Wright (1941) and Sir George Gilbert Scott (1859). Born in 1941 in Pakistan, Lari moved to London with her family aged 15. After fi nishing school, she studied art for two years before being accepted into the School of Architecture at Oxford Brookes
ADF MAY 2023
University, then attending Oxford Polytechnic. After graduating in 1964, Lari returned to Pakistan at age 23 with her husband, Suhail Zaheer Lari, to establish her own architecture fi rm Lari Associates, going on to work for major government, business, and fi nancial institutions. With a long and illustrious career,
Lari “has been a revolutionary force in Pakistan,” commented RIBA. “She has had immeasurable infl uence on the trajectory of the architecture and humanitarian work in the country.” After offi cially retiring in 2000, “she transferred her attention to creating accessible, environmentally friendly construction techniques to help people below the poverty line and communities displaced by natural disasters and the impact of climate change.”
In 1980 she co-founded the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan with her husband Suhail, pioneering the design of self-build sustainable shelters and housing, creating 50,000 dwellings. Lari is also known for the design of the Chulah Cookstove, of which there are now over 80,000 across the
world. An eco-alternative to a traditional stove, it signifi cantly reduces emissions, tackling unfavourable environmental and health issues associated with cooking on an open fi re.
On hearing the news, professor
Yasmeen Lari said: “I was so surprised to hear the announcement, and of course totally delighted! RIBA has heralded a new direction for the profession, encouraging all architects to focus not only on the privileged but also humanity at large that suffers from disparities, confl icts and climate change.”
The 2023 Royal Gold Medal selection committee was chaired by architect and RIBA president Simon Allford, and comprised of Ivan Harbour, architect and senior partner at RSHP; Cornelia Parker CBE RA; Neal Shasore, chief executive and head of school at the London School of Architecture, and Cindy Walters, architect and partner at Walters & Cohen. RIBA’s Royal Gold Medal – sponsored
by Arper – will be offi cially presented to Yasmeen Lari in June.
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© Anam Baig
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