[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]ISLAMABAD: Yasmeen Lari, Pakistan’s first female architect, said on Thursday that she was surprised and delighted to receive the prestigious British Gold Medal, as only “iconic” architects from around the world had previously won it.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) presented the award to Lari, 81, in recognition of a lifetime’s work. The monarch personally approves the medal for individuals or groups of people who have had a “significant influence either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture,” according to the RIBA.
Lari received the medal for her work related to zero-carbon self-built houses for displaced populations. Homes designed and conceived by Lari are becoming models around the world for climate resistant housing.
“Well, it’s a great honor, there is no doubt about it and it’s something that I had not expected,” Lari told on Thursday.
Also Read: First British Muslim Woman Appointed Head of UK Diplomatic Post
Lari said since it is the first time that a woman architect from Pakistan was awarded the highest of honors in the field of architecture, it came as a “total surprise” to her.
“That’s because most of the architects who have been given this particular medal have been really, very well-known, iconic kind of architects, so it’s a kind of total deviation from what’s been done in the past, and of course, I am very grateful,” she added.
Since its inception in 1848, the medal has been presented to world-renowned architects such as Sir David Adjaye OBE, Grafton Architects, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, Neave Brown, Dame Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Sir Norman Foster, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Sir George Gilbert Scott.
Also Read: Naila Kiani becomes the first Pakistan woman to summit Annapurna I
Lari graduated from the Oxford School of Architecture (now Oxford Brookes University) in the 1960s and has since worked on several architectural projects throughout Pakistan. She also co-founded the Heritage Foundation in 1980 to protect the cultural heritage of the South Asian country. She was elected to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1969 and has worked on the conservation of several historic monuments in the World Heritage Sites of Makli and Lahore Fort, as well as other heritage sites throughout Pakistan, according to the Heritage Foundation’s website.
She designed several landmark buildings in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, including the FTC building, the Pakistan State Oil House, and the ABN Amro Bank head office.
“An inspirational figure, she moved from a large practise centred on the needs of international clients to solely focusing on humanitarian causes,” RIBA President Simon Allford said in a statement, adding that Lari’s work championing zero carbon and zero waste construction is “exemplary.”
“Her way of working also sets out to address the physical and psychological damage caused by major natural disasters – disaster that sadly inevitably will be ever more prevalent in our densely populated and climate challenged planet,” he added.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
