At the age of 82, architect Yasmeen Lari is taking the lead in fortifying Pakistan’s rural communities that are on the frontline of climate change.
Yasmeen Lari, the first woman architect in Pakistan, has made a remarkable shift from a career of multi-million dollar projects in Karachi’s bustling megacity to develop innovative flood-proof bamboo houses.
The initial pilot settlements constructed with Lari’s design have been credited with saving families from the devastating monsoon flooding that submerged a third of the country last year.
Khomo Kohli, a 45-year-old resident of Pono Colony village located a few hundred kilometers outside Karachi, shared his experience, saying, “We continued to live in them. The rest of the residents had to move onto the road where they lived for two months until the water receded.”
Now, Lari is campaigning to scale up the project to build one million affordable houses using local materials, which will bring new employment opportunities to the most vulnerable areas.
Describing her approach, Lari refers to it as “co-building and co-creation,” emphasizing the active involvement of the people in embellishing and making the houses comfortable for themselves.
Having received her training in the United Kingdom, Lari is renowned for her contributions to Karachi’s architectural landscape, including notable buildings such as the Pakistan State Oil headquarters and a collection of luxury homes.
However, as she contemplated retirement, a series of natural disasters, including a massive earthquake in 2005 and floods in 2010, strengthened her determination to continue her work through the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, which oversees her rural projects.
“I had to find a solution or a way to empower people to fend for themselves instead of relying on external assistance,” Lari explained.
Her guiding principle is summarized as “zero carbon, zero waste, zero donor,” with the ultimate aim of alleviating poverty.
Yasmeen Lari’s pioneering efforts in developing flood-proof bamboo houses not only provide resilient shelter for vulnerable communities but also promote sustainable practices and empower local residents to shape their own futures in the face of climate change challenges.