Skip to content

Exhibition: Yasmeen Lari - Architecture for the Future

09.03.2023 to 16.08.2023 - Architekturzentrum Wien

Exhibition: Yasmeen Lari - Architecture for the Future

ARCHITEKTUR


Yasmeen Laris Zero-Carbon-Architektur: flutresistente Häuser in Selbstbauweise in Sindh, Pakistan, seit 2010, © Foto: Archiv Yasmeen Lari Yasmeen Laris Zero-Carbon-Architektur: flutresistente Häuser in Selbstbauweise in Sindh, Pakistan, seit 2010, © Foto: Archiv Yasmeen Lari

Previous dates

wed, 16.08.2023
10.00 h - 19.00 h
tue, 15.08.2023
10.00 h - 19.00 h
mo, 14.08.2023
10.00 h - 19.00 h
sun, 13.08.2023
10.00 h - 19.00 h

All dates

Days with event

March 2023
01 wed
02 thu
03 fri
04 sat
05 sun

06 mo
07 tue
08 wed
09 thu

10 fri

11 sat
12 sun
13 mo
14 tue
15 wed

16 thu
17 fri
18 sat

19 sun
20 mo

21 tue
22 wed
23 thu
24 fri
25 sat

26 sun
27 mo

28 tue
29 wed
30 thu

31 fri
April 2023
01 sat
02 sun
03 mo
04 tue
05 wed

06 thu
07 fri
08 sat
09 sun

10 mo

11 tue
12 wed
13 thu
14 fri
15 sat

16 sun
17 mo
18 tue

19 wed
20 thu

21 fri
22 sat
23 sun
24 mo
25 tue

26 wed
27 thu

28 fri
29 sat
30 sun

May 2023
01 mo
02 tue
03 wed
04 thu
05 fri

06 sat
07 sun
08 mo
09 tue

10 wed

11 thu
12 fri
13 sat
14 sun
15 mo

16 tue
17 wed
18 thu

19 fri
20 sat

21 sun
22 mo
23 tue
24 wed
25 thu

26 fri
27 sat

28 sun
29 mo
30 tue

31 wed
June 2023
01 thu
02 fri
03 sat
04 sun
05 mo

06 tue
07 wed
08 thu
09 fri

10 sat

11 sun
12 mo
13 tue
14 wed
15 thu

16 fri
17 sat
18 sun

19 mo
20 tue

21 wed
22 thu
23 fri
24 sat
25 sun

26 mo
27 tue

28 wed
29 thu
30 fri

July 2023
01 sat
02 sun
03 mo
04 tue
05 wed

06 thu
07 fri
08 sat
09 sun

10 mo

11 tue
12 wed
13 thu
14 fri
15 sat

16 sun
17 mo
18 tue

19 wed
20 thu

21 fri
22 sat
23 sun
24 mo
25 tue

26 wed
27 thu

28 fri
29 sat
30 sun

31 mo
August 2023
01 tue
02 wed
03 thu
04 fri
05 sat

06 sun
07 mo
08 tue
09 wed

10 thu

11 fri
12 sat
13 sun
14 mo
15 tue

16 wed
17 thu
18 fri

19 sat
20 sun

21 mo
22 tue
23 wed
24 thu
25 fri

26 sat
27 sun

28 mo
29 tue
30 wed

31 thu

Yasmeen Lari is Pakistan’s first woman architect. She designed iconic modernist buildings before initiating a zero-carbon self-build movement for climate refugees and the landless. This exhibition uses Lari’s oeuvre as an example to show how the relationship of architecture to the future has changed.

The impact of the Man-made climate catastrophe around the world is dramatic. Pakistan, one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, is disproportionately hard-hit. In the summer of 2022, when one-third of the country was flooded, the over eighty-year-old architect Lari worked tirelessly to provide architectural disaster relief. For Lari, architecture has to balance individual survival and dignity with the protection of the planet as a whole. "It is about finding out which method is the most cost-effective, safest, and most ecological, and then implementing it en masse," says Lari.

Over the past two decades, she has developed and implemented her system of zero-carbon architecture based on local economies, on innovating traditional building techniques, using the climate-neutral materials of bamboo, lime, and mud, as well as providing training in self-building and women-centered ways of working. Together with climate refugees and the landless, Lari has built tens of thousands of flood- and earthquake-resistant houses, sanitation infrastructure, smokeless stoves, and community facilities.

This is the first monographic exhibition on Yasmeen Lari ever. Previously unpublished photographs, drawings, and documents from the architect’s own archives show her impressive journey from international modernism to zero-carbon architecture. Having completed her education in England, Lari opened her architectural practice in Karachi in 1964, going on to become Pakistan’s woman star architect. As a pioneer of Brutalism, she built houses for the new lifestyle of the urban middle class in an independent Pakistan. She created urban landmark buildings, as well as social housing. Together with her husband Suhail Zaheer Lari, she founded the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, dedicated to the research and conservation of the architectural heritage of their country—both the World Heritage Sites in Makli and Lahore, as well as everyday buildings.

Modern architecture was based on the claim to build a better future—today we are living with the consequences: extreme weather events, fossil fuel dependence, and destruction on a planetary scale. Architecture is challenged to become co-responsible and not to give up working towards ecological justice. Yasmeen Lari’s credo for an architecture for the future: "We must tread lightly on the planet."

Curators: Angelika Fitz, Elke Krasny, and Marvi Mazhar
Scenography: Alexandra Maringer
Graphic design: Alexander Ach Schuh
Project coordination: Agnes Wyskitensky

The exhibition is accompanied by the book "Yasmeen Lari: Architecture for the Future", published by the MIT Press. With contributions by Angelika Fitz, Elke Krasny, Marvi Mazhar, Chris Moffat, Helen Thomas, Anila Naeem, Abira Ashfaq, Raquel Rolnik, Anne Karpf, Runa Khan, Cassandra Cozza, and Rafia Zakaria.

Opening: Wed 08.03., 19h

Architekturzentrum Wien

opening hours

mo-sun:10:00–19:00

contact

Museumsplatz 1,
Hof 7, 1070 Vienna
Tel.: +43/1/522 31 15
office@azw.at
www.azw.at

 


Back to main navigation

Cookie Settings

This websites uses cookies to give you the best possible service. Detailed information can be found in our Terms of use and Data Protection Regulations.

Technically essential

Technically essential cookies used to ensure the basic functionality of the website.

Statistics

Functional cookies used to ensure the proper performance of the website.

Marketing

Target-oriented cookies used to improve user experience.