Yasmeen Lari is the cofounder and CEO of the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, an organization working to conserve the nation’s historic art and architecture while providing large-scale humanitarian aid to local communities. Since the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, she has refocused her career on traditional materials, technologies, and architectures in a process she describes as “unlearning.” Positing a sustainable, grassroots model for the development of Pakistan’s built environment, she advocates for “barefoot social architecture,” a women-centered, carbon-neutral approach to housing that emphasizes co-creation and the use of sustainable materials like bamboo, lime, and mud. Under Lari’s leadership, the Heritage Foundation has helped build over 40,000 carbon-neutral structures across Pakistan.

In this lecture, the Pakistani architect and humanitarian argues for “barefoot social architecture,” a design philosophy emphasizing co-creation and carbon-neutral materials.