Yasmeen Lari, Green Architect: The True Story of Pakistan’s First Woman Architect
by Marzieh Abbas; illus. by Hoda Hadadi
Primary    Clarion/HarperCollins    40 pp.
10/24    9780063285156    $19.99

Yasmeen Lari (b. 1941) grew up during the India-Pakistan partition and watched as her parents helped welcome newcomers. As an adult, becoming Pakistan’s first woman architect was just one of Lari’s many professional accomplishments. After a celebrated career designing stunning landmarks, she shifted her focus to preserving the architectural history and uniqueness of Pakistan. Blending her love for design with her passion for history and traditional building techniques, she would become a leader in green building materials, combining sustainability, functionality, and beauty. When earthquakes and floods devastated Pakistani villages, Lari designed sustainable, low-cost structures that used renewable resources such as bamboo, mud, and lime (in place of environmentally damaging materials such as steel and concrete) and were designed to hold up to future disasters. In a straightforward text, Abbas presents key points about Lari’s life, work, and beloved home country, while Hadadi’s paper-collage art pops off the pages. A timeline as well as photographs of Lari and her green building projects further bring this groundbreaking architect’s story to life.

From the ">January/February 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.