‘it’s time we looked after the earth’: yasmeen lari on qatar’s bamboo center at venice biennale

qatar unveils community center installation at venice biennale

At the 19th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale, Qatar unveils a major installation: Community Center by esteemed Pakistani architect and humanitarian Yasmeen Lari. Situated in a central position in the Giardini, the work marks Qatar’s first participation at the Giardini, and occupies the future site of the country’s permanent national pavilion, to be designed by Lina Ghotmeh.

Lari’s Community Center consciously veers between openness and shelter, presented as a domed shelter made entirely of bamboo, from its structure and arched openings to its decorative geometric motifs. ‘When you build a structure of this kind, entirely out of natural materials, it has a kind of warmth,’ the architect tells designboom during our visit to the structure. ‘It’s not imposing. It’s very welcoming.’ Read on to discover our conversation.

Yasmeen Lari on building for care, community, and the planet

The installation by Yasmeen Lari is accompanied by a wider presentation under the banner of Beyti Beytak. My Home is Your Home. La mia casa è la tua casa, produced by Qatar Museums and organized by the future Art Mill Museum. Presented at both the Giardini della Biennale and the ACP-Palazzo Franchetti, this marks Qatar’s first official participation in the Venice Architecture Biennale. The theme explores how ideas of hospitality are embedded in the architecture and urban landscapes of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA), while also examining how contemporary design can meet community needs and reimagine belonging.

This notion of hospitality—rooted in warmth, openness, and care—lies at the heart of both the national theme and Lari’s bamboo installation in the Giardini. While the structure continues her decades-long commitment to post-disaster reconstruction and low-carbon architecture as tools for social empowerment and resilience, it also reflects a broader ambition to reframe perceptions of vernacular architecture. The temporary pavilion challenges conventional ideas of what such architecture can be, who can build it, and whom it should serve.‘We often call it vernacular architecture, but it could be as mainstream as anything else. It certainly relies on natural materials and the economy. And it’s not extractive in any way,’ Lari shares. ‘I want to kill this idea that emergency shelters have to be disposable…There’s no need to be destroying any element of them.’ Assembled without foundations, the structure is also entirely demountable, modular and mobile – designed to be relocated without generating any waste. ‘Every little and last part of it can be used,’ the Pakistani architect continues. Find the full interview below. 

in conversation with yasmeen lari

designboom (DB): Many congratulations on your project with Qatar for its first official participation at the Venice Biennale. How did your collaboration with Qatar come about, and how does this project connect with your ongoing work in post-disaster reconstruction?

Yasmeen Lari (YL): Well, as you know, my work in Pakistan has focused on rebuilding after disasters such as floods and earthquakes, and I found bamboo to be an incredible material because it’s so resilient. I designed prefab panels that could be made locally and easily transported anywhere, and we’ve built at least 10,000 of these shelters just since the floods of 2022.

This opportunity to participate with the Qatar Pavilion came about quite organically. There was an exhibition on Pakistani art in Doha (Manzar: Art and Architecture from Pakistan 1940s to Today), and we were asked to fabricate a structure that could represent Pakistan. The curators were interested in this work, and so the pavilion was built there by my team of semi-skilled artisans. Later, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani decided it should be brought here to Venice when it was announced that Qatar will be opening their permanent pavilion, and they knew they had to place a temporary pavilion here until it was ready. Most of the materials are from Pakistan, though we also used some Tuscan bamboo. It’s been a lot of hard work getting it ready.

DB: There’s a beautiful resonance between your work and the Qatar Pavilion’s theme this year. Though you originally designed these techniques as emergency shelters, your structures are deeply welcoming and sustainable. How does the idea of ‘home’ shape your approach to architecture, and how does it come through in this pavilion?

YL: I think the title of Qatar’s exhibition this year — Beyti Beytak. My Home is Your Home. La mia casa è la tua casa — is very meaningful. It’s about home. When you build a structure of this kind, entirely out of natural materials, it has a kind of warmth, and it is very welcoming. The way we have designed this pavilion is also to make it very open. And I always say that I build for the poor, and I always try to create spaces that people can enter without hesitation.

It’s not imposing, and this beautiful setting adds to that, with the trees around us making such a difference as we bring nature into the structure. And I’m very pleased with the way it’s been working. I was told yesterday that there were some birds trying to build a nest on top of the dome. I think that’s fantastic. In my country there is a tradition dating back to the Mughal period where some beautiful structures often included places where birds and insects could nest. So, for architecture to serve people, birds, and the planet, is a very good thing.

DB: Your sensitivity to openness and accessibility comes through in this setting. Could you also share a bit about the journey that led you here, how you moved from mainstream architectural practice to your focus on marginalized communities and working with vernacular techniques?

YL: I retired from my private practice in 2000. Early in my career, I was always very sensitive to the poverty in my country and the needs of the marginalized, and I did some small projects in that direction. But, like many architects, once you become known, the commissions get bigger and bigger, and I found myself sucked into a system of creating more for the rich and elite. I’d also already built some major buildings, including the largest structure in Pakistan at the time.

Eventually, there came a time when I felt that there was much more to be done. I started with writing more books, and then when the 2005 earthquake happened, I was working as UNESCO’s national advisor at the Lahore Fort, a beautiful World Heritage site where I had learned a lot about lime construction. I went straight to the affected areas and began building with the debris from the collapsed houses. There was a lot of stone, a lot of wood. And so I began designing seismic-resistant structures. I am still doing this, and it’s amazing how rewarding it is when you work for and with people’s needs, rather than doing it for your ego.

DB: With all the work you’ve done on vernacular practices and zero-carbon building, how do you think these ideas can find a place in contemporary, urban architecture beyond just rural contexts?

YL: You know, we often call it vernacular architecture, but it could be as mainstream as anything else. It certainly relies on natural materials and the economy. And it’s not extractive in any way. It’s certainly time that we start looking after the Earth and taking care of its people.

I’ve used these designs in a very extensive manner, of course, in areas that have been struck by floods and earthquakes, but I think these are practices that can actually be used anywhere. The shelters can be assembled quickly for immediate shelter, like tents, without foundations. You can dismantle them and take them somewhere else. There’s no waste whatsoever. That’s something I care deeply about. I want to kill this idea that emergency shelters have to be disposable — there’s no need to be destroying any element of them.

Bamboo, for example, doesn’t require water to produce. There’s no waste, and every little and last part of it can be used. So yes, I think this is something that can be popularized in both rural and urban settings. It can be modular. And even wealthy people could build with these materials — maybe even in a more elaborate or flamboyant way. My work is comparatively simple and can be built by semi-skilled artisans, but that doesn’t mean bamboo can’t also be part of high-end architecture. There are many different ways to use it. Ultimately, the whole objective for us as architects is to lower the carbon footprint. As it is when we build with industrialized materials and the way in which we build with them, we are damaging the environment in a significant way.

DB: Despite the simplicity, as you say, I appreciate the ways in which you’ve used materials in the pavilion to weave through decorative elements alongside the construction.

YL: Yes, those designs come from traditional motifs. They’re part of our Pakistani heritage. And if you look at the tiles in the center of the bamboo, those are made by women who were once beggars who we trained in the ancient craft of terracotta. Terracotta, as you know, is such a beautiful, gentle material. And I don’t understand why we insist on using concrete at all when terracotta serves the purpose so well. When it becomes a little damp and the water evaporates, it cools the air. It has so many wonderful attributes, and certainly we need to stop using stone and steel the way we do. Look at our cities — we’re creating urban heat islands, flooding, all sorts of issues. But if you look at places like Venice, they still use traditional paving, no concrete, and isn’t it so lovely to walk around the city? There’s so much wisdom in historical cities. We should be learning from these historical cities to give everyone, everywhere, a better life and better health.

DB: Beyond your pavilion here in Giardini, there’s also the broader Qatar Pavilion exhibition at the Palazzo Franchetti, which takes a wider lens on the idea of home. Have you had a chance to see it? How does it connect to the values you’ve been speaking about?

YL: They’ve put up a fantastic exhibition there. There’s so much good work. Visionaries like Hassan Fathy — who has been talking about designing for the poor since the 1940s, about participative work — are featured alongside so many others who are doing amazing things, including some young architects from across the region. It really gives a sense of how wide-reaching and diverse these conversations around home, sustainability, and community can be. And they are examples that I think should be looked to see how we can move forward and make this more of a mainstream practice.

project info:

name: Community Center

architect: Yasmeen Lari | @heritagefoundationpk

location: Giardini, Venice, Italy

name: Beyti Beytak. My Home is Your Home. La mia casa è la tua casa
commissioner: Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani | @almayassabnthamad, Qatar Museums | @qatar_museums
curators: Aurélien Lemonier, Art Mill Museum Curator of Architecture, Design, and Gardens, and Sean Anderson, Associate Professor at Cornell University, assisted by Virgile Alexandre
location: Giardini and ACP-Palazzo Franchetti

program: Venice Architecture Biennale | @labiennale

dates: May 10th — November 23rd, 2025