On April 27, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced Pakistani architect and activist Yasmeen Lari as the 2023 recipient of its prestigious Royal Gold Medal.

Recognizing individuals (and a smattering of duos and groups) for having a “significant influence either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture,” the international prize has been monarch-rubber-stamped since its inception in 1848. Lari, however, is the first recipient to be personally approved by King Charles III, whose mother sanctioned past winners ranging from Buckminster Fuller (1968) to Rem Koolhaus (2004), Mies van der Rohe (1959) to 2023 Pritzker Prize laureate David Chipperfield (2011). Transitioning away more than two decades ago from landmark civic and commercial commissions that garnered international recognition in the 1970s and 80s to focus squarely on humanitarian design work, Lari is arguably Pakistan’s most well-known living architect and the first woman to practice the profession in the country. She joins a modest but growing list of female Royal Gold medalists that includes, among others, Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell of Grafton Architects (2022), Zaha Hadid (2016), and Ray Eames, who was jointly presented with the award with husband Charles in 1979.