Today marks the 65th birth anniversary of the late social activist, architect and urban planner Perween Rahman. Rehman dedicated her life to the progress and upliftment of marginalised communities. Recognising her efforts, Google paid tribute to the activist with a doodle.
According to a Google statement, “Perween’s efforts played an instrumental role in defining how Pakistani settlements are developed today.”
The doodle illustrates all aspects of her life in great detail. It displays Rahman overlooking the city’s infrastructure from what seems like an underprivileged. There’s a map spotted on the wall with pins, routes and sketches which pays a tribute to her urban planning. Just below it, there’s a drawing board with geometric tools commending her as an architect. There’s a simplicity in the visual, signifying her life choices and the overall vintage hue denotes the rustic life of struggles she lived.
Rahman was born on this day in 1957 in Dhaka, Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Following the partition of Pakistan in 1971, she relocated with her family to Karachi. Rahman studied architecture and went on to acquire her master’s in housing, building, and urban planning from the Institute of Housing Studies in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Rahman’s advocacy for housing security was inspired by her own personal experiences of displacement throughout, and in 1982, she began working as an unpaid intern for the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP). This organisation focused on sanitation, housing, and healthcare in Orangi Town on the outskirts of Karachi, one of the world’s largest informal settlements.
She was murdered on 13 March 2013 when four gunmen open fired at her vehicle and ended her 28-year long career of uplifting social statuses of marginalised communities.
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