Yasmin Ali
Designer – Educator, Print + Press
Yasmin Ali is a graduate of Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, achieving The George Simpson Prize on graduation, and M.A. (Hons) in Architectural Design. Other honours included RIBA/Foster + Associates Young Architect Bursary in 2006, and a full academic scholarship from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for postgraduate study.
Gaining varied experience in architectural practices in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow, she also pursued a part-time MSc in Urban Design, and a Diploma in City Planning, and taught design presentation skills to postgraduate students at Glasgow University Department of Urban Studies over three consecutive academic years. Parallel to this, she published in respected design journals, including AJ and Urban Realm, and events guides, and continues to do so. She was also selected as a designer-facilitator for several residential conference events in the Design in Action project that was run by a consortium of Scottish Universities between 2012-16, and as part of BUILD-UP! pilot project for built environment professionals in association with University of Westminster. Her varied independent past projects include producing urban design teaching materials for SUSTRANS, a design and build prototype of an eco-cabin for a private consultancy and joining the project team for community capital build project, Bridgend Farmhouse.
Highlights of 2023 include taking part in ‘The Art of Being Human’ fundraising day festival, producing a body of work at a private art school Summer School in the Highlands, and working as a freelancer for Collective Gallery’s Annual Gala. She has been re-engaged by City of Edinburgh Council as an Adult Education Tutor, most recently designing and delivering ‘Creative Cartographies’, a sold-out 8-week programme experimenting in visual art and urban interpretation techniques for a cohort of 10 learners and is planning further accessible architecture-based courses in Architectural History & Sketching Walks throughout Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns.
The pandemic of recent years brought into sharp relief the inequities in our society and re-affirmed her goals for inclusive arts and educational practice, and to gain more experience and training with people of all ages with disabilities, including pursuing further vocational training in Playwork. She also works actively in advocacy for people with disabilities. Building on this, Yasmin is working on a series of sensory creative workshops working with people experiencing intersectional stigma, which are under development subject to funding, retuning her repertoire of techniques to include low-tech/lo-fi and low-cost approaches to increase accessibility. She is able to site and home these workshops at several community venues she has supported over the years in a professional capacity. Her art & design – education platform goes by the moniker Print + Press, est. 2014, supported by the inclusive arts network NEUK Collective.
She supports the creative community in Edinburgh, as an active member of Creative Edinburgh, a founding member of boom saloon, part of WIFIE Women in focus in Edinburgh photography collective. She is a member of the following networks: EPAD Edinburgh Performing Artists Development programme, Edinburgh Council’s BAME Creatives Network, Greentease Creative Carbon Scotland, and is a professional member of Scottish Artists Union. She has also worked directly and with press accreditation for several of Edinburgh’s international creative arts festivals, many of these on a repeat basis.