In early 1996, when Geoffrey Bawa first asked Pradip Jayewardene what kind of home he wanted, he replied: “My perfect house would be a garden.” Pradip knew that if anyone could do this, it would be Bawa. He had visited the architect’s Lunuganga estate in Bentota, and had fallen instantly in love with what was … Continue reading
The Jayakody House, Colombo. Pictures courtesy Sebastian Posingis It might seem to the world that Geoffrey Bawa’s legacy is assured, but a new book by his most well-known biographer asks whether enough is being done to protect it. In Search of Bawa with text by David Robson and with photographs by Sebastian Posingis, sees Robson … Continue reading
If you know where to look, you can find the numbers all over Ena de Silva’s house. Faded yet still legible, the white scribbles mark each tile in the parquet floor, each pebble and boulder in the sunny interior courtyard. Under their layer of paint, the bricks are numbered, and so are the columns and … Continue reading
Surrounded by masons at work, Tristan Al-Haddad is laying bricks. His white t-shirt isn’t quite as pristine as it was a few hours ago, his hands are coated in dust, grime and sweat beads on his brow. People driving by on Horton Place need only glance over into the grounds of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute … Continue reading
Prof. Chitra Weddikkara met her husband-to-be and discovered her future profession roughly around the same time. It was 1968 and she was a young student of the biosciences. Her parents, who couldn’t bear the thought of sending her to far away Peradeniya were more willing to consent to a course in architecture at Moratuwa. Taken … Continue reading
Sitting in her garden, Nihara Fernando resembles nothing so much as a bird of paradise. Her toenails are pink, her fingernails are green. Big rings adorn her slender fingers; one wrist is bracketed in several bangles of varying sizes and shades of green. Her pants are red but the thin shirt she’s paired them with … Continue reading
In 1996, Bijoy Jain and Geoffrey Bawa met twice in one day, the first time by chance, the second by design. Between those two meetings, Bijoy’s appearance changed dramatically – he had shaved his long hair off completely and was now bald. What Bawa made of the young architect (and his extreme haircut) we don’t … Continue reading
Laki Senanayake – painter, sculptor, architect, landscape designer, and inventor – is woken from deep sleep by someone tugging on his toe. There are strangers in his house and they have one question – can we see the garden? As he has so many times before, Laki says yes. Sri Lankans have long embraced Laki … Continue reading
When it comes to his choice of writing implements, architect Channa Daswatte is undeniably a romantic. Flowing from the nib of his fountain pen might come a single element of design or the key structures that will eventually make up an entire hotel; alternately, it might be a note to himself or simply a quick … Continue reading
