# Geoffrey Bawa's Tropical Modernism, Sri Lanka



## Fusionist (Jul 7, 2004)

Deshamanya *Geoffrey Bawa*, FRIBA (1919–2003) is the most renowned architect in Sri Lanka and was among the most influential architects in southeast Asia in the last decades of the 20th century, *he is the principal force behind what is today known globally as ‘tropical modernism’.*

Geoffrey Bawa was born in 1919 to wealthy parents of mixed European and Ceylonese descent. He was educated at the prestigious Royal College after which he studied English and Law at Cambridge gaining a BA (English Literature Tripos) and went on to study law at Middle Temple, London becoming a Barrister in 1944. Returning to Ceylon after the war he started working for a Colombo Law firm. But soon he left to travel for two years, almost settling in Italy. Only after this did he turned to architecture at the age of 38.

He became apprenticed to the architectural practice of Edwards Reid and Begg in Colombo after he advanced his education in architecture by gaining a Diploma in Architecture from Architectural Association, London in 1956 and in the following year he became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects where upon he returned to Ceylon becoming a partner of Messrs. Edwards, Reid and Begg, Colombo in 1958. Bawa became an Associate of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects in 1960. An ensuing close association with a coterie of like-minded artists and designers, including Ena de Silva, Barbara Sansoni and Laki Senanayake, he *produced a new awareness of indigenous materials and crafts, leading to a post colonial renaissance of culture.*


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## Fusionist (Jul 7, 2004)

*Kandalama*

Aitken Spence decided in 1991 to build a hotel in the Dry Zone to complement their popular Triton Hotel at Ahungalla and asked Bawa to be their architect. The company had an option on a site at Sigiriya not far from the foot of the ancient rock where King Kasyapa had made his fortress in the fifth century, and early in 1991 a party of directors travelled with Bawa to inspect it. Bawa rejected the site out of hand but suggested that the directors should look at 'a beautiful tank a short way away to the south-west' that would serve them better. The party set off in a convoy of cars along a country track that led them for about 10 kilometres through a landscape of huge rocky outcrops to the bund of the ancient Kandalama Tank. Bawa pointed dramatically with his stick towards his proposed site for the new hotel.

The architecture is stark and understated, emphasizing the idea that this is not a building to look at, but a building to look from, like a giant belvedere.

The location of the hotel










The entrance


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## Fusionist (Jul 7, 2004)

*The Gallery Café* 

The Gallery Café is situated in the center of the *city of Colombo* yet it remains a beautiful quiet haven to all our patrons. It is unlike any other restaurant in Sri Lanka. Situated within the former office of Sri Lanka's renowned architect, Geoffrey Bawa, this restaurant has attracted some of the world's top designers, artists and many heads of state. The Gallery Café is a feast for the eyes and palette, whether it be during the day when one can appreciate every aspect of its design or at night when the whole restaurant is transformed into a candlelit magical space.


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## MNiemann (Sep 5, 2007)

wow! very interesting designs! when you first wrote "tropical modernism" i wasn't sure what to expect, and it turns out that's exactly what this is.


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## Mahratta (Feb 18, 2007)

Brilliant, I really like it.


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## TallBox (Sep 21, 2002)

I love Bawa's stuff. Sri Lanka's Parliament looks pretty good too. I'm staying at Kandalama Hotel this Christmas :banana:


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Awesome designs! Especially the hotel: i like it a lot :banana:


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## Fusionist (Jul 7, 2004)

*Lunuganga*

Lunuganga, Bentota near the south western coast of Sri Lanka is a distant retreat, an outpost on the edge of the known world, a civilized garden within the larger wilderness of Sri Lanka, transforming an ancient rubber estate into a series of outdoor rooms that evoke memories of Sacro Bosco and Stourhead. The town house, in contrast, is an introspective assemblage of courtyards, verandas and loggias, created by knocking together four tiny bungalows and adding a white entry tower that peers like a periscope across neighbouring rooftops towards the distant ocean. It is a haven of peace, an infinite garden of the mind, locked away within a busy and increasingly hostile city."


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## Fusionist (Jul 7, 2004)

more Lunuganga..


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## Amal (Mar 29, 2006)

Nice thread fusionist!


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## DO' (Apr 11, 2012)

Thanks fusionist for this thread. I am craving for more information on Bawa's magnificent creation. Could not find any other hotel that use passive design, totally rejecting mechanical cooling device. A building that responds well to its tropical climate.Natural ventilation, natural sunlight, passive cooling. Brilliant!


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## DO' (Apr 11, 2012)

elevated landscape


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