Deshamanya Geoffrey Manning Bawa, FRIBA (23 July 1919 – 27 May 2003) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n architect. He was among the most influential

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

n architects of his generation.

Early life

Geoffrey Bawa was born in Colombo on 23 July 1919, the youngest of two sons to

Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

Benjamin Bawa, Sri Lankan lawyer, who was of part European parentage, and Bertha Marianne née Schrader, a

Burgher Burgher may refer to: * Burgher (social class), a medieval, early modern European title of a citizen of a town, and a social class from which city officials could be drawn ** Burgess (title), a resident of a burgh in northern Britain ** Grand Bu ...

of mixed Sinhalese, German and Scottish descent. His older brother, Bevis, became a landscape architect.

Education

Bawa was educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a Single-sex education, selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academ ...

after which he studied English and Law, 1938, at

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Cam ...

gaining a BA (English Literature Tripos) and went on to study law at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, becoming a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

in 1944. Returning to Ceylon after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he worked for a Colombo law firm. After the death of his mother, he left the profession and soon left in 1946 to travel for two years, going to the Far East, across the United States, and finally to Europe and almost settling in Italy. By the time he was 28 years old, he had spent a third of his life away from Sri Lanka. During his time in Italy, he planned to buy a villa and settle down, but that did not happen, and by 1948 he had returned to Sri Lanka. Bawa bought an abandoned rubber estate on the south-west coast of the island between

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

and Galle at

Lunuganga The Lunuganga Estate was the country house of the renowned Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. The estate had been used as a cinnamon estate during the Dutch era and then a rubber plantation under the British. In 1948, the small house in the e ...

, planning to create an Italian garden from a tropical wilderness. However, he soon found that his ideas were compromised by his lack of technical knowledge. In 1951, he was apprenticed to H. H. Reid, the sole surviving partner of the Colombo architectural practice Edwards, Reid and Begg. In 1952 Reid died, but Bawa still aspired to a career in architecture, so he returned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. After spending a year at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, he enrolled as a student at the Architectural Association in London, where he earned a Diploma in Architecture by 1956 and in the following year he became an Associate of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

. In 1957, at the age of 38 he returned to Sri Lanka as a qualified architect to take over what was left of Reid's practice.

Career in architecture

Returning to Ceylon, he became a partner of Messrs. Edwards, Reid and Begg, Colombo in 1958. In 1959, Danish architect Ulrik Plesner joined the firm, and the two designed many buildings together. Bawa was influenced by colonial and traditional Ceylonese architecture, and the role of water in it, but rejected both the idea of regionalism and the imposition of preconceived forms onto a site.Aldrich, Robert ''Cultural Encounters and Homoeroticism in Sri Lanka: Sex and Serendipity'', Routledge, 2014, pp66-79, 123–134 Plesner left the island in 1967. 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 Laki Senanayake (18 December 1937 - 30 May 2021) was a Sri Lankan sculptor and painter. Personal life Born in 1937, the son of Reginald S. Vincent and Florence Senanayake, he was the fifth of six children. His father, a planter by profession, w ...

, produced a new awareness of indigenous materials and crafts, leading to a post-colonial renaissance of culture. In 1979, President J. R. Jayewardene invited Bawa to design Sri Lanka's new Parliament building at Kotte. The project was completed in 1982 with the help of a firm of Japanese contractors, Mitsui.

Later life and death

In 1982, Bawa established the Geoffrey Bawa Trust with the aim of furthering the fields of architecture, fine arts and environmental studies. In the early 1990s, Bawa suffered a series of strokes that left him ill. Bawa died on 27 May 2003 at the age of 83.

Influence

Geoffrey Bawa influenced a generation of architects in Sri Lanka after him, but his legacy was also embraced in Asia and around the world.

List of works

Geoffrey Bawa's work was mainly in Sri Lanka, but included several other countries as well: nine times in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, three times in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

, twice in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

and once in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

, and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. His works include houses, hotels, schools, clubs, offices and government buildings, most notably the Sri Lankan Parliament Building. Today, the Gallery Café on Paradise Road in Colombo is located in Bawa's former office building. ;1940s *

, Bentota (1948–1998) ;1950s * St. Thomas' Preparatory School,

(1957–1964) * Carmen Gunasekera House, Colombo (1958) * Kanangara House, Colombo (1959) * Club House, Ratnapura (1959) * Deraniyagala House, Colombo (1959) * Wimal Fernando House, Colombo (1959) * Jayawardena house, Colombo (1959–1960) * Ekala Industrial Estate, Ja ela (1959–1960) * A.S.H. De Silva House, Galle (1959–1960) * Manager's Bungalow,

Maskeliya Maskeliya is a town in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is the site of the 1974 crash of Martinair Flight 138, the worst air disaster in Sri Lanka. It is known for its mountains, waterfalls, unique ethnic background and estates. The actu ...

(1959–1960) * Turin Koralage House, Elpitiya (1959–1960) * Wijewardene House, Colombo (1959–1964) ;1960s * Osmund and Ena de Silva House,

(1960–62) * Bishop's College, Colombo (1960–1963) * 33rd Lane, Colombo (1960–1998) * Nazareth Chapel, Good Shepherd Convent,

Bandarawela Bandarawela ( Sinhala : බණ්ඩාරවෙල, pronounced ; Tamil: பண்டாரவெல) is the second largest town in the Badulla District which is away from Badulla. Bandarawela is away from Colombo and about away from Kandy ...

(1961–1962) * House for Dr. Bartholomeusz, Colombo (1961–1963) * House for Chris and Carmel Raffel, Colombo (1962–1964) * Pim and Pam Fernando House, Colombo (1963) * St. Bridget's Montessori School, Colombo (1963–1964) * Polontalawa Estate Bungalow, Polontalawa (1963–1965) *

Hilton Colombo Hilton Colombo is a Hilton brand five-star luxury hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The hotel is owned by Hotel Developers (Lanka) Ltd. The company was incorporated in 1983 and was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in the following year. The hotel ...

, Colombo (1965) * Madurai Boys' Town,

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration i ...

(1965–1967) * Yahapath Endera Farm School,

Hanwella Hanwella is a town in Sri Lanka, situated about from Colombo, the commercial capital of the country. Hanwella lies on the Colombo-Ratnapura main road, on the banks of the Kelani River. Geography This historic city belongs to the Colombo d ...

(1965–1971) * Coral Gardens Hotel – additions and renovations, Hikkaduwa (1966) * Grand Oriental Hotel (Taprobane Hotel) – additions and renovations, Colombo (1966) * Steel Corporation Offices, Oruwala (1966–1969) *

Bentota Beach Hotel Cinnamon Bentota Beach, formerly known as Bentota Beach Hotel, is a luxury five-star hotel in Bentota, Sri Lanka. The hotel was built in 1967 and designed by Geoffrey Bawa. After refurbishment, the hotel reopened in 2019. The hotel is owned and o ...

, Bentota (1967–1969) * Pieter Keuneman House, Colombo (1967–1969) * Serendib Hotel, Bentota (1967–1970) * Yala Beach Hotel, Yala (1968) * Mahahalpe Farm,

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

(1969) * Ceylon Pavilion

1970 World's Fair The or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fai ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

(1969–1970) ;1970s * Pallakele Industrial Estate, Pallekele (1970–1971) * P.C. de Saram Terrace Houses,

(1970–1973) * Science Block, Nugegoda (1971) * Madurai Club,

(1971–1974) - it has been renamed a
Heritage Madurai
* Hotel Connamara Remodelling,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(1971–1976) *

Club Mediterranee Club Med SAS, commonly known as Club Med and previously known as Club Méditerranée SA, is a French travel and tourism operator headquartered in Paris, specializing in all-inclusive holidays. Founded in 1950, the company has been primarily o ...

, Nilaveli (1972) * Stanley de Saram House,

(1972) * Batujimbar Pavilions, Sanur,

(1972–1975) * Peter White House, Pereybere,

(1973–1974) * Heritance Ayurveda Maha Gedara formally Neptune Hotel, Beruwala (1973–1976) * Agrarian Research and Training Institute, Colombo (1974–1976) * Hotel at Pondicherry, Puducherry,

(1975) *

Seema Malaka Seema Malaka ( si, සීමා මාලකය) is a Buddhist temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The temple is mainly used for meditation and rest, rather than for worship. Situated in the Beira Lake, the temple was originally constructed in the lat ...

, Colombo (1976–1978) * State Mortgage Bank, Colombo (1976–1978) * Candoline Hotel, Goa,

(1977) * Panama Hotel,

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

(1977) * Martenstyn House, Colombo (1977–1979) * Meena Muttiah Hospital for the Kumarni of Chettinad,

(1978) * House for Lidia Gunasekera, Bentota (1978–1980) * Institute for Integral Education, Piliyandala (1978–1981) * Club Villa Hotel, Bentota (1979) * Heritance Ahungalla formally Triton Hotel, Ahungalla (1979–1981) * Sri Lankan Parliament Building, Kotte (1979–1982) ;1980s * University of Ruhuna, Matara (1980–1988) * Galadari Hotel,

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

(1984) *

Sunethra Bandaranaike House The Sunethra Bandaranaike House or Horagolla Stables is the country house of Sunethra Bandaranaike, renovated in the 1980s by the renowned architect Geoffrey Bawa. The house was the original walauwa of Horagolla, the home of Sunethra Bandaranaike ...

, Horagolla (1984–1986) * Offices for Banque Indosuez,

(1985) * Institute of Engineering Technology, Katunayake (1985) * Fitzherbert House, Tangalle (1985–1986) * De Soysa House, Colombo (1985–1991) * Bashir Currimjee House,

Port Louis Port Louis (french: Port-Louis; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Polwi or , ) is the capital city of Mauritius. It is mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's ...

(1986–1994) * Hyatt Hotel, Sanur, Sanur,

(1989) * Larry Gordon House, Wakaya,

(1989) * Singapore Cloud Centre,

(1989) ;1990s * Banyan Tree Hotel,

Tanjung Pinang Tanjungpinang, also written as Tanjung Pinang, is the capital city of the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. It covers a land area of 144.56 km2, mainly on the southern Bintan Island, as well as other smaller islands such as Dompak Islan ...

(1991) * Heritance Kandalama Hotel, Dambulla (1991–1994) * Jayakody House, Colombo,

(1991–1996) * Sarabhai House,

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per ...

(1992) * Modi House,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

(1992) * Jayakody House, Bentota, Bentota (1993) * Poddar House,

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

(1994) * Avani Kalutara Resort (Formerly Kani Lanka Resort & Spa), Kalutara (1994–1996) *

Lighthouse Hotel Jetwing Lighthouse or Lighthouse Hotel, is a five-star franchise hotel, operated by Jetwing Hotels, located in Galle, Sri Lanka. It is just north of the Galle Fort on the Indian Ocean coastline. Geography The hotel is situated in Galle, th ...

, Galle (1995–1997) * Blue Water Hotel, Colombo (1996–1998) * Official Residence of the President, Kotte (1997–) * Pradeep Jayewardene House, Mirissa (1997–1998) * Spencer House, Colombo (1998) * Jacobsen House, Tangalle (?) * The Last House, Tangalle (1997) ;2000s * Anantara Kalutara Resort, Kalutara (Completed 2016 to Bawa's design) ;Unbuilt * U.N. Headquarters, Malé, Malé,

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

(1985)

Gallery

File:Lunuganga, Bentota, Sri Lanka. Interieur 3.jpg, Lunuganga, interior of Bawa's house File:Lunuganga, Bentota, Sri Lanka..JPG, Lunuganga, exterior of Bawa's house. File:Ruhuna3.jpg, University of Ruhuna File:Seema Malaka side view 01.jpg, Seema Malaka File:Sunethra Bandaranaike's residence at Horagolla.jpg, Sunethra Bandaranaike House File:Heritance Kandalama Exterior View.JPG, Heritance Kandalama Hotel File:Anantara Kalutara - Exterior.jpg, Anantara Kalutara Resort

Awards and fellowships

* Pan Pacific Citation, Hawaii Chapter of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to s ...

(1967) * President, Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (1969) * Inaugural Gold Medal at the Silver Jubilee Celebration of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (1982) * Heritage Award of Recognition, for “Outstanding Architectural Design in the Tradition of Local Vernacular Architecture”, for the new Parliamentary Complex at Sri Jayawardenepura, Kotte from the Pacific Area Travel Association. (1983) * Fellow of the

* Elected Honorary Fellow of the

(1983) * Conferred title of Vidya Jothi (Light of Science) in the Inaugural Honours List of the

President of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...

(1985) * Teaching Fellowship at the Aga Khan Programme for Architecture, at MIT, Boston, USA (1986) * Conferred title Deshamanya (Pride of the Nation) in the Honours List of the President Sri Lanka (1993) * The Grate Master's Award 1996 incorporating South Asian Architecture Award (1996) * The Architect of the Year Award, India (1996) * Asian Innovations Award, Bronze Award – Architecture, Far Eastern Economic Review (1998) * The Chairman's Award of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in recognition of a lifetime's achievement in and contribution to the field of architecture (2001) * Awarded Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa), University of Ruhuna (14 September 2002)

References

External links

Official website

Geoffrey Bawa architecture travel guide on www.checkonsite.com

Architectural Digest: Inside the Sri Lankan Architecture of Geoffrey Bawa. The incredible work getting the world’s attention

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bawa, Geoffrey 1919 births 2003 deaths Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Deshamanya Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects People of British Ceylon Members of the Middle Temple Sri Lankan Moor architects Sri Lankan Moor lawyers Sri Lankan people of English descent Sri Lankan people of German descent Sri Lankan people of Scottish descent Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture LGBT people from Sri Lanka Vidya Jyothi 20th-century Sri Lankan architects 20th-century LGBT people LGBT architects