GEOFFREY

MANNING BAWA
“The Architecture cannot be totally EXPLAINED but must be EXPERIENCED”
◦ NAME:GEOFFREY MANNING BAWA.
Born: 23 July 1919, British Ceylon
Died: 27 May 2003, Colombo, Sri Lanka
◦ Geoffrey Manning Bawa, FRIBA was a Sri Lankan architect. He was among the
most influential Asian architects of his generation. He is the principal force behind LIFE
what is today known globally as "tropical modernism". "It's no exaggeration to say
that architect Geoffrey Bawa transformed the look of South-East Asia.
◦ Geoffrey Bawa was born on 23 July 1919.
◦ His father was Justice B. W. Bawa a wealthy and successful lawyer, of Muslim and
English parentage, and his mother, Bertha Marianne Schrader, was of mixed
German, Scottish and Sinhalese descent.
◦ He had one older brother Bevis Bawa who became a renowned landscape architect.
◦ He was educated at Royal College, Colombo after which he studied English and Law,
1938, at St Catharine's College, Cambridge gaining a BA (English Literature
Tripos) and went on to study law at Middle Temple.
◦ Bawa’s work is characterized by sensitivity to site and context.
DESIGN
◦  He produced “sustainable architecture” long before the term was coined, and
had developed his own “regional modernist” stance well in advance
AND
of the theoreticians. ARCHITEC-
◦ His designs brokedown the barriers between inside andoutside, between interior TURAL
designlandscape architecture and reducedbuildings to a series of scenographically conceive LIFE
d spaces separated bycourtyards and gardens.
◦ He had a passion for the island’s varying natural landscapes ,scenes that he used
as the focal points around which he created his buildings.
◦ He and his fellow architect ulrick plesner started new firm , and the two designed
many buildings together in their distinct style, sometimes called "tropical modernism.
“
◦  Bawa's architecture is at one with the land: inside and outside blend seamlessly,
and it is designed for the maximum pleasure of its inhabitants.
◦ He 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.
◦ His portfolio of work included religious, social, cultural, educational, governmental,
INFLUENCE
commercial and residential buildings, and in each of these areas he established a AND CAREER
canon of new prototypes. Early experiments in what was known as tropical
modernism were tempered by a growing interest in the traditional architecture and
building materials of Sri Lanka.
◦ 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. He
has influenced many architects world wide including Singapore-based Australian
architect Kerry Hill.
◦ Highly personal in his approach, evaking the pleasures of the senses that go hand in
hand with the climate ,landscape,and culture of ancient Ceylon(present day srilanka).

◦ 1.RESPECTED THE SITE AND CONTEXT

◦ 2.BUILDINGS HAD A PLAY OF LIGHT AND SHADE.
◦ 3.FLOW OF SPACES
PHILOSOPHY
◦ 4.FUSED VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE WITH THE MODERN CONCEPTS
TO SATIATE THE NEEDS OF THE URBAN POPULATION AND
◦ 5.USED SALVAGED ARTIFACTS PRINCIPLES
◦ 6. ROOF FORMS AS ELEMENTS
◦ 7. WATERBODY –AN ESSENTIAL PART OF BAWA’S ARCHITECTURE.

◦ Brings together an appreciation of the Western humanist tradition in architecture with

needs and lifestyles of his own country.
◦ The principal force behind TROPICAL MODERNISM.
 QUOTES
AND
◦ A Building can only be understood by moving around and AWARDS
through if and by experiencing the modulation and feel the
space one moves through from the outside into verandah, than
rooms , passages, cortyards .

◦ Awards: Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Deshamanya.

◦ Geoffrey Bawa's work was mainly in Sri Lanka, but included several other countries
as well: nine times in India, three times in Indonesia, twice in Mauritius and once
in Japan, Pakistan, Fiji, Egypt and Singapore. 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.

• 1940sLunuganga, Bentota (1948–1998)
FAMOUS
• 1950sSt. Thomas' Preparatory School, Colombo (1957–1964) WORKS
• Carmen Gunasekera House, Colombo (1958)
• Kanangara House, Colombo (1959)
• Club House, Ratnapura (1959)
◦ 2000s
•Anantara Kalutara Resort, Kalutara (Completed 2016 to Bawa's design)
◦ Unbuilt
•U.N. Headquarters, Malé, Malé, Maldives (1985)
◦ Street Address Dedduwa Lake Location Bentota, Sri Lanka Architect/Planner Geoffrey
Bawa Date 1949-1998 Building Types landscape, residential Building Usage garden,
private residence THE GARDEN LUNUGANGA
◦  A small rubber plantation consisting of a house and 25 acres of land. THE
•A low hill planted with rubber and fruit trees and coconut palms with rice fields. AT GARDEN
THE BEGINNING NOW
LUNUGANGA
• The Italian inspired garden with spectacular views over lakes and tropical jungle
• The original bungalow survive within its cocoon of added verandas , courtyards and loggias.
◦ This is not a garden of colorful flowers , neat borders and curling fountains – 1. it is a
civilized wilderness 2. an assemblage of tropical plants of different scale and texture 3.
a composition of green on green 4. an ever changing play of light and shade 5. a
succession of hidden surprises and vistas 6. a landscape of memories and ideas
◦ In 1948, a young man dreamt of making a garden. Today the garden is in its prime but,
after the passage of over fifty monsoons, the young man has grown old. As he sits in his
wheelchair on the terrace and watches the sun setting across the lake it may be that he
reflects on his achievement.
◦ Juts out into a brackish lagoon lying off the estuary of the Bentota River.
Planofthehouse&gardenin1985
◦  PLANTATION HOUSE •A collection of courtyards, verandahs and loggias
create a haven of peace and inspiration. 
◦ •Suites are individual and beautifully decorated to provide a relaxing and
memorable environment.
◦ •Set at the edge of a cinnamon plantation 
◦ •high on the hill overlooking the lake to the south thus giving the privacy.
STUDIO
◦ A.S.H DE SILVA HOUSE, Galle Variant Names Geoffrey Bawa's House
Location Colombo, Sri Lanka Architect/Planner Geoffrey Bawa Date 1960
Building Type Residential Building Usage Private residence Keywords courtyard A.S.H
house
DE
◦  PLAN SECTION • House for a doctor in galle, on a sloping site, with the
house in the upper part of the site, with a corridor leading down to the dispensary SILVA
by the roadside. • The house is modernist & traditional at the same time. • At
the very heart of the house is a planted court, fountain and pool
HOUSE
◦  CENTRAL COURT AND LIVING ROOM
◦ APPROACH DRIVEWAY ENTRANCE WITH REFLECTING POOL
CENTRAL POOL COURT
 In plan the Plan of De silva house
recalls the pin-wheel layout of
Rohe’s brick country house (1923)
• At the very heart where Bawa has
placed a planted court, fountain and
pool, Wright would have put the
chimney there PLAN OF
COUNTRY HOUSE. MIES VAN
DER ROHE, ARCHITECT, 1923
◦ It is the only university in southern Sri Lanka.
◦ It was established by a Special Presidential Decree on 1 September 1978 as Ruhuna RUHUNU
University College and upgraded to a fully-fledged university on 1 February 1984.  UNIVERSITY
Type
◦ It is informally known as Ruhuna University or simply Ruhuna.
Public
◦ The University is organised into ten faculties throughout the Southern province of Sri Established
Lanka.
1978
◦ Its 72 acres (29 ha) main campus is located in Wellamadama complex in Matara. Academic affiliation
◦ The faculties of Agriculture and Technology are located in Kamburupitiya (Matara), University Grants Commission
whilst the faculties of Engineering, Medicine and Allied Health Sciences are located (LKR 2.982 billion
in Galle. Chancellor
◦ Its LKR 2.982 billion financial endowments are used for academic and research Venerable Pallattara
Sumanajothi Thero
purposes of the university.
Vice-Chancellor
◦ It operates the Ruhuna Library, which is one of the largest academic and research
Prof. Gamini Senanayake
library systems in Sri Lanka.
Academic staff:627
◦ The Ruhuna University Library System is centred in the main library at the
Wellamadama main campus and comprises nearly four other libraries holding over
200,000 volumes.
◦ BAWA’S DESIGN DEPLOYED OVER FIFTY SEPARATE PAVILIONS
LINKED BY A SYSTEM OF COVERED LOGGIAS ON A
PREDOMINANTLY ORTHOGONAL GRID AND USED A LIMITED
VOCABULARY OF FORMS AND MATERIALS BORROWED FROM
THE PORTO-SINHALESE BUILDING TRADITIONS OF THE LATE
MEDIEVAL PERIOD, BUT IT EXPLOITED THE CHANGING
TOPOGRAPHY OF THE SITE TO CREATE AN EVER VARYING
SEQUENCE OF COURTS AND VERANDAHS, VISTAS AND
CLOSURES.
◦ THE RESULT WAS A MODERN CAMPUS, VAST IN SIZE BUT
HUMAN IN SCALE. DESIGN OF THE UNIVERSITY
◦ Sri Lanka's Parliament Building was designed by respected local
architect Geoffrey Bawa. The building is designed in a style of regional modernism.
While the building is an example of Modernism, it still respects Sri Lankan
SRILANKAN
vernacular architecture. PARLIAMENT
◦ The parliament complex has the allusion of symmetry, which contrasts sharply with BUILDING
the organic form of the lake it is located in. Town or city

Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte

Country
Sri Lanka
Coordinates
6.886826°N
79.91868°ECoordinates:
 6.886826°N
79.91868°E
Inaugurated
29 April 1982
Cost $25.4 million US
THANK YOU