Geoffrey Bawa Trust

British architect and educator David Robson authored a number of publications on Geoffrey Bawa and he has also been documenting the architectural landscape in Sri Lanka and southeast Asia.

David recalls meeting Geoffrey for the first time at the age of 25, when he came to Sri Lanka from England as a lecturer for the Department of Architecture, which was under the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Colombo. I met him at the guest suite at Number 11, Geoffrey Bawa’s residence in Colombo, where David himself had spent many days while working on his books. He discussed how his first publication titled Geoffrey Bawa: the Complete Works came into being, and how Geoffrey and his work have continued to fascinate him over the many years of his research. David remains amazed at the fact that Geoffrey Bawa took up architecture relatively late in life; having qualified as an architect at the age of 38, after first qualifying and practising as a lawyer. He describes the unique style of architectural drawing that comes of Geoffrey’s practice and their continued influence. David also acknowledges the many engineers and architects that were an integral component of Geoffrey’s practice and were in fact the reason some of the bigger projects like the Parliament, Ruhunu University and Kandalama Hotel could be realised.

The Oral Histories Project is an ongoing endeavour that will continue after the centenary year celebrations, and the Trust encourages submissions of potential historians and anecdotes to [email protected].

Dominic Sansoni knew Geoffrey Bawa from a very early age, as his mother, artist and textile designer Barbara Sansoni, was a close friend and collaborator of Geoffrey’s. Dominic spends much of his time adding to and cataloguing his extensive archive of work, spanning the last 30 years from Sri Lanka, India, Mauritius, the Maldives, Nepal, Yemen and others

Dominic discusses—often in amusing detail—his collaboration with Swiss architect Christoph Bon on the publication ‘Lunuganga’: a book which documents and explores Bawa's garden at Bentota, which was first released in 1990. It was Christoph Bon, along with Joe Chamberlain and Geoffrey Powell, who were responsible for the design of the Barbican Arts Centre in London.

Dominic also talks about the joy of revisiting Lunuganga over the past 3 decades, and on his recent installation for “The Gift”, as part of the Bawa 100 programme, a celebration of Geoffrey’s centennial birth anniversary.

The Oral Histories Project is an ongoing endeavour that will continue after the centenary year celebrations, and the Trust encourages submissions of potential historians and anecdotes to [email protected].

Ismeth Raheem on the programme. Ismeth studied architecture first at the University in Sri Lanka and subsequently at the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen. He worked at Geoffrey’s firm, Edwards, Reid & Begg between 1968 and 1976, on a number of key projects such as the Connemara Hotel in Madras, the Serendib Hotel in Bentota and the Agrarian Research and Training Institute in Colombo. He also designed furniture and created artwork for the various projects handled by the firm. He spoke of his time studying in Copenhagen and coming back to Sri Lanka, only to be faced with working within the constraints of the closed economy. Ismeth also recalls his favourite time at ER&B, which was when he was living and working in south India, highlighting Geoffrey’s ability to form diversely talented teams and to play to the strengths of his collaborators.

The Oral Histories Project is an ongoing endeavour that will continue after the centenary year celebrations, and the Trust encourages submissions of potential historians and anecdotes to [email protected].

Saskia has lived in Sri Lanka since 1982, and the island continues to be a source of inspiration for her work. Her paintings are very personal and yet encompass a wide range of universal concerns through layered imagery. She has exhibited in galleries and biennales in Asia and Europe. Saskia is joined by her partner Pierre Pringiers, a Belgian industrialist and yachtsman.

Saskia and Pierre spent many years living in properties designed by Geoffrey Bawa; including the Ena de Silva House in Colombo, and Cinnamon Hill Suite in Lunuganga. Saskia exhibited her work at Lunuganga in the early ‘90s, and again in 2017, where she held an exhibition titled “Return to Lunuganga.” Many of her works are in the Geoffrey Bawa Collection and can be seen at Lunuganga and Number 11, Geoffrey’s two homes on the island.

The Oral Histories Project is an ongoing endeavour that will continue after the centenary year celebrations, and the Trust encourages submissions of potential historians and anecdotes to [email protected].

Laki Senanayke’s prolific body of work spans a wide range of media which includes painting, architecture, sculpture and landscape design. More recently, he dived into digital art. Laki began his career as an architectural draughtsman. After losing his first job because he established a trade union, he started working for architect Valentine Gunasekera. At age 18, Laki began working with Geoffrey Bawa at Edwards, Reid and Begg where Valentine was also a partner, eventually leaving the firm a few years later to collaborate with Geoffrey’s dear friend and client Ena de Silva on her Batik workshop.

Laki and Geoffrey continued to work together on several key projects and Laki did the large-scale murals and reliefs for Geoffrey’s Triton and Neptune Hotels. He also did the chandelier for the Sri Lankan Parliament Chamber — which was inspired by a drawing he did of a double coconut tree at the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens and the larger than life sculptural staircase he did at the Lighthouse Hotel in Galle.

As the interview was conducted above Laki’s welding workshop, please note that jarring sounds can be heard in the following places within the recording; kindly skip over if necessary:

24:20 – 25:00

27:00 – 29:30

32:05 – 34:20

The Oral Histories Project is an ongoing endeavour that will continue after the centenary year celebrations, and the Trust encourages submissions of potential historians and anecdotes to [email protected].

Anura Ratnavibushana worked with Bawa at Edwards, Reid & Begg during the 60’s and 70’s. Eventually, he left the firm to set up his own practice in the 80’s although he continued to maintain his close connection with Bawa. In 2009, he distilled his passion for architecture and education into a book: “Creating Simplicity—Sri Lankan Tropical Architecture—Design & Landscaping”. This publication is copyright-free and shares many of the drawings and sketches he produced over the years. Accompanied by Bawa’s and Anura’s close friend, Sunethra Bandaranaike, we spoke to Anura at his home in Colombo. In this episode, Anura runs through his memories of Bawa as a mentor and on the nurturing and generous sides of Bawa’s personality. He detailed the thrill of working on projects such as the Osaka Expo Pavilion of 1970; and the Steel Corporation Building in Oruwala of 1969.

Sunethra Bandaranaike, was one of Bawa’s clients (he designed her famous Horagolla Stables home) but more importantly, she was one of his close friends. Sunethra is also a former Chairperson and Trustee of the Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts. Last May, we spoke to Sunethra at her Colombo home. With her flair for storytelling and a focus on detail, she recounted the first time she met Bawa; their collaborative creative vision; and the deep friendship they shared over many decades.

The Oral Histories Project is an ongoing endeavour that will continue after the centenary year celebrations, and the Trust encourages submissions of potential historians and anecdotes to [email protected].

The Gift: A site-specific installation series at Lunuganga. Panel Discussion featuring the participating Artists

Dominic Sansoni

Lee Mingwei

Chandragupta Thenuwara

Dayanita Singh

Moderated by:

Suhanya Raffel, Executive Director of M+, Hong Kong, and Trustee, Geoffrey Bawa & Lunuganga Trusts

Sean Anderson, Associate Curator of Architecture & Design, MoMA, New York

Shayari de Silva, Curator, Lunuganga Trust

Geoffrey Bawa Memorial Lecture 2019 by Kengo Kuma.

J. Fransisco Serrano and Juan Pablo Serrano Orosco, Geoffrey Bawa Memorial Lecture 2014