Geoffrey Manning Bawa

Born 23 July 1919,British Ceylon

Died 27 May 2003 (aged 83),Colombo, Sri Lanka

Nationality Sri Lankan

Alma mater St Catharine's College, Cambridge Royal College, Colombo

Occupation Architect

Awards Aga Khan Special Chairman’s Award

Practice Edwards, Reid and Begg Geoffrey Bawa Associates

Buildings Sri Lankan Parliament Building

University of Ruhuna

Heritance Kandalama Hotel

He was among the most influential Asian architects of his generation.

Despite his late entry into architecture, Geoffrey Manning Bawa FRIBA, (July 23, 1919 – May 27,
2003), explored modernism and its cultural implications and created a unique, recognizable style
of design which had a lasting impact on architects across the world. Well versed in Modernist
theory, Bawa was one of the original proponents of Tropical Modernism, a design movement in
which sensitivity for local context combines with the form-making principles of modernism.
Bawa’s architecture led to the formation of a new architectural identity and aesthetic for many
tropical environments, and won him recognition and awards, including the Chairman’s Award of
the Aga Kahn Special Chairman’s Award for Architecture (2001) and the title Deshamanya, in
recognition of his contributions to his country by the government of Sri Lanka.

Bawa was born in Ceylon (which would become Sri Lanka in 1972), and began his professional
career in the legal field after studying at St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge. He worked in law in
England for several years, but left to travel the world after the death of his mother. In 1948,
Bawa purchased the Lunuganga rubber plantation, and developed an interest in gardening and
architectural design.

Bawa had a strong desire to design, and apprenticed himself to HH Reid, an architecture firm in
Colombo, [Link] studied at the Architectural Association, and graduated in 1957, at 38
years old. When he returned home, Bawa became a partner at Edwards, Reid, and Begg, and
took over the practice shortly thereafter.

In his practice, Bawa tried to achieve what The Guardian has called “a new, vital—and yet
essentially Sri Lankan—architecture.” Bawa’s search for a way to combine the traditional and the
modern attracted the attention of other artists and architects, most notably Ulrik Plesner, who
worked with Bawa from 1961 to 1967.

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 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.

"Bawa's portfolio of work included religious, social, cultural, educational, governmental,

This led to the development of an architecture that was a blend of both modern and traditional,
of east and west, of formal and picturesque, that broke down the barriers between inside and
outside, between building and landscape, and that offered a blueprint for new ways to live and
work in a tropical city."

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, produced a new awareness of indigenous materials and crafts,
leading to a post-colonial renaissance of culture.

Even in his early work, Bawa's buildings had a Tropical Modernist flair. In the Ena de Silva House
(1960), he combined the Modernist tendencies for open floor plans and stark decoration with
iconic elements of Colombo manor houses. Similarly, the Batujimbar Estate (1973) adapts
modernist principles to local Bali traditions. Bawa’s ideas continued over a variety of projects; in
particular, his designs for hotels were embraced for their ability to create location-specific
housing, which at the time was a dramatic departure from the trend of designing hotels to fit
anywhere in the world. In the Bentota Beach Hotel (1970), Bawa created a resort that referenced
its surroundings while allowing for a modern lifestyle.

Bawa’s design for the Sri Lanka Parliament Building (1982) was a continuation of the
investigations he began earlier in his career; it uses pitched roofs and other examples of
elements from local architecture to embody the government’s lineage. At the time, the
Parliament building was the largest of Bawa’s projects, and brought even more international
attention to his approach. Around this time, Bawa designed several new buildings for the
University of Ruhuna (1988). His use of traditional building materials and architectural elements
adapted to the local climate proved to be useful, as it helped keep costs down in addition to
referencing local context.

Bawa closed his firm when he was seventy years old, but did not stop practicing architecture.
Much of his work from these later years was conceptual, and he also produced some of the most
interesting built projects of his career during this period. The Kandalama Hotel (1991) and the
Blue Water Hotel (1997) represent a slightly more minimalistic approach to his architectural
design informed by his earlier work.

his prolific output continued until the late 1990s from his small independent practice Geoffrey
Bawa Associates. In March 1998, aged 79, Bawa suffered a stroke, and the firm was managed by
Channa Daswatt until its closure in 2002.

PHILOSOPHY

[Link] THE SITE AND CONTEXT

[Link] HAD A PLAY OF LIGHT AND SHADE.

[Link] OF SPACES

[Link] VERNACULAR

In the late 1960s, Geoffrey was called upon to design a tourist complex on the south side of the
river, overlooking one of the best beaches. There he created a shopping village, town square and
railway station along with two of the four hotels planned—the iconic Bentota Beach and the
Serendib, now the Avani.

Bentota has always been a favourite destination for Colombo denizens

Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka: An Inspiration for Hotel Design

Geoffrey’s architectural style during the 1960s became a critical model for hotel design in
tropical climates. He took pleasure in making buildings that would merge landscape with
interiors. The Serendib hotel was built to replace the old Bentota Rest House. Its location had
been usurped by the much grander Bentota Beach Hotel, which was, at the time, unaffordable
for domestic tourists. The Serendib would fill that need for many years. He originally planned it
with sand floors, but later replaced these with terracotta tiles. The simply planned rooms had a
private courtyard and a little veranda that opened up to vast lawns that sloped down to the
magnificent Bentota beach.
Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka: Mix of Old and New

Geoffrey had a talent for architectural bricolage. He would cleverly juxtapose the old with the
new, choreographing elements salvaged from old buildings and setting them next to modern
pieces to create an evolving composition. At No 87, a modern staircase replaced the old
stepladder used to access the upper floor of the main house, while an 18th-century Dutch
period gable-top cupboard took centre stage in the entrance hall of the main house. Later, the
current owner had steel doors inserted for security but designed to allow natural ventilation into
the house.

Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka: His Signature Style

Geoffrey worked with some of the most interesting artists, draughtsmen, sculptors and textile
designers of the time. Together, they wove a rich tapestry of local Sri Lankan culture and foreign
influences. At the Neptune Hotel (now the Heritance Ayurveda at Beruwala)—part of the string
of tourist hotels on the beach around Bentota—artist Laki Senanayake adorned the pargeted
walls of the reception pavilion with local trees and foliage. The combination of sinuous built-in
sofas and copies of 19th-century nursing chairs with a round table became signatures of
Geoffrey’s work—especially in furnishing interiors. His favourite was a love seat or conversation
chair, such as one that now sits on the edge of the swimming pool deck overlooking the
Beruwala beach.