In this article, originally published in Indian Architect & Builder, architect and writer David Robson pens an intimate and personal account of the life and work of Geoffrey Bawa – an incredible architect with an un-paralleled legacy in Sri Lanka and south-east India.
Ten years have rolled by since Geoffrey Bawa’s death and fifteen since ill-health forced him to hang up his tee-square. It's time to take stock: what was his legacy? How were his ideas disseminated? What influence has he had? What were his qualities? Who was Geoffrey Bawa?
Ena de Silva House - Copy drawing by Vernon Nonis, 1985.. Image Sitting at the Polontawala Bungalow.. Image Lunuganga -Drawing. Image Triton Hotel Entrance. Image
Bawa’s Career
Bawa’s architectural career began at the end of 1957 when, at the age of thirty-eight, he returned to Ceylon after completing his studies at the Architectural Association (the A.A.) in London and became a partner in the near moribund firm of Edwards Reid and Begg. The practice occupied offices in the Colombo Fort. His fellow partners were Jimmy Nilgiria and Valentine Gunasekera and early collaborators included Turner Wickremasinghe and Nihal Amerasinghe. At the end of 1958 he recruited Danish architect Ulrik Plesner who worked as his close associate until the end of 1966.