From December 15, 2021 – April 5, 2022 the Geoffrey Bawa Trust will host a series of tours, talks, seminars and workshops using the exhibition and website as a starting point to delve into eight thematic explorations.
BY MONTH
︎︎︎ DECEMBER EVENTS
︎︎︎ JANUARY EVENTS
︎︎︎ FEBRUARY EVENTS
︎︎︎ MARCH + APRIL EVENTS
BY THEME
Kandalama Perspective of Earlier Scheme © Lunuganga Trust
A Very Particular Response
architecture & the environmentTaking Geoffrey Bawa’s approach that the architectural response to a place was specific to its particular topography and climate but also its larger environmental, social, and political context, we explore the interplay between architecture and the environment in this segment.
VIEW
Galle Face Green report by Geoffrey Bawa, 1978 © Lunuganga TrustA Decision To Do This and Not That
professional practiceThe success of a practice like Bawa’s is reliant on the navigation of a profession. Creative practices are inherently collaborative and intertwined with the lives and works of others. In this segment, we explore what it takes to make work, and speak with contemporary practitioners to understand what getting things done means in today’s context.
VIEW
Geoffrey Bawa's letter to Jean Chamberlin describing the origins of Lunuganga © Lunuganga Trust
Something Ticking in your Brain
architecture & writingNarrative was an essential component of Geoffrey Bawa’s architecture, who was adept at choreographing movement through spaces. Exploring the links between writing and building, in this section we will consider words and structures, languages and scaffolds.
VIEW
Relocation of the Ena de Silva house from Colombo to Lunuganga
An Endless Conversation
architecture and conservationBawa’s view of the past was very much as something in a continuum with the future and like Janus, he looks
back as he looks ahead to draw from buildings, ideas and methods of the past to innovate and incorporate contemporary approaches to design. How might such a view factor into conversations about historical buildings, architectural conservation and how we weave the fabric of the past into our future visions of cities and buildings?
VIEW
Parliament Section Sketch © Lunuganga TrustThe Total Picture
architecture & powerWhat does architecture tell us about power? How a building is commissioned, constructed and used is an embodiment of power that is easy to decipher, but the disciplines intertwining with forces of agency are not always readily apparent. In this segment we take a closer look at the dynamics of architecture and power, looking to moments of liberation and revolution as much as those of hierarchy and rigidity.
VIEW
Aluvirage Heritage Centre working at Ena De Silva’s house © Lunuganga Trust
I like Human Intervention
architecture & technology
In the age of the anthropocene, the role of technology in our lives is apparent everywhere. In this segment we talk about techniques and technologies, in the sense of the avant garde as well as the traditions and crafts that Bawa’s practice held in high regard.
VIEW
In the age of the anthropocene, the role of technology in our lives is apparent everywhere. In this segment we talk about techniques and technologies, in the sense of the avant garde as well as the traditions and crafts that Bawa’s practice held in high regard.
VIEW
St. Thomas’ Prep School Kollupitiya, Ink on photographic print © Lunuganga Trust
Getting the Picture Out
architecture & imageArchitecture has a complex relationship with images; being intensely dependent on them and yet never fully contained in two dimensions. Bawa himself took scrutinizing photographs of places and buildings, especially during his travels. Drawings on the other hand were sometimes used as mere instructions and at other times, made after the fact, a portrait of the building with a particular narrative.
VIEW
St. Thomas’ Prep School Kollupitiya, photographic print © Lunuganga Trust
The Relative Security of Known and Learnt Things
architecture & artThe arts played a vital, inseparable role in Bawa’s architecture. Art and architecture practices both require that we traverse the relative security of known and learnt things into unchartered territories traversed by intuitions and inklings. Join us as we take a closer look at what it means to take these paths in a creative practice.
VIEW
© 2024 Geoffrey Bawa Trust. All rights reserved. You may not reproduce, distribute, display or create derivative works of any of the text, images or other content appearing on this website, nor may you use any of the trademarks, without written permission from the Geoffrey Bawa Trust.