Refuse has never looked so good

The sitting room with the jack fruit tree in the corner

The lanu anda at the entrance

Other people’s refuse finds a home here

It's no secret that there is a stigma attached to used stuff. When building a new house the convention is to avoid material taken from demolished houses fearing they would bring bad luck (vas dos) to the new building. Everyone values 'new' above all else. Antiques of course are a different story. They are valued for their rarity.

It's the stuff that is in between, stuff which is not new or which has not acquired the status of 'Antique' that often ends up homeless. Enter Professor Sarath Kotagama. With the help of Architect Kapila Sugathadasa, Professor Kotagama has created a uniquely beautiful home in which refuse surely has never looked so good.

Here is evidence, that, as construction work reduces the amount of the country's natural resources, nothing should be thrown away, and that the questions 'could I use it or can it be turned into something else' Will always have a positive answer.

Here is how trash can be transferred into treasures. - Aditha

The kitchen - a part of the sitting room so that whoever is cooking gets to join the conversation	|  The yoke hanging at the entrance
The dinning table made from a drum wheel discarded by the CEB	The cot used by the children, now a sofa