Geoffrey Bawa Awards:
Architecture's shining moment
by Husna Inayathullah

Ena de Silva house |
The fourth cycle of the Geoffrey Bawa Awards for excellence in
Architecture was launched by the members of the Geoffrey Bawa Trust,
Suhanya Raffel and Channa Daswatte recently at the relocated and
reconstructed Ena de Silva House adjoining the premises of the historic
Geoffrey Bawa Gardens in Lunuganga, Bentota.
Deshamanya Geoffrey Bawa is recognised as being one of the greatest
Asian architects of the twentieth century and among the most iconic Sri
Lankans of his generation. With his small group of talented assistants
and his circle of creative friends and collaborators, he established
prototype buildings in newly independent Sri Lanka, in the second half
of the last century.
Image
During a career that spanned forty years Bawa designed about thirty
hotels in several countries, of which twelve are in Sri Lanka. The
Bentota Beach Hotel and Serendib hotels were the first purpose-built
hotels on the island and set the standards for the rest to emulate. Both
contributed immeasurably to the image of Sri Lanka that was projected to
the rest of the world. Many guide books to the island nation include his
buildings as "must see" places and rate his hotels among the best on the
island.
Through a series of innovative private houses built during the 1960s,
Bawa fused modernity with tradition.
He also built innovative schools and orphanages, office buildings and
factories, religious buildings and universities, and pioneered new ways
of studying, working and worshipping in an equatorial monsoon climate.
He bequeathed to Sri Lankans the most potent image of their island
democracy: the Parliament on an island at Kotte in 1982.
Design
The Geoffrey Bawa Trust was set up to promote the idea that good
design is important, both to the wellbeing of the people of Sri Lanka,
and to the image their country projects to the rest of the world. It
aims to bring awareness of good design not just to architects, but to
all those involved in the built environment.

Suhanya Raffel and Channa Daswatte
PIX BY SAMAN SRI WEDAGE |
Suhanya Raffel said, "We want to make sure that Geoffrey Bawa's
legacy should be maintained and through this award scheme we want to
encourage contemporary architects. This year's award commemorates the
97th birth anniversary of the illustrious architect. Three cycles of the
Awards were held in 2010/11, 2007/2008 and 2013/2014."
Applications are now open to contenders for the fourth cycle of the
Awards. Submissions must be on the prescribed forms available at the
Geoffrey Bawa Trust Office from July 23, 2016 on weekdays from 9.00 a.m.
to 5.00 p.m. The closing date for entries is November 1, 2016.
Outstanding
The Awards were conceptualised in 2007 to recognise and reward
outstanding examples of contemporary Sri Lankan architecture, and
celebrate the winners and their work. The first three cycles proved
immensely popular and generated wide interest, which prompted many
talented architects to vie for the award. The Trustees are confident
that this interest will generate an even larger number of entrees this
year.
Channa Daswatte said that the Geoffrey Bawa awards are open to all
architects working in Sri Lanka and aim to confer a special status of
recognition on the winners. "We encourage submission of the broadest
possible architectural designs and have no fixed criteria as to the
size, type, nature or location of the structures," he said.
Encourage
"Projects built in Sri Lanka during the ten-year period between July
23, 2006 and July 23, 2016 and used and occupied for not less than nine
months, are eligible for submission. Entries not placed in the previous
awards cycle can also be re-submitted. In establishing the award, the
Geoffrey Bawa Trust does not intend to encourage imitation of the work
and style of Geoffrey Bawa but instead, seeks to promote new and dynamic
methods of meeting challenges in architecture," he said.
The winner of the fourth cycle will be announced at a gala ceremony
that celebrates the winners and their work, to be held on Sunday July
23, 2017, to coincide with Geoffrey Bawa's 98th birth anniversary. The
winner will be awarded one million rupees, as in previous years.
The judges for the 2016/2017 cycle of awards will be Ward Beling
(Trustee, Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts), Architect Mok Wei Wei
(Principal Architect, W. Architects, Singapore), Architect D.H
Wijewardena (Senior Vice President, Sri Lanka Institute of Architects)
and Sharmini Pereira (Founder and Director of Raking Leaves, and the Sri
Lanka Archive of Contemporary Art, Architecture and Design).
Quality
Raffel said that the Geoffrey Bawa Trust was impressed by the
response and quality of work submitted at the past three cycles. "The
variety of projects that made the shortlist were all of consistently
high quality and demonstrated a great deal of innovative thinking which
would have pleased Geoffrey Bawa himself," she said.
Several trailblazing architects were recipients of the Geoffrey Bawa
award during the past three cycles of its existence. Archt. Pradeep
Kodikara was adjudged winner of the Geoffrey Bawa Award 3rd Cycle -
2013/2014 for his design of the Kadju House in Tangalle. Winner of the
Geoffrey Bawa Award 2nd Cycle - 2010/2011 was Archt. Thisara Thanapathy
for his creation, the Sarath Abeyratne House in Colombo 5. Two winners
shared the Geoffrey Bawa Award 1st Cycle - 2007/2008: Archt. Lalyn
Collure for his creation, The Boulder Garden Hotel, and Archt. Shyamika
de Silva for her design of the Nalin Indrasena House.
Impact
The Geoffrey Bawa Awards scheme is modelled on the awards scheme of
the prestigious Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Geneva, inaugurated by His
Highness the Aga Khan in 1977, widely acknowledged as having had a
significant impact on the architecture of developing countries.
Deshamanya Bawa received the Aga Khan's Special Award for a Lifetime's
Achievement in Architecture in 2001. |