GEOFFREY BAWA

By – Aksha -008
Anudeep-028
Nidhi-070
Sabiha-089
Bharath-095
Siraj-099
Uzma-108
 INTRODUCTION

• Deshamanya Geoffrey Manning Bawa was born

on 23 july 1919 in Srilanka.

• Educated at Royal College and Middle Temple,

London and became a
Lawyer.

• Studied architecture in Architectural Association,

London in 1956

• In 1957, at the age of 38 , returned to Sri Lanka

qualified as an architect to
take over Reid's practice.
He said..

A building can only be understood by

moving around and through it and by
experiencing the modulation and feel the
spaces one moves through- from the
outside into verandah, than rooms,
passages, courtyards.
Architecture cannot be totally explained
but must be experienced.
 HIS BELIEFS

•Highly personal in his approach, evoking the

pleasures of the senses that go hand in hand
with the climate, landscape, and culture of
ancient Ceylon(Present day Sri Lanka).

•Brings together an appreciation of the

Western humanist tradition in architecture
with needs and lifestyles of his own country.

•The principal force behind TROPICAL

MODERNISM.
THE GARDEN LUNUGANGA

Street Address Dedduwa Lake

Location Bentota, Sri Lanka

Architect/Planner Geoffrey Bawa

Date 1949-1998

landscape,
Building Types
residential
garden,
Building Usage
private residence
 AT THE BEGINNING NOW

• The Italian inspired garden with

•A small rubber plantation consisting of
spectacular views over lakes and
a house and 25 acres of land.
tropical jungle
•A low hill planted with rubber and fruit
• The original bungalow survive
trees and coconut palms with rice fields.
within its cocoon of added
verandas , courtyards and loggias.
 Plan of the house & garden in 1985
• Juts out into a brackish lagoon lying off the estuary of the Bentota River.
PLANTATION HOUSE

•A collection of courtyards, verandahs and loggias create a

haven of peace and inspiration.

•Suites are individual and beautifully decorated to provide a

relaxing and memorable environment.

STUDIO

•Set at the edge of a cinnamon plantation

•high on the hill overlooking the lake to the south thus giving the privacy.
 Sectional elevation of the house

South facade of the house Drawing room

Exterior view of entrance to foyer Exterior view through oversized door-
frames reinforced and supported by
central columns
Exterior detail showing lattice windows Interior view showing rustic seating
area with views to garden
Arecanut palms, Jars Mask of Hindu Pan Exterior view showing
& pool a sculpture

Statue of leopard Mouth of hell, villa park, Italy

 The entry steps up to the south terrace

Aerial view showing retaining wall's

scalloped layout design
View from the sitting room across the
north terrace
• This is not a garden of colorful flowers , neat borders and curling
fountains –

1. it is a civilized wilderness
2. an assemblage of tropical plants of different scale and texture
3. a composition of green on green
4. an ever changing play of light and shade
5. a succession of hidden surprises and vistas
6. a landscape of memories and ideas
 A.S.H DE SILVA HOUSE, Galle

Variant Names Geoffrey Bawa's House

Location Colombo, Sri Lanka
Architect/Planner Geoffrey Bawa
Date 1960
Building Type Residential
Building Usage Private residence

Keywords courtyard house

• House for a doctor in
galle, on a sloping site,
with the house in the
upper part of the site,
with a corridor leading
down to the dispensary
by the roadside.

• The house is modernist &

traditional at the same
time.

• At the very heart of the

house is a planted court,
fountain and pool
PLAN

SECTION
CENTRAL COURT AND LIVING ROOM
APPROACH DRIVEWAY

ENTRANCE WITH REFLECTING POOL CENTRAL POOL COURT

PLAN OF COUNTRY HOUSE. MIES VAN PLAN OF A.S.H. DE SILVA HOUSE, 1960
DER ROHE, ARCHITECT, 1923

• In plan the Plan of De silva house recalls the pin-wheel layout of Rohe’s
brick country house (1923)

• At the very heart where Bawa has placed a planted court, fountain
and pool, Wright would have put the chimney there
 33RD LANE HOUSE, COLOMBO

Variant Names Geoffrey Bawa's House

33rd lane, Bagatelle
Street Address
Road
Location Colombo, Sri Lanka
Architect/Planner Geoffrey Bawa
Date 1960-1998
Building Type Residential
Building Usage Private residence
Adaptive re-use;
Keywords
courtyard house
 Main entrance to the house

•The house in 33rd Lane is an essay in

architectural bricolage.

Elements salvaged from old buildings in

Sri Lanka and South India were artfully
incorporated into the evolving
composition. Columns at the end of the hallway.
Door painted by D. Friend
•1958 Bawa bought the third house in
a row of four small houses.

•He converted it into a pied-à-terre

(lodging for occasional use) with
living room, bedroom, tiny kitchen
and room for a servant.

•After some time he bought the fourth

and this was colonized to serve as
dining room and second living room.

•Ten years later the remaining

bungalows were acquired and
added into the composition and the
first in the row was converted into a
four-storey tower.

Patio with bench adjacent

to central seating room
•Over a period of forty years the houses
were subjected to continual change.

•Although the plan form of the whole

might at each stage have been
thought to be simply the result of an
arbitrary process of stripping away and
adding, any accidental or picturesque
quality has always been tempered by a
strong sense of order and composition.

• It was here that Bawa developed his

interest in architectural bricolage.

Roof terrace
The final result is an introspective labyrinth of rooms and garden courts
which together create the illusion of limitless space. Words like inside and
outside lose all meaning: here are rooms without roofs and roofs without
walls, all connected by a complex matrix of axes and internal vistas.

Ground floor plan

FIRST FLOOR PLAN SECOND FLOOR PLAN
 SECTION

Lobby View from the garage down

the entrance hallway
Courtyard in lobby area 2nd Courtyard in lobby area
Dinning area
Room on Ground Floor View from bedroom towards the garden
Decorated door to upstairs seating room Upstairs seating room
 TRITON HOTEL ,AHUNGALLA,1979

THE TRITON HOTEL WAS COMMISSIONED BY HOTEL DEVELOPMENT

FIRM AITKEN SPENCE IN 1979.
AERIAL VIEW OF THE ENTIRE HOTEL AND BEACHSCAPE
SITE LOCATION

SECTIONAL ELEVTION THROUGH THE LOBBY

 GROUND FLOOR PLAN

THE BASIC UNIT OF THE HOTEL IS A SINGLE-NODED CORRIDOR.

LINKED OPEN PAVILLIONS
 FIRST FLOOR PLAN

SECOND FLOOR PLAN

 THE TRITON
HOTEL
FEATURES
VERY CLEAN
AND SIMPLE
ARCHITECTUR
AL DETAILING
WITH LITTLE
ORNAMENTATI
VIEW FROM MAIN LOBBY ON. VIEW OF BAR AREA AND POOL

• INTERIOR SPACES ARE LIGHT

AND AIRY, WITH EITHER PALE
TILED FLOORS OR CARPETS IN
NEUTRAL TONES.

•PLANTERS IN THE OPEN-AIR

LOBBIES AND HALLWAYS BLUR
THE LINES BETWEEN INTERIOR
AND EXTERIOR SPACE
RUHUNU UNIVERSITY, MANTARA

Street Address Ruhunu University

Location Matara, Sri Lanka
Architect/Planner Geoffrey Bawa
Client Ministry of Education
Date 1980-1988
Building Type Educational
Building Usage University
SITE PLAN
ELEVATIONS
DESIGN OF THE UNIVERSITY

BAWA’S DESIGN DEPLOYED

OVER FIFTY SEPARATE PAVILIONS
LINKED BY A SYSTEM OF
COVERED LOGGIAS ON A
PREDOMINANTLY ORTHOGONAL
GRID AND USED A LIMITED
VOCABULARY OF FORMS AND
MATERIALS BORROWED FROM
THE PORTO-SINHALESE BUILDING
TRADITIONS OF THE LATE
MEDIEVAL PERIOD, BUT IT
EXPLOITED THE CHANGING
TOPOGRAPHY OF THE SITE TO
CREATE AN EVER VARYING
SEQUENCE OF COURTS AND
VERANDAHS, VISTAS AND
CLOSURES. THE RESULT WAS A
MODERN CAMPUS, VAST IN SIZE
BUT HUMAN IN SCALE.
 MASSING

•BAWA PLACED THE VICE

CHANCELLOR'S LODGE AND A
GUEST HOUSE ON THE WESTERN
HILL AND FLOODED THE
INTERVENING VALLEY TO CREATE A
BUFFER BETWEEN THE ROAD AND
THE MAIN CAMPUS.

•WRAPPED THE BUILDINGS OF THE

SCIENCE FACULTY AROUND THE
NORTHERN HILL AND THOSE OF THE
ARTS FACULTY AROUND THE
SOUTHERN HILL, USING THE
DEPRESSION BETWEEN THEM FOR Central valley with library
THE LIBRARY AND OTHER CENTRAL
FACILITIES.
•BUILDINGS WERE PLANNED
ORTHOGONALLY ON A NORTH-
SOUTH GRID BUT WERE
ALLOWED TO 'RUN WITH SITE'.

•NATURAL FEATURES SUCH AS

ROCKY OUTCROPS WERE
INCORPORATED INTO THE
BASES OF BUILDINGS OR
BECAME FOCAL FEATURES OF
THE OPEN SPACES.

•THE LIMITED ARCHITECTURAL

VOCABULARY CLEARLY
DERIVES FROM PORTO-
SINHALESE TRADITIONS
Exterior view showing terraces and
juxtaposition of buildings with each other
and landscape
•PAVILIONS, VARYING IN SCALE
AND EXTENT, ARE CONNECTED BY
COVERED LINKS AND SEPARATED
BY AN EVER-CHANGING
SUCCESSION OF GARDEN
COURTS.

•EVERYWHERE THERE ARE PLACES

TO PAUSE AND CONSIDER, TO SIT
AND CONTEMPLATE, TO GATHER
AND DISCUSS.

•THE MAIN ROUTES EITHER CUT

UNCOMPROMISINGLY ACROSS
THE CONTOURS OR MEANDER
HORIZONTALLY ALONG THEM.
EXTERIOR VIEW FROM STREET LEVEL
SHOWING USE OF STONE AND
CONCRETE IN FAÇADE
BUILDINGS ARE ALIGNED
CAREFULLY TO MINIMIZE
SOLAR INTRUSION AND
MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF THE
SOUTH-WEST MONSOON.

FEW OF THE SPACES ARE AIR-

CONDITIONED AND THE
BUILDINGS RELY FOR THE MOST
PART ON NATURAL
VENTILATION.
EXTERIOR VIEW SHOWING LARGE EXTERIOR DETAIL SHOWING
DIMENSIONS AND TRIPLE STORY PASSAGE TO PLANTED
COVERED ENTRANCE PORTICO COURTYARD
EXTERIOR VIEW SHOWING
BUILDING'S WRAPPING TERRACES
AND POSITION ON A HILL

EXTERIOR VIEW OF FAÇADE

SHOWING STILT SUPPORT FRAME
 SRI LANKAN
PARLIAMENT,KOTTE,1979
PLAN

SECTION
ARIEL VIEW OF THE ISLAND SITE

DETAILING OF EXTERNAL FACADE

FIRST SKETCH OF MAIN CHAMBERS MAIN CHAMBERS

ELEVATION MEMBER’S GARDEN