This module is intended to supplement an introductory course on modern architecture and design, which at present tend to focus on North America and Europe. This module is divided into four sections: an introduction that provides historical context, and three longer sections that discuss the work of three modern architects in Sri Lanka: Minnette de Silva, Geoffrey Bawa, and Valentine Gunasekara. Organizing discussions of their work by theme, these three sections center on how the three architects situated their work in different understandings of place via material choices, formal transformations, and technologies of the time. It also discusses how these architects undertook collaborations with others, re-interpreted design traditions in Sri Lanka, and took inspiration from modern architecture in other parts of the world.
Because architectural history is so often taught thematically, and with case studies under review brought into conversation with precedents, each section points to how the work of the three architects relate to each other and to projects in other parts of the world. The modules are not intended to be stand-alone lessons, but rather case studies that can be inserted into other lectures on reinterpreting older building methods for the twentieth century, the role of new materials, formal inventiveness, designer-client relationships, or other concerns that cut across geographies. The learning goal is to recognize that Sri Lankan modern architecture is not simply ancillary to or a mere derivative of Euro-American work, but is legitimate on its own terms, and takes on an inventiveness in response to concerns of decolonization that resonate across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. However, the three architects can also be productively compared with each other across themes, including responses to and reinterpretations of tradition, use of building materials, and the types of collaborations they fostered.
The case studies in this module can be paired with three books whose page numbers are cited for each example site:
- Minnette De Silva, The Life and Work of an Asian Woman Architect. Colombo: Smart Media Productions, 1998.
- David G. Robson, Geoffrey Bawa: The Complete Works. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson, 2002.
- Anoma Pieris, Imagining Modernity: The Architecture of Valentine Gunasekara. Pannipitiya: Stamford Lake, 2007.
Even without these books, however, the case studies are ready for classroom use through the hyperlinks to architecture websites that include photographs, design plans, and other documents that illustrate the sites discussed. Other photos are embedded into the text of the teaching module.
