Chamouil Iwas Week 6 Arch 532 To me, tropical modernism is the branch of architecture describing the marriage of essential qualities of modernism with craftsmanship of local environments. Minette De Silva, also known as “Asian Woman Architect”, is remembered today for her techniques in remodeling modem architecture by incorporating natural aestheties and formations. Her practice has helped attract further cultural and political influence in art and design even after her time. As described by Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi in Crafting the Archive: Minette De Silva, Architecture, and History “De Silva's work interpellated the village into the modern nation, and vice versa, and, moreover, reinforced her parents’ modern multicultural nationalism”! De Silva's upbringing, education, and events of 1948 all shaped her career as she crafted modem regional architecture of the tropics. It is clear to see the importance of heritage in her interpretation of modern architecture. Modernism was regionalized with the aid of De Silva’s practice and design. She was able ions as her architecture to demonstrate a connection between modernism and heritage in her er made use of local material to enhance tradition while addressing modem concepts unique to South Asia. According to Siddiqi, “De Silva’s practices of making meaning might be thought of in terms of ‘the fascination of many modemist architects and crities with exotic, anonymous, indigenous or vernacular buildings that resulted from a supposedly direct and un-mediated interaction between people and their environment”.? Her designs held a purpose as they drew in Sri Lankan cultural and intellectual assets while keeping up with the advancements modern architecture required. An example of this regionalism is the Pieris House. This project brought in Le Corbusier’s pilotis and combined it with exotic elements special to the local tropics such as limestone walls, artisanal qualities, and terracotta tile.*Distinetive approaches to modernism, combined with indeginous components, were crucial in the development of Sri Lankan architecture, } Siddiqi, Anooradha Iyer,“Crafting the Archive: Minette De Silva, Architecture, and History,” The Journal of Architecture, 22:8, (2017) 1307. 2 Siddiqi, “Crafting the Archive: Minnette De Silva, Architecture, and History”. 1305. * Siddigi, 1311Minette de Silva played a significant role in the development of post-colonial architecture, Silva's career and work in tropical modernism helped Sri Lanka shift towards obtaining an independent character aside from the Western world since 1948, She used a juxtaposition of materials: hard and soft rock, small and large objects, carefully crafted contrasting colors with vegetation, According to Crafting the archive, “De Silva’s practices also offer an urgent lens upon architecture and landscape that engages in a representation of heritage, with high stakes in the ethnic nationalisms of the recent pas 4 This supports De Silva’s dedication to fuse buildings and landscape to share a unique style of design connected to her Sri Lankan background. It is also mentioned that, “Her foregrounding of Kandy along with the ancient sites suggests her claims, first, upon their indigeneity and that of their architecture and, second, upon aesthetic or cultural conjunctions between the island’s different and longstanding linguistic and cultural strands” ‘ By correlating Sri Lanka’s tropical nature to the post-colonistic politics arising after the country’s gained independence, De Silva was successful in paving the way for a new style of modernism that celebrates both art and nationalism. * Siddigi, 1305. * Siddiqi, 1305.