GEOFFR

EY BAWA

DONE BY
• SREELAKSHMI T R (38)
• NAVYA WILLIAMS(30)
• RISNI HAMZA(33)
• MUFFEEDHA(28)
MUHAMMAD(27)
• SANDRA MARATH(34)
 About Geoffrey
Bawa
It's no exaggeration to say that architect Geoffrey
Bawa transformed the look of South-East Asia.

Bawa is behind the term known as 'tropical modernism' in
the world which he displayed through his myriad works.
Beginning his career in the field in the mid 1900's, his
architectural prowess is unlike any other. As such, his name
is synonymous with innovation and perfection. While his
work was centralized in Sri Lanka, he also brought to life,
architectural creations in Singapore, Indonesia, Japan,
Pakistan and a host of other countries.   
 “A building can only be understood by moving around and through it and by
experiencing the modulation and feel the spaces one moves through­from the
outside into verandah, than rooms, passages, courtyards.
Architecture cannot be totally explained but must be experienced .”
                                                                                                                   -Geoffrey Bawa
Bawa was born in Ceylon (which would become Sri
Lanka in 1972), and began his professional career in the
legal field after studying at St. Catharine’s College,
Cambridge. He worked in law in England for several years,
but left to travel the world after the death of his mother. In
1948, Bawa purchased the Lunuganga rubber plantation,
and developed an interest in gardening and architectural
design.

Bawa had a strong desire to design, and apprenticed
himself to HH Reid, an architecture firm in Colombo,
Ceylon. Filled with aspirations higher than apprenticeship,
Bawa studied at the Architectural Association, and
graduated in 1957, at 38 years old. When he returned
home, Bawa became a partner at Edwards, Reid, and
Begg, and took over the practice shortly thereafter
 • 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).
PHILOSOPHY • Brings together an appreciation of the
OF HIS WORK Western humanist tradition in
architecture with needs and lifestyles of
his own country.
• The principal force behind TROPICAL
MODERNISM  .
CHARACTERISTCS OF HIS
WORKS
• Respected the site and context.
• Buildings had a play of light and shade.
• Flow of spaces.
• Fused vernacular architecture with the modern
concepts to satiate the needs of the urban population.
• Used salvaged artifacts.
• Roof forms as elements.
• Waterbody­ An essential part of Bawa’s Architecture
FEW OF
HIS
WORK
S
LUNUGANGA, BENTOTA

A HOUSE IS A GARDEN
 At the beginning

• A small rubber plantation consisting of a
house and 25 acres of land

• A low hill planted with rubber and fruit trees
and coconut palms with rice fields.

• Surrounded by the Dedduwa lake.
The Italian inspired garden with spectacular views over lakes
and tropical jungle together with a simply designed plantation
house

Now
"A place of continued varied sensations“
The creation of one man’s vision which, over 40 years, was
nurtured into a reality. 
It’s a legacy of a great architect.
THE REASON

When Bawa came back to Ceylon in
1949, he became almost totally
involved  in the pleasures of altering his
house and transforming the rubber
plantation into a wonderfully beautiful,
rolling landscape;  staircased and
terraced , squared into paddy fields, on
the edge of a long lake with a wild
island in its centre. This he so enjoyed
that he decided to become an
ARCHITECT .
A garden is not a static object, it is a
moving spectacle, a series of
scenographic images that change
with the season, the point of view, the
time of day, the mood. So Lunuganga
has been conceived as a series of
separate contained spaces, to be
moved through at leisure or to be
occupied at certain times of the day.
Geoffrey Bawa created this tropical
garden idyll. The Italian inspired gardens,
with spectacular views over the lake and
tropical jungle, has been transformed
into a series of outdoor rooms creating a
huge feeling of space with vistas that
have been carefully chosen to
emphasize their beauty with points of
architecture and art; from entrances,
pavilions, broad walks to a multitude of
courtyards and pools.
SITE PLAN
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.
SITE PLAN SHOWING LANDSCAPPING
This is not a garden of colorful flowers, neat borders and gurgling fountains:
it is a civilized wilderness, an assemblage of tropical plants of different scale
and texture, a composition of green on green, an ever changing play of light
and shade, a succession of hidden surprises and sudden vistas, a
landscape of memories and ideas.
 Aerial view showing lawns to river

Exterior view of garden and façade
Aerial view showing retaining wall's Exterior view from the bottom of the hill
scalloped layout design to plantings
 The entry steps up to the south terrace

Exterior view showing a figural View from the sitting room across the
sculpture monumentally situated north terrace
 Interior of the Pavilion on the Eastern
Terrace

Interior view showing linear forms of
window casings and furniture
INFERENCES

2 substantial tree grow within house
"houses are inseparable from trees”

Open-to-sky bathroom with a tree
“we have traditionally lived outdoors”

Furnished in natural timber, simple white fabric, sturdy wrougt iron lighting fittings.
   “A HOUSE IS A GARDEN”
This is a work of art, not of nature: it is the contrivance of a single
mind and a hundred pairs of hands working together with nature
to produce something that is 'supernatural'.
 Jayawardene House
❖ A radical distillation of the
late Geo ery Bawa’s own
ideas of tropical modernism,
this steel and glass house
high on the red cli s of
Mirissa in Sri Lanka was the architects last project
and arguably his most important work.
❖ The house o ers stunning views of Weligama Bay.
❖ The experience of the house shi s with both season and time of day
➢ The slender colums that hold up the
thin horizontal floating roof could be
mistaken for the trunks of coconut
trees .
➢ There are three rows of them.

➢ No walls.No doors.
➢ No windows.
➢ The living space is anchored by a
large dining table.A glass enclosed
stairways
➢ Leads down into a lower level with
asmall living
➢ Room,bedrooms and service areas .
 Seema Malaka
➢ It was redesigned by Geo ery Bawa in 1976 a er
the original structure sank.
➢ The temple is in the middle of the Beira lake
and the esign was inspired by the ancient
monasteries.
➢ The temples main roof is covered with blue
colour tiles and temple us made from collected spindles and
handrails in wooden finishes.
➢ The temple is constructed on
three platforms over water,
which are connected to the
mainland and with each other
by pontoon bridge.
➢ All three platforms have
numerous seated Buddha
statues displaying di erent
mudras.The main platform
houses wooden paneled
shelter for meditation.
Sunethra Bandaranaike House

▪ Sunethra Bandaranaike House or Horgolla stable is the

country house of Sunethra Bandaranaike.
▪ The material used for construction were recycled
material sources from either the original building
or old demolished homes.
▪ The building consist of two sections –the original stable
and the new wing, with these sections forming an L
shape.
▪ The original building had one large arched entrance and
enclosure for the six horses.The internal mazzanine floor
separates this space into a ground floor
and upper gallery.
The main sitting room is on the ground floor while the
upper gallery provides an additional sitting area.
▪ The new wing contains an additional bedroom
with attached bathrooms and dining area,pantry
and open kitchen.
 HERITAGE MADURAI 

• Built in 1974, the Madura Club can be termed as one of Bawa's best buildings
which represent his design philosophy in its letter and spirit. The club building
has been constructed on a sprawling site which was dotted with huge trees and
overlooks distant hills.
• The low-lying structure of the club was conceived as a series of spaces
encompassing nature to blend perfectly with its locale. Preserving the decades-
old banyan trees and accommodating them in the plan comprised the main
theme on which the club was designed.
Sanjay Kothari, a Jaipur-based architect and a close friend of the author
recently visited this place. He expressed his feelings and experience as,
"Architecture of Geoffrey Bawa is as simple as 'nature' to look at and
experience, but at the same time it stands as complex as 'nature' to
learn about. Talking about architecture - sometimes it is as simple as
drilling a small hole in roof and getting light to lit a corner in the house
but it appears to be quite complex to build a frame of mind as an
architect which every time communicates and responds to nature
without thinking of anything else. Bawa’s work can be destination for the
students of art and architecture to sensitively understand the meaning
of material, elements, space and form in architecture, in relation with the
nature around as strong context to respond and re ect back."