“We’re probably walking above someone’s swimming pool now.” Roger Burrows has become used to walking on “icebergs” on dry land. In many areas of “super-prime” London, where the city’s super-rich have their homes, planning restrictions and conservation guidelines mean you can’t extend your property laterally or add floors on top. The solution? Dig down. Burrows … Continue reading
For Isabelle Harris, working on Centennial Park Residence felt personal from day one. Not only had she once called it home, she was aware of the legacy she was now a part of. “When you get an opportunity to work on a building that has its own history, it helps to create a clearer design … Continue reading
Stepping in through the doors of this unpretentious yet refined coastal home, one takes a deep breath and feel the hustle and bustle of the outside world slip away. From an elegant foyer, a set of stairs is bathed in light from large windows. To the left, a long living and dining space offers expansive … Continue reading
On Friday last week, just as the architect Channa Daswatte sat down for an interview with the Sunday Times, a ceiling was sliding into place at the Bentota Beach Hotel. Ena de Silva’s stunning batik design had been a key element in the building Geoffrey Bawa worked on between 1967 and 1969, and its restoration … Continue reading
Situated on the shores of the Indian Ocean, Colombo is known for its labyrinthine old city markets, grand colonial-era hotels, stunning shipwrecks and wetlands that are home to elusive fishing cats. But not so much for its contemporary art. All that is set to change, however, thanks to the recent launch of the Sri Lankan commercial capital’s Museum … Continue reading
…Pinto uses these moments to bring into sharp focus some of the factors that influenced Minnette’s trajectory. In 1948, she made history as the first Asian woman to become an associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects and, in 1949, became the first Sri Lankan woman architect to start her own practice. While Minnette’s buildings would break new ground both … Continue reading
From the air, the Yoyogi National Gymnasium – built for the Tokyo Olympics of 1964 – resembles nothing so much as a leaf that has just fluttered to the ground. Designed by Kenzo Tange, its long elegant curves and ribs seem almost organic and yet its material is concrete. His first encounter with it, when … Continue reading
Every week, Krishna Jagadeesan spends a day with memories of Geoffrey Bawa. He dusts and mops but does not rearrange anything in Bawa’s room at the garden estate of Lunuganga. It is Krishna’s duty to keep everything inside as it was. Having joined the staff at Lunuganga in 1999, one of Krishna’s earliest tasks was … Continue reading
Sunethra Bandaranaike remembers turning down the driveway to Lunuganga with the world’s first-ever female prime minister in the seat beside her. They had been invited by Geoffrey Bawa to visit his garden estate, and her mother’s first impression was guarded to say the least. “It looks like we are driving through a forest. What is this?” Sunethra remembers Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias … Continue reading
When Dr. Asha Abeyasekera spoke to a woman named Rojani in 2018, she heard that Rojani’s family had lived in 219 Watte since the 1950s. Rojani’s father had even been given a house-ownership card, issued by then President Premadasa’s government. “She had this whole file, though she was illiterate, she had kept these documents and … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 