Geoffrey Bawa Trust

The brilliant engineer Dr. K. Poologasundram began consulting with Geoffrey Bawa informally in 1960 while the latter was working with the State Cement Corporation and by 1966 they were equal partners at Edwards Reid and Begg. They would go on to run the firm together for 3 decades. Dr. K. Poologasundram’s engineering prowess helped bring Geoffrey’s designs to life and in our interview he reminisce...

This special episode on our Oral Histories podcast series features a conversation with 4 close friends–architects Amila de Mel, Channa Daswatte, Jaime de la Pena and Sumangala Jayathilake. The conversation takes place at Number 11, Geoffrey Bawa’s residence, in the office; the same space in which they all worked with Geoffrey as young architects in the late ’80s and early ’90s. They discussed thei...

Channa Daswatte is the current Chairperson of the Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts. Channa worked with Geoffrey in his later years, starting with the landmark project which is the Kandalama Hotel. He was also an equal partner in Geoffrey Bawa Associates, which was founded after the closure of Edwards, Reid & Begg. Channa, together with Murad Ismail, then went on to set up the practice MICD Assoc...

Philip Fowler was one of the four young Indian architects who were hired by Geoffrey Bawa’s practice, Edwards, Reid and Begg in the 1980s to assist on the design of the new Sri Lankan Parliament. Philip ended up staying on for 7 years; working  on the Triton Hotel, the Druvi de Saram house and the Horagolla Stables, amongst other projects. He returned to India in 1987 and joined Sankar & Associate...

Suhanya Raffel and her husband Michael Snelling; Suhanya is the executive director of the M+ Museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong, and a Trustee of the Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts. She has previously held many senior positions at major art institutions in Sydney and Brisbane. Growing up in the Raffel House that was designed by Geoffrey, Suhanya reflects on her friendshi...

British architect and educator David Robson authored a number of publications on Geoffrey Bawa and he has also been documenting the architectural landscape in Sri Lanka and southeast Asia. David recalls meeting Geoffrey for the first time at the age of 25, when he came to Sri Lanka from England as a lecturer for the Department of Architecture, which was under the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Col...

Dominic Sansoni knew Geoffrey Bawa from a very early age, as his mother, artist and textile designer Barbara Sansoni, was a close friend and collaborator of Geoffrey’s. Dominic spends much of his time adding to and cataloguing his extensive archive of work, spanning the last 30 years from Sri Lanka, India, Mauritius, the Maldives, Nepal, Yemen and others Dominic discusses—often in amusing detail—h...

Ismeth Raheem on the programme. Ismeth studied architecture first at the University in Sri Lanka and subsequently at the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen. He worked at Geoffrey’s firm, Edwards, Reid & Begg between 1968 and 1976, on a number of key projects such as the Connemara Hotel in Madras, the Serendib Hotel in Bentota and the Agrarian Research and Training Institute in Colombo. He also de...

Saskia has lived in Sri Lanka since 1982, and the island continues to be a source of inspiration for her work. Her paintings are very personal and yet encompass a wide range of universal concerns through layered imagery. She has exhibited in galleries and biennales in Asia and Europe. Saskia is joined by her partner Pierre Pringiers, a Belgian industrialist and yachtsman. Saskia and Pierre spent m...

Laki Senanayke’s prolific body of work spans a wide range of media which includes painting, architecture, sculpture and landscape design. More recently, he dived into digital art. Laki began his career as an architectural draughtsman. After losing his first job because he established a trade union, he started working for architect Valentine Gunasekera. At age 18, Laki began working with Geoffrey B...

Anura Ratnavibushana worked with Bawa at Edwards, Reid & Begg during the 60’s and 70’s. Eventually, he left the firm to set up his own practice in the 80’s although he continued to maintain his close connection with Bawa. In 2009, he distilled his passion for architecture and education into a book: “Creating Simplicity—Sri Lankan Tropical Architecture—Design & Landscaping”. This publication is cop...

Sunethra Bandaranaike, was one of Bawa’s clients (he designed her famous Horagolla Stables home) but more importantly, she was one of his close friends. Sunethra is also a former Chairperson and Trustee of the Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts. Last May, we spoke to Sunethra at her Colombo home. With her flair for storytelling and a focus on detail, she recounted the first time she met Bawa; thei...

The Gift: A site-specific installation series at Lunuganga. Panel Discussion featuring the participating Artists Dominic Sansoni Lee Mingwei Chandragupta Thenuwara Dayanita Singh Moderated by: Suhanya Raffel, Executive Director of M+, Hong Kong, and Trustee, Geoffrey Bawa & Lunuganga Trusts Sean Anderson, Associate Curator of Architecture & Design, MoMA, New York Shayari de Silva, Curator, Lunugan...

Geoffrey Bawa Memorial Lecture 2019 by Kengo Kuma.

J. Fransisco Serrano and Juan Pablo Serrano Orosco, Geoffrey Bawa Memorial Lecture 2014

Kate Otten Memorial Lecture 2013 by Geoffrey Bawa Trust

Geoffrey Bawa Memorial Lecture for 2012 by Bijoy Jain

Geoffrey Bawa Memorial Lecture 2010 by Architect Cecil Balmond, in Colombo, Sri Lanka