Geoffrey Bawa, a pale man with gray and black hair slicked back. He wears sunglasses and rests his hand on his face.
Tropical Modernism within architecture has only grown since its popularization in the 1930s. Stylistically, this movement is anything but homogenous. However, its principles are clear: building structures that respect the culture, environment, traditions, and history of the areas, while also maintaining the comfort that most people expect from modern buildings. Because of this primary tenant, it has become a hub for architects focusing on sustainability and natural beauty. Artists get ideas for designs that will suit a wide variety of climates from the country's history and local creators and materials. Known as one of the founders of this movement, Geoffrey Bawa is a renowned architect and one of his generation's most influential artists.
Born on 23 July 1919, in what was then known as British Ceylon but is now Sri Lanka, both of his parents passed on their mixed heritage. Raising him and his brother to connect to each part of their backgrounds, Geoffrey would always hold respect for both colonial and indigenous understandings of architecture. He did not start as an architect, though, and began his journey believing he would become a lawyer.
Travelling to Europe for school, he found a love for travel as well as discovering his sexuality. When he moved to England to study law in 1938, he was quite open about his identity at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Denys Johnson-Davies, who was a friend of Geoffrey at the time, said:
"He was from Ceylon and flouted the fact that he was gay. He dressed in a flamboyant style and spent as little time as possible in the college."
He would also say that while being a well-read man, Geoffrey did not take his studies seriously in the slightest. Geoffrey was much more interested in travelling through Europe than his law degree. He seemed to lack a passion even before he changed career paths.
He graduated and began working in a law firm up until the point both of his parents died. After that, he devoted himself entirely to travel, moving around Europe and North America. He eventually intended to settle in Italy but was unable and was contacted by his older brother. The latter was also a gay man and invited Geoffery to visit Sri Lanka.
At this point, Geoffrey had spent a significant part of his life away from his home country. However, upon his return, he bought an abandoned rubber estate where he settled and slowly fell in love with Sri Lanka as an adult.
He had initially planned to make a piece of Italy within the gardens of his new home. However, he realized he didn't have the technical skills to accomplish such a feat. This idea sparked an interest in him, though, and he decided to pursue architecture. Returning to England, he spent a year in Cambridge, moving next to an apprenticeship and eventually becoming a fully credentialled architect at 38.
His ideas had matured through his studies. Architects now understand his groundbreaking designs as an early form of Tropical Modernism. Having fallen in love with Sri Lanka, he learned the history of the architecture. He understood the practical reasoning behind many of the decisions, finding that these traditional materials and structures were more durable for the Sri Lankan climate. He also profoundly valued the place of nature within his systems, believing a work unfinished until he was able to see how the environment around it adapted to the building.
His identity as a gay man had a place within his work as well, as he would include statues of naked men and quite a few subtle nods to queer sexuality within his works.
Cord Magazine would describe his work:
"Bawa's work is characterized by sensitivity to site and context. His work is instinctively, rather than self-consciously, sustainable. His designs break the barriers between inside and outside, between buildings and landscape, and he characteristically links a complex series of spaces".
Geoffrey became an Associate of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects in 1960. He was able to talk and work with other architects who shared similar beliefs. They were able to popularize a reliance on indigenous materials and respect for the history of an area.
His work didn't hinder his ability to travel, in any case. He was able to visit and work in India, Indonesia, Mauritius, Japan, Pakistan, Fiji, Egypt and Singapore. His travels would make him a distinctive and profoundly influential force in the Asian architectural scene. While he was able to work on many different beautiful buildings, he was most renowned for his work on designing the Sri Lankan Parliament building and his home; the project that began it all. He later named his home in the former rubber estate Lunuganga and worked on and off until his death.
He mostly retired at the age of seventy, though he never altogether stopped working. He spent most of his time in his home and around his large group of friends. He died on 27 May 2003 at the age of 83. His dedication to supporting local artists did not die with him; a fund for Sri Lankan architects was started under his name.
One cannot overstate the legacy of such a man. He is known as the founder of one of the most significant architectural movements in modern history. The moral grounding of the style he started is firm enough to support current understanding of sustainability and climate. With a focus on indigenous sourcing and respecting the history of a place, he built structures that last to this day and are unlikely to be outdated soon.
His work prioritized comfort as well as ethics. It is loved and has done everything he had ever wished of it. It has made space for people and found a place within nature.
[Disclaimer: some of the sources may contain triggering material]
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