Geoffrey Bawa's Sri Lankan Parliament Building Featured in M+ Collection Series
The Sri Lankan Parliament building, designed by Geoffrey Bawa and finished in 1982, stands as his most famous creation on an artificial island close to Colombo. This structure showcases a central pavilion accompanied by five smaller pavilions, each with distinct roofs, reflecting the principles of Tropical Modernism that Bawa helped establish. Commissioned in 1979 by President J. R. Jayewardene, Bawa's impressive career lasted 45 years. He graduated from the Architectural Association in London in 1956, influenced by the ideas of Minnette de Silva, an early Asian female architect. Emerging in the mid-1950s, Tropical Modernism focuses on utilizing local resources and adapting to the site. A model of this Parliament building can be found at M+ in Hong Kong.
Key facts
- Geoffrey Bawa designed the Sri Lankan Parliament building, completed in 1982.
- The building sits on an artificial island in a flooded marshland near Colombo.
- It features a central pavilion with five smaller ones under separate steel and teak roofs with patinated copper sheeting.
- Bawa is credited with spearheading Tropical Modernism, blending modernist principles with tropical climate needs.
- He was commissioned in 1979 by Sri Lanka's second president J. R. Jayewardene.
- Bawa studied architecture at London's Architectural Association, graduating in 1956.
- Minnette de Silva, one of Asia's first female architects, pioneered similar tropical designs in the 1940s.
- A section model of the building is in M+'s 'Designing for a National Identity' section in Hong Kong.
Entities
Artists
- Geoffrey Bawa
- Minnette de Silva
- Le Corbusier
- Jane Drew
- Maxwell Fry
- Otto Koenigsberger
- J. R. Jayewardene
Institutions
- M+
- ArtReview
- Architectural Association
- Department of Tropical Architecture
Locations
- Sri Lanka
- Colombo
- Hong Kong
- Cambridge
- England
- London
- India
- Chandigarh
- Mysore
- Pakistan
- Japan
- Mauritius
- Fiji
- Singapore