Tag: Lunuganga Trust

Geoffrey Bawa, the celebrated Sri Lankan Architect is known for his works centers around Tropical Modernism. While many of his works are well known and highly celebrated, some of his profound projects do not stand on that pedestal. They rarely make it to magazine covers or serve the curated sunset views. Some sit quietly behind school walls, some sit by calm lakes and some sit on edges of industrial or commercial fabric, woven into rhythms of daily life. Yet these works also celebrate spaces like any other of Bawa’s work: Corridors are not passages but slow transitions, courtyards hold not grandeur but pause, and walls that connect indoor and outdoor. This article dives into five such projects which are the lesser-known whispers.

Barbara Carolyn Sansoni Lewcock was a pioneering entrepreneur who redefined leadership with creativity and purpose in a male-dominated world. Born on April 22, 1928, in Kandy, Sri Lanka, she came from a Burgher family with diverse European roots. Her education took her from Sri Lanka to Southern India and later to London, where she studied at Chelsea Art School after World War II. Barbara’s return to Ceylon marked a vibrant chapter in her life, where she married Hildon Sansoni and raised their sons, Simon and Dominic.

The Parliament of Sri Lanka designed by the celebrated Architect Geoffrey Bawa is the political and administrative hub of the country. Architecturally it is an attempt to blend modernism with traditional Sri Lankan Architecture. The story behind designing and building the parliament itself is intriguing, with political imperative, contextual challenges, architect’ vision and controversies.