In Search of Bawa

Book Review: In Search of Bawa the Master Architect of Sri Lanka – This book answers some important questions about Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka’s pre-eminent architect, and his legacy. A sizeable introduction to Bawa’s world, life, education and work is reviewed by eminent Bawa scholar, David Robson. This precedes a site-by-site tour of 45 of his buildings scatterd throughout Sri Lanka. Many are considered “pilgrimage sites” by up-and-coming architects, designers and lay people interested in his extraordinary and enduring talent.             Insightful texts, contemporary and archive photographs and a plethora of drawings illustrate the individual buildings that range from private dwellings to public buildings, schools and hotels. Each is representative of Bawa’s pioneering work on tropical modernism. The book ends with a brief section on buildings that have been transformed, lost or are at risk for one reason or another. David Robson is an architect, academic and writer who had a personal friendship with Geoffrey Bawa. He is Bawa’s official biographer, having published three books – BAWA: The Complete Works (2003), Beyond Bawa (2005) and Bawa: The Sri Lankan Gardens (2009). He is also the author of Anjalendran: An Architect of Sri Lanka (2011) and…