The Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, is presenting an exhibition devoted to Geoffrey Bawa, the Sri Lankan architect whose work has been little shown in Europe. Bawa (1919–2003) saw architecture as an integrated art and gave the natural environment priority over buildings.
His profile is closely linked to the Heritance Kandalama hotel, set in the Sri Lankan jungle. The concrete structure is built into rocks and engages directly with the surrounding trees and river, helping establish Bawa’s reputation among architects.
Bawa’s work has been associated with “critical regionalism,” a broad term for architecture that combines modernism with vernacular traditions. The source notes that the architect was reluctant to theorise or document his work. In the late 1990s, he burned his archives; two-thirds of the material was saved, while the rest was lost.
Sources: Le Monde Culture.