Decolonizing Architecture

Decolonizing Architecture is a long-awaited book presenting the great range of the architectural works of Bawa from a Sri Lankan perspective.Architect and historian Shanti jayawardene reveals her lifetime interest in Bawa’s work,and gives us a detailed analysis of how he was a creative product of his time,yet also a European-trained professional who quietly yet powerfully resisted colonialist trends.

This publication centres on the work of Geoffrey Manning Bawa (1919-2003), Sri Lanka’s most renowned architect, who received his architectural training in London. His work is enigmatic because it is acclaimed both nationally and internationally for its relationship with the traditions of Sri Lanka’s architecture, although he never studied at home. His work reveals his efforts to engage with Sri Lanka’s design cultures which were inaccessible to him in Europe. And yet, our understanding of his search for indigenous knowledge is constrained by Western intellectual paradigms.

The book approaches Bawa’s complex ambiguous engagement with European and Asian design cultures from a decolonial perspective. And pays tribute to his knowledge which helped reimagine a thousand year old lineage in architecture in the late twentieth century. It is illustrated with over 300 photographs and drawings.