“Palimpsest Sri Lanka”, a conference on modern and contemporary architecture by Channa Daswate
New Delhi – The Embassy of the Dominican Republic in India organized an online conference of the Sri Lankan architect Channa Daswate on the 7th of September 2022.
Focussing on the modern and contemporary architecture of Sri Lanka, Daswate highlighted how pioneers like Minette Da Silva and Geoffrey Bawa developed an architectural vocabulary who took into account the rich historical heritage and the natural environment of their country. Channa Daswate was joined by Dominican architect Alex Martinez who was invited to share his thoughts on ‘Tropical modernism’ from the perspective of his researchs and experiences in the Caribbean region.
Both interventions were followed by a dialogue between the public and Channa Daswate in in which the participants raised various questions on the state of traditional arts and crafts in Sri Lanka, on specific techniques used by Geoffrey Bawa in his projects, and on the conservation of Bawa’s buildings. Channa Daswate took the opportunity of this exchange to expand on the multiple activities undertaken by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust in the areas of architectural education, development of the arts and preservation of the modern built environment in Sri Lanka.
Channa Daswate joined in 1991 the architectural consultancy of Geoffrey Bawa, and in 1998, founded his practise, MICD Associates, in partnership with Murad Ismail. He has been in architectural education since 1992 teaching at both the City School of architecture and the University of Moratuwa. He has written extensively in various design and architecture magazines and has two books to his credit, Sri Lankan style (Periplus editions 2006) and Colonial Period Furniture in the Geoffrey Bawa Collection (Lunuganga Trust 2014). He has also edited two editions of A+U featuring the work of the architect Geoffrey Bawa (August 2016) and on the contemporary architecture of Sri Lanka published to celebrate the 100th Birth anniversary of Geoffrey Bawa (November 2020). From 2015 to 2019 he held the post of Chairman of the Galle Heritage Foundation. He is a trustee of the Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts and a founding committee member of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art - Sri Lanka.
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