Geoffrey Bawa is acknowledged and venerated in Monsoon Asia as the 'Father of Tropical Architecture'. His admirers from around the globe arrive in droves to imbibe, endorse and immerse, sing praises, emulate and even copy his work.
However, in Sri Lanka, an iconic example of the vision of the master, one of his major contributions to contemporary Sri Lankan architecture is scheduled to be demolished.
Some whimpers have been heard. This then is the scant regard this 'enlightened society' has for its cultural heritage. This can happen only in Sri Lanka, where vociferous lip service within the confines of a private living room takes pride of place over action.
From a recent newspaper article it transpires that, some have suggested that the building should be dismantled and rebuilt, obviously as a last resort, at the University of Moratuwa for use as a museum. This effort though costly will never achieve the contextual site specific sensitivity that was achieved in a building Geoffrey was extremely possessive of.
The building is an urban solution incorporating rural values, it is site specific and the shifting of the building to another location will be as outrageous as excavating the cultural sites and depositing the finds in a museum, thereby destroying the symbolic values it was imbibed with in the first place, forever. The laying of the foundation stones with the Aluvihare involvement, was not without ceremony and serious enshrinement, and will be greatly prized by those who will be engaged in the demolishing of the old building, as it contains the very best the family could afford, not just coloured chips, as is the case in the mass produced concrete foundation stones usually available in places like Gabo's Lane. With the demolition of the building the symbolic, cultural, architectural, iconic and historic values attributable to the building will be destroyed and lost forever.
The reason for the impasse that threatens important buildings like the 'Bawa Designed Icon' is the lack of adherence to a zoning plan or an incorrectly produced zoning plan that examines areas in blanket and not in detail. An example of the insensitive manner zoning is carried out in the city.
There should be a ceiling on expansion of Institutions in the public domain and expansion should be possible only if parking is available within the premises and always and in addition, only if adequate service infrastructure is available. If not development should be restricted or requested to relocate. Institutions that draw public in large numbers should ensure that the activity is a public convenience and not a nuisance to the neighbourhood. This could be easily assessed if an environment impact assessment (EIA) is conducted prior to granting permission for any development or expansion of a development.
The arbitrary expansion of existing development in many sites, including in many schools within the city, which are already well beyond their carrying capacity and the blind eye for development without the availability of the necessary infrastructure will eventually lead to more destruction in the future, in a city that is already stressed to a limit in its infrastructure and road requirements.
Twenty years ago, there were rumours that the city infrastructure which included sewerage, storm water drainage, fresh water availability, electrical services, road systems, parking etc had reached breaking point.
But many, many, many more buildings have been approved since, on even more restricted sites and the infrastructure installed at the turn of the century has now passed its natural breaking point many times over.
Under these circumstances, the cultural heritage of this country will be continuously destroyed, till the authorities come up with a specific zoning policy that will protect the past and the immediate past, for the future. How many more iconic buildings must we lose before we finally wake up? Will it then be too late? |
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