July 24 marked a new beginning for landscape architects here, when the Sri Lanka Institute of Landscape Architects (SLILA) held its inauguration meeting to elect its council.
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| Mrs. Basnayake |
“Landscape architects have always existed in the world,” said Hester Basnayake, President of SLILA. Mrs. Basnayake was formerly Head of the Environment and Landscape Division of the UDA. “It is not a new trend in the world to have professionalism in this division of labour. However, there is a common misconception of the role of landscape architects. Landscape architecture is on par with architecture,” she said.
The basic concepts of landscape architecture have been implemented in architectural marvels such as Sigiriya. However Mrs. Basnayake says it has taken as long as 10 years to develop landscape architecture in Sri Lanka, because of the lack of standards and outside influences of structure, function and aesthetics.
According to Landscape Architects Headquarters in Geneva, “Landscape Architects conduct research and advise on planning, design and stewardship of the outdoor environment and spaces, both within and beyond the built environment and its conservation and sustainability of development”.
Sustainable development is defined as development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability for the future generations to meet their own needs.
According to Mrs. Basnayake the institute’s aim is to integrate the beauty and physical make-up of the landscape into a structural design which is still sustainable and does not have adverse effects on the environment. Thus the aphorism of the institute is “to design with nature for the people with the mindset of aiming for excellence”.
“We should have more landscape architects in the relevant public sectors such as the RDA (Road Development Authorities), coastal authorities, wildlife authorities, agriculture and transport authorities and even the CEB (Ceylon Electricity Board), thereby ensuring that the development of our land is sustainable and done professionally. Sri Lanka-Character classification for inter provincial districts, Local and Provincial councils should be involved. The relevant people should be recruited to government organizations and cadre positions,” Mrs. Basnayake said.
She also said that there are three scales in landscape architecture. The first scale is the macro scale, where the landscape architect works in a team with an engineer, biologist or geologist, depending on the environment, for land use planning. The second is site planning, where once again the landscape architect works in a professionally trained team to integrate the construction into the location. The final scale is the micro scale where the architect is involved in designing a detailed view of the landscape. There is also soft and hard landscaping, she said.
Mrs. Basnayake also plans to establish ties with the international community as landscape architecture does not only encroach upon local territory, for sometimes the land being built upon might stretch across two borders. “By strengthening international ties with institutes around the world, we will be able to become joint custodians of land if and when the need arises”.
She said, there were moves to set up a committee of Landscape Architects in 1999, but it took 10 years to do so due to lack of resources.
Mrs. Basnayake said the University of Moratuwa now offers a degree in Landscape Architecture.
SLILA Council
members:
President- Hester Basnayake, President Elect- S. Balasooriya, Vice President- Priyanak Ranatunga, Secretary - S.Amendra, Assistant Secretary- C.K.E. Kalupahana, Treasury-D. Hettiarachchi and Assistant
Treasurer- Radha de Silva.
Council Members- K.A.D. Chandradasa, Susira Udalamatta, Sanka Wimalaratne, Kasana Dharmadasa.
The public inauguration of SLILA, to create awareness and harness media attention, will be held on August 13 at Waters Edge.
The event is sponsored by the Urban Development
Authority (UDA). |
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