A Visit to Lunuganga, Bentota, Geoffrey Bawa Resident

My brief visit to Lunuganga has been a dream come true. The architectural wonders of Geoffrey Bawa had given me a priceless experience and a new perception to my architectural journey. Lunuganga is a masterpiece which, Bawa’s once said, "a place of many moods, the result of many imaginings”, and this offer me a retreat to my mind, body & soul. The vistas that Bawa’s created at Lunuganga give infinite pleasure. Everything is in place; everything is on perfect order and harmony. I suppose it is possible to consider every building that Bawa designed and built to be a permanent monument to him and his art. His concerns for environment is manifested in sequencing of space, the creation of vistas, courtyards, and walkways, the use of materials and treatment of details. He doesn`t draw, but he speaks to the site, dreams on the site… he unifies with the sites... he make a whole new world of his own, spaces filled with joy and celebration… one does not feel like coming out of those poetry spaces that he has crafted.
I code Ala Amirfazli, my Iranian friend said to me as ‘he is not a greedy architect’. He does not use fancy materials, just the simple grano, cement rendered floors, white wash walls, rough timber finished, pure metal furniture, blue waters, green meadows, frangipani, sounds of the birds and the distant sea… He was a great man, a genius who lived and created a new way to live in this mundane, materialistic world. I specially dedicated this series to my best buddy Azmi Sahal as to recall his one month experience staying with Geoffrey Bawa at Lunuganga & to all of you. My sincere thank to Dr Dilshan Remaz for making my dream come true. For me, travel is the literacy of the world. For more photos click HERE. Enjoy&Godbless