Architect Geoffrey Bawa’s first show in India opened in Delhi on Friday

If gardens are self-portraits of people who shape them, then Geoffrey Bawa’s home and garden, Lunuganga, was his memoir. For Sri Lanka’s best-known architect, it was as much a personal space as it was a statement to the world of what he thought architecture should be. One of the pioneers of ‘tropical modernism’, which honoured the culture and nature of the environs, long before sustainability became a buzzword, Bawa’s imprint on Sri Lanka, and his contribution to urbanism, cannot be ignored. The exhibition, ‘Geoffrey Bawa: It is Essential to be There’, is a celebration of these ideas .

This is the first time that Bawa’s archives will be presented in India by the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, the High Commission of Sri Lanka, New Delhi, with the Geoffrey Bawa Trust, Colombo. This event is also a celebration of the 75th anniversary of Indo-Lanka Diplomatic Relations.

With over 120 documents from the Bawa archives, the exhibition will showcase his unbuilt work, and photographs, from his travels. It opens at NGMA, on Friday, and will explore the relationship between ideas, drawings, buildings and places, and the different ways in which images were used in Bawa’s practice.

Architects, around the world, return to Bawa’s projects as reminders of ways to build intelligently and efficiently, keeping nature and people at the centre of design. He had an amazing way of combining aspects of modernism and local traditions into his works.

“Looking at the archives allows us to contemplate Bawa’s practice through multiple lenses — it affords us the chance to think about political, economic, and social drivers of architecture, and highlights the creativity of Bawa’s work. I think these insights are ever relevant and it’s exciting to be able to share these works with an Indian audience through this exhibition,” said Shayari de Silva, Chief Curator, Geoffrey Bawa Trust, and the show. The exhibition closes on May 7.

Among his many buildings in Sri Lanka, including residences, schools, clubs, offices, and hotels, the most notable is the Parliament Building.Bawa worked in India, too, and some of his buildings include the early designs for the Sarabhai House in Ahmedabad, the Madurai Club, which is a heritage hotel today, a hotel and hospital in Goa and Chennai, respectively.

– The Indian Express