Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development and Archt Chandana Edirisuriya, President, SLIA at the inauguration

The 29th Annual Sessions of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects themed “Architecture for All: City + Community” was held recently under the patronage of the Chief Guest Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development, and the Guests of Honour Archt Ruth Reed, Chairman, Royal Institute of British Architects and Shri Vikram Misry, First Secretary of the Indian High Commission in SriLanka. The keynote speaker was the renowned Indian architect Archt Raj Reval, the principal architect of Raj Reval Associates, India. Following are some of the the event highlights.

ARCHITECT 2011

An exhibition of the architects’ work and trade was held consecutively for the 28th time. The exhibition was a giant showcase of architects’ creativity and also the latest products and material available in the building trade.

The SLIA annually recognises the best local products and this year the following companies received the coveted awards for their products

Excellence Awards

• Three Singhe Industries – Roller Door

• Micro Construction – Pre Cast Walling System

Merit Awards

• Standedpark Co – Decorative Cement Floor Tile

• Prime Designer Roofs – Cement Roofing Tile

• Ekala Pre Stressed Concrete – Prestressed Inverted T-Beams

The National Conference on Architecture was a lively conference where aspects of community architecture were discussed by eminent presenters from Sri Lanka and the South Asian region on their experiences in creating architecture for everyone. The proceedings of which are detailed elsewhere in this journal

The Annual General Meeting was held with a new council elected at the Annual Sessions 2011. The new council headed by its President Archt Ranjan Nadesapillai will administer the SLIA for the sessions 2011 – 2012, 2012 – 2013.

Short listed architects for the Geoffrey Bawa Award 2011

The Geoffrey Bawa Trust announced the short listed finalists for the second cycle of the Geoffrey Bawa Award 2010/2011 for Excellence in Architecture for its one million rupee award, to be presented on July 23, 2011 – the late Archt Geoffrey Bawa’s birthday.

The following are the eight short-listed submissions in the running for The Geoffrey Bawa Award 2010/2011 for Excellence in Architecture.

• Udayapuram School, Periyakallar, Kallar, Batticaloa – submitted by Archt Yudish Ganesan

• Tsunami Housing Payagalawatte, Kalutara – submitted by Sheran Henry Associates

• Lion Museum, Biyagama – submitted by Sheran Henry Associates

• Holiday Bungalow, Avissawella – submitted by Archt Palinda Kannangara

• Kalundewa Retreat, Dambulla – submitted by Archt Sanath Liyanage

• The New British High Comission, Colombo 7 – submitted by Richard Murphy Architects, Scotland, Scotland UK

• Holiday Bungalow, Ulpatha, Matale – submitted by Archt Thisara Thanapathy

• Sarath Abeyrathne House, Colombo 5 – submitted by Archt Thisara Thanapathy

The next step for the eight short-listed submissions is an on-site technical review, followed by a final judging session to announce the winner.

The Geoffrey Bawa Awards adhering to principles similar to those of the world-renowned Aga Khan Awards for Architecture, organised by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Geneva, the Geoffrey Bawa Award for Architecture will recognise and reward only the most superior examples of architecture encompassing current architectural concepts such as contemporary design, restoration, re-use and area conservation. The end objective of the prestigious award is the encouragement of excellence in the field of architecture and increasing awareness of the importance of the built environment. The award presentation will be in three year cycles.

Compiled by Amanda Rajakaruna

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