lunuganga revisited (cSLa #14)

Went down to Lunuganga with my mates during the GB memorial week (actually some time back!). Photos are mostly by Channa with couple of my photos thrown in as well!

architects 'are sexiest' (would you believe!)

 

This is from my mate Channa H. Couldn't find any references.  Any thoughts! To be honest, the first time I read this I thought it read as 'architects are sexists'

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the city shaped, the city assembled (books #10)

The City Shaped:Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History
The City Assembled: The Elements of Urban Form through History.

Urban design theory through urban history

For a guy like me who is allergic to structured theories of urban design where for most of the time we try to understand our cities through dissecting the city into nodes, paths and landmarks etc. these two books are like manna from heaven.

True that there is also structured segmentation of the urbanity within these two books, but it is used as a means of organizing the books rather than an end by itself. These two books are definitely not about sorting and re-sorting of city elements and sifting through the leftovers. They are about how cities are ‘formed’ and ‘shaped’ throughout the history. While bulk of the discussion is based around examples from the western hemisphere it is no coincidence that the author has also brought in to his argument examples from the east such as Beijing and some cities of India.

Anybody who is worth his urban design salt, if not read; at least should have look at these two books. But be warned, both these two books could be hard reading at the beginning.

architecture as a thoughtful but feelingless process (welcome to the CDPs)

Final year CDP at Mora is coming to an end. In my very very short teaching carrier I have already been (un)lucky to witness 2 CDPs, one at year 3 level and one at year 5 level. 
While it is too early to come to any conclusions or pretend as if I know a thing or two about students or  for that matter about teaching, would not only be naive but also callus. Having said that I can't get rid of this feeling that the way we teach architecture and rather more importantly the way we learn architecture in Sri Lanka is a very thoughtful but equally feelingless process. I just don't get it. I have already seen so many 'good' students starting their designs with lot of feelings in it and then trying hard for the rest of the year looking for ways of mucking it up in the name of justifying it. 
Pathetic but necessary exercise, as I always say (and openly encourage students) the one and only aim of the CDP is to...
PASS.
*CDP = Comprehensive Design Project

gotukola & architecture and other remedies

gotukola & architecture and other remedies for the architecturally sick in Sri Lanka.
Guys, Have a look at this architecture "vedamahatthaya's" blog if you have a minute to spare. It is  interesting when vedamahatthaya gets in to his mode, but unfortunately he doesn't do that very often these days. 
If you don't like kasaya then there always is the good old doctor. But the doctor has also gone quiet these days.
Added: speak of the devil ........... veda has blogged.

feed the Koi fish

Hei guys, Did you  know that u can feed the Koi fish on the blog's right hand side panel, especially when you want to kill some time at the office! Just click the mouse over the pond (side panel). 
And one of friends (obviously an architect) found that as the most interesting and useful thing in this blog. Thanks buddy for your kind encouragement!

mini hydro plant, .Kadawala, Avissawella (cSLa #13)

office, .Kadawala, Avissawella (cSLa #12)

bungalow, Kadawala, Avissawella (cSLa #11)

Bungalow, Kadawala, Avissawella, by Archt Palinda Kannangara. Photos by my mate Waruna Gomis. (who else!)
This is the first, The Bungalow of  a 3 building cluster development at site. Others to follow!
1. The Bungalow
2. The Office
3. The Mini Hydro Power Plant

Glass box vs ‘tropical architecture’.

Glass box, the greatest enemy of tropical architecture!
Even though these exact words are never used how many times, the lectures, preaches and share holders of tropical architecture, time and again have reminded and implied us at seminar and branded in to students minds ‘the glass box’ as the greatest sin of tropical architecture.

It is a pity that it took us so long to think of “glass box as tropical architecture”. Isn’t the inherent transparency of glass the best way to acknowledge continuity of lush green backgrounds of the tropics and the illusion of weightlessness best way to counterbalance the inherent heaviness of the tropical atmosphere?

Ah, I forgot to mention a couple of other things that u often hear at seminars and lectures , steel ……………… will corrode, trees ……………. don’t cut them.

I just think this project as a wonderful example of using these 3 materials in a tropical context.

domus - my favourite design mag

This page is really cool. You can literallybrowse through the magazine.
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