Geoffrey Bawa’s architectural practice is remembered for iconic building and landscape designs, such as the National Parliament (1979), the Kandalama Hotel (1991), and his Lunuganga garden estate (1948). Lesser-known are the interior and furniture pieces designed to fit the times and spaces in which he and his colleagues were working.
Domestic and international travel inspired a creative oeuvre that refuses to be defined. Drawing from and referencing work collected and seen on his travels, Bawa often recreated pieces unavailable in Sri Lanka in the latter half of the 20th century, reimagining and adapting them to fit the needs and realities of the moment. His work juxtaposes the ancient with the contemporary, creating designs that are both ultra-modern and immensely practical, appearing elegant without being pretentious or luxurious.
Bawa’s Number 11 Unfolding Lamp (c. 1960) is an example of a custom redesign. A towering cylinder of cut metal that casts exquisite geometric shadows upon its surroundings, the lamp is as sculptural as it is functional. Yet when Bawa acquired the original in the 1960s, the lamp was neither functional nor practical for his needs. Based on a paper lampshade made by Danish designers Flemming Brylle & Preben Jacobsen and sold at Harrods in London, the original proved ill-suited to Sri Lanka’s hot, humid climate. Ever practical, Bawa redesigned the lamp as a painted metal showpiece, creating a white version for his Colombo home and a blue copy for the front terrace at Lunuganga.
Since the restrictive trade policies of the time made contemporary interior fittings difficult to source, Bawa designed and created what he envisioned from low-cost, locally available materials. The architect’s penchant for thrift and practicality is seen in the Number 11 Highlighter Lamp (c. 1960): a small sheet of metal bent to size to hold a candle bulb and placed to illuminate a limestone sculpture in the architect’s home. While today this may seem a basic adaptation of the standard picture light, at the time, the lamp represented an otherwise unavailable piece of craftsmanship that answered a pressing need.
This predilection towards modest light fittings is evident in the simple wall lamps (c. 1970) found across many Bawa properties. At a time when modern light fittings were rare, these minimalist wall mounts that simply cover the luminaire with a piece of pliable board were revolutionary. It is also thought that this design possibly led to the ubiquitous triangular light fittings now found across Sri Lanka.
Bawa frequently combined seemingly unrelated and often cross-cultural objects to create useful and beautiful interior pieces. This is seen in his coupling of an antique Kerala brass oil lamp with a classic Danish Caprani lampshade to create an elegant, functional light (c. 1970s).
Another example of this approach is the Metal and Stone Conical Shade Lamp (c. 1993). Working with a metalworker and using a piece of stone from the architects collection, the design uses a modern style fixture to illuminate a traditional Indian sculpture gifted to Bawa from a client in New Delhi. Originally designed for the Kandalama Hotel (now Heritance Kandalama), the lamp remained a prototype for twelve years, before the hotel added them to Kanchana Lounge in 2005.
Reproductions of Bawa’s lamps, along with other pieces from the architect’s practice, are now on show at Design in the Moment: Furniture by the Geoffrey Bawa Practice. A collaborative effort by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust and India-based furniture company Phantom Hands, the exhibition closely examines the histories and context of Bawa’s furniture designs and considers how they can be meaningful for contemporary use.
Design in the Moment is on view at the Geoffrey Bawa Space, located at 42/1 Horton Place, Colombo 07. The space is open Wednesday through Sunday between 12 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., except major holidays. A series of curatorial tours and public programming will take place throughout the duration of the exhibition. More information is available on geoffreybawa.com and phantom hands.in.
