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Compiled by Edward Arambewela

A dream come true

Lalith Kumara

One of the key students exhibits in the Katubedde University's Architect Faculty at this years - SLIA organised "Architect 2004" exhibition held in February at the BMICH displayed a model retreat centre designed in memory of late Fr. Marcelline Jayakody who was popularly known among the Buddhist community as the 'Pansale swamy' for the unique contribution he had made to Buddhist culture as well.

Katubedde 3rd year undergraduate (BSc Architecture) Lalith Kumara Gunadasa from Kurunegala who created this model told the Archwatch, that he made it during his 2nd year for the housing project he was assigned to do.

Speaking about the choice he said he had personally met Fr. Jayakody when he was a student at Hendiyagala Maha Vidyalaya, Kurunegala, where Fr. Jayakody used to visit frequently as he was a well-wisher of the school.

In a friendly discussion Fr. Jayakody had told Lalith one day that he wishes to have a meditation centre built on top of a hill overlooking a temple and a dagaba. Lalith said this was lingering in his mind ever since, and when he took up architectural studies he was thinking of designing a Meditation Centre for Fr. Jayakody, in order to honour the love Fr. Jayakody had for nature and the environment.

However as Fr. Jayakody died before Lalith could complete his Architectural studies, he chose to dedicate his house design project to Fr. Jayakody's memory by designing this retreat Meditation Centre model in his memory.

Lalith says that this is not an imaginary model at all. He had spent two months in planning and building it.

The site an actual one

The site selected was an actual site in a village called Hanamuna in Wariyapola.

It was small hillock with a thick forest cover, and a temple in a nearby village with its dagaba visible from top.

Villagers cooperated

Village folk in Hanamuna had given their fullest support to Lalith, in his visits to the site, to take measurements for the building.

Lalith said the building is modeled to be built entirely with timber, roof of course to be zinc alum. Tats to be used for doors and windows too.

Lalith's whole building complex is an embodiment of simplicity and nature-oriented, he said.

A visitor at the stall who was listening to the interview commented Fr. Jayakody too had seen divinity in simplicity.

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Architects highlight French cultural heritage

Throughout France there is a network of 'Heritage Architects' who are specialised in the conservation of historic buildings. They are in charge of all the services related to research, design and implementation regarding architectural, urban and landscaped settings.

The apostalic church hall in Romany belonging to 17th century

They are graduates of the 'Centre des Hautes Etudes de Chaillot' (CEDHEC) and endeavour to promote all that concerns the national heritage they develop exchanges and relationships with their foreign colleagues.

'Heritage Architects' specialise in the upkeep of the French historic buildings. They carry out projects and give advice in all the fields concerning architecture, town planning and urban development. They are present all over the country and obey the rules and regulations regarding architects and their profession.

They include independent architects, head architects in charge of historic buildings, a large number of state architects and town planners who have officially become the Architects of the Buildings of France and the Sate Town Planners since 1993.

Prosper Merimee whose bicentenary was recently celebrated was certainly one of those who invented the idea of 'Ancient Monuments'. He was a writer, a politician, an art lover and a protector of the national heritage giving as much importance to each of his passions.

He began to prepare the ground for a policy concerning the protection of historic buildings and created a real public institution that came into being in 1913 at the same time as the law concerning these monuments. This law is still enforced today.

These architects use their know-how to restore, develop, restructure, rehabilitate and reconstruct the buildings listed on the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments in conservation areas or districts concerned by a safeguarding and enhancing scheme and neighbourhoods concerned by the preservation of the architectural, urban and landscape heritage. They mainly deal with projects contracted by the state, local authorities and private owners.

"The whole idea is to keep the right balance between the building materials and a respect for the surrounding buildings," Jean-Paul Mauduit, the president of the Association of Heritage Architects explains.

However, before starting on a project a detailed research is necessary in order to understand the problems relating to the building and the area. " The renovation and extension of the Marceau Secondary School in Chartes right in the middle of a conservation area next to the buildings of the "Saint Pere" Abbey, a listed monument, will provide coherence between two very different units" adds Jean-Paul Mauduit who is in charge of the project.

The rehabilitation of the former Delesme barracks for the Poitiers Education Authorities in the Poitou-Charentes region (to the west of central France) and the construction of a technical capacity for the Chateau Gontier Hospital (an extension of the old 'Hotel Dieu' hospital) in the Mayenne (north-west of France) are also two projects corresponding to the 'High Quality Environment' requirements.

In the Paris region the town of Sceaux has just finished the rehabilitation of the covered market which is the exact copy of the one built by Baltard (the famous nineteenth century architect who often used metal structures). Wood-Potet, the project manager, reconstructed the ancient market dating back to 1889.

The metal structure was visible, the spaces were filled up with decorative bricks and a copy of the former pediment was restored. "The structures were preserved and restored but it conformed to all the present day standards. This compulsory when there is a re-use of a building," Veronique Wood, vice-president of the Association of Heritage Architects, says.

In order to become a heritage architect one must attend a postgraduate course at the Chaillot Architectural Institute (CEDHEC) also called "Ecole de Chaillot". It provides advanced classes in history, maintenance, conservation, rehabilitation and the use of ancient monuments.

Only architects with a French degree or some other recognised foreign degree are admitted. The course covers a period of two academic years with two days of tuition every two weeks, which allows the students to keep their jobs. About a hundred students attend.

At every session, the 'Ecole de Chaillot' enrols several foreign architects for a postgraduate course. It organises seminars and workshops on existing sites gathering students from institutes in other countries such as Scotland and Romania (Ion Mincu Institute of Architecture). "It is field work we are faced with real issues," Florence Babic, the vice president of the Association of Heritage Architects points out.

Following the same idea courses on historic buildings and areas were implemented in Syria 2003 at the start of the new academic year, in Tunis a course concerning the Maghreb (Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco) has been taking place since 1994 for Tunisian, Moroccan and Algerian architects. A partnership with the National Institute for Monuments and Culture in Sofia (Bulgaria) has been working since 2002 and other projects are in preparation.

Exchanges are a permanent feature in the history of culture and architecture. Benjamin Mouton chief architect and inspector general of ancient monuments went to Romania in 1994 on an official mission for the Minister for Arts and Culture to work on an experimental project bringing together French and Romanian contractors on a seventeenth century tower of the church of Apostolache.

"They worked out the whole history of the restoration including archaeological research then they implemented both traditional techniques and the latest ones with earthquake-proof reinforcements thanks to a metal framework bored into the stonework."

At present there are missions in Lithuania, India and Angkor where young Cambodian architects are trained and supervised for the preservation of the Khmer artistic heritage. "It consists in passing on expertise. The more experience the architects have the more efficient they are," Benjamin Mouton observes.

Nevertheless, their greatest quality is their passion for architecture and historic buildings. Considering the increasing interest for the preservation of ancient buildings, town areas and landscapes, building and rehabilitation inside a town will be one of the great issues of the twenty-first century.

Annik Bianchini, Web site www.archi.fr/ap - Acutalite en France

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Good manners in architecture

What a title! Some of you might think 'Cool it Man! We are not living in the Victorian ages!' This is Now. The brink of the New Millennium! Architects are another breed. They know it all. The people for the Future! With architecture for the Future! Wow! What a kick-off! What a responsibility...

The Egyptian Pharaohs were futuristic, looking as far as the stars on their death-bed entombed in the inner chambers of the pyramid, waiting to be re-born. The monumental geometric forms of the pyramids had a grand landscape, a platform for a strong statement in Architecture. It has even been suggested that alien influences have been at work here and elsewhere.

There have been many such landmark architectural statements throughout time admired and visited. Ruvanweliseya, the Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House, Petronas towers, the list is long. But, not every structure and architectural masterpiece was a landmark, many excellent works gave deference to these, standing alongside with another story to tell.

Some sharing the limelight. Others in awe, still others wonderful in its own right without competing with greatness by its side. Good Manners. I. M. Pei's glass pyramid at the Louvre comes to mind as well as his Miho Art Museum, listed as the 'Best Architecture' in Asia by Asiaweek magazine. The well-balanced and proportioned signal station cabins of the Indian and Ceylon as (Sri Lanka was known previously) Railways were excellent works of architecture without fuss and fanfare.

Good Architecture is a resultant of skill, courage and humility among several other attributes.

At a more general level one can see ordinary (as in unimaginative, mundane, drab) buildings painted in shocking pink so as to make a 'statement'. "I am here" it shouts, "look at me!" the purpose of attracting attention is defeatist. Beyond the paint one can see the ordinariness, perhaps reflecting what lies within.

Such buildings may well blend into its context if not highlighted in such a way. Mind you, not all buildings using strong colours are this, provided the architecture in other respects, context, form, shaping and judicious use of colour among other elements are met. Once again, Good Manners in recognising the need and displaying a skill well learned, in a controlled manner.

Indeed, Good Manners in architectural design stems from responsible conceptualisation, to skilled handling of elements (colour, shaping, forms, texture), meeting functional needs and setting it responsibly in its physical and social context.

Acknowledgement of the surroundings and recognition of the architectural values contributed is a good starting point for unselfish architecture. Respect for the context is as important.

It may be easy to condemn a run-down environment, but before judgement is passed, a study as to the factors that brought it to its degraded state should be done before assessment. Understanding! Having an open mind unclouded by righteous indignation.

Good Manners! This course of action may well result in designs that would accommodate changes and not result in repetition of an unfavourable situation.

Knowledge of the wide range of materials and techniques available to architects is imperative to good design. An approach where fundamentals are learned allows for more innovative work rather than the imitative. However there are always lessons to be learnt from peers as well, and emulation, particularly in the repetition of a good solution to a problem is logical in design. Separation of roof, avoiding messy junctions and valleys, avoiding ugly down-pipes by various means have been - be humble enough to admit when it is borrowed! Good Manners.

The lessons which may be learnt from the above may be summarised as:

- Know your fundamentals thoroughly: excellence in the knowledge of structures, materials, building technology, climatology and climate control, safety and infra-structural requirements, anthropometrics and ergonomic design to name a few aspects.

- Apply these to a problem in a systematic and a logical manner to cater to the needs of the programme (design process).

(To be continued)

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End of an era and architects contribution to national development

Architect Dr. L. S. R. Perera who was the editor of the SLIA Publication Architect in 1999, writing the Editorial in Vol. 102 of the publication referring to the beginning of the new millennium says:

"We consider that the end of an era is a time to appreciate to look at the Architects' contributions to national development critically as well as appreciatively", and he goes on "end of an era is an appropriate time to look at past experience in order to forge ahead to the new era with a new vision and a mission."

We reproduce the editorial in full here as it touches on so many areas which merits public as well as policy makers and professionals attention.

The theme of this journal issue is "Architect's Contribution to National Development". In a country where politicians, bureaucrats, and technocrats take major decision on development, the relevance of architects who are considered as artists may be unrecognised. Some critics of architects view that architects belong to an elite profession, which caters only the elite in the society. In a country where the majority lives and works in rural areas, architecture is considered as an urban-based profession dealing with mostly urban issues. All these are misunderstandings that have to be corrected in the time to come.

From our own perspective, there is no doubt that architects have contributed immensely to the development of Sri Lanka in the past. They have contributed in almost all sectors of development whether it is Education, Health, Agriculture, Industry, Housing, Tourism, Transport or Infrastructure.

The dichotomies of urban and rural, or rich and poor have had no bearing on their contribution to national development. In fact it is the works of architects, which physically manifest the status of development most prominently in the built-environment. Their works reflect not only the status of development but also the space and time (era).

We consider that the end of an era is an appropriate time to look at the architects' contributions to national development critically as well as appreciatively. Although there is nothing so sacrosanct about the coming millennium, end of an era is an appropriate time to look at past experience in order to forge ahead to the new era with a new vision and a mission.

Therefore, we have compiled this journal issue with the intention of giving our readers some flash backs of memories on what we did as architects in the recent past.

Our focus here is on the contribution of architects to national development in the post colonial period. In fact many architects, local and foreign, senior and junior, known and unknown, have made numerous contributions.

We have attempted to minimise memorising names of specific architects in this journal issue because we believe that the credit should go to every architect who has made a contribution whether it is big or small.

While our theme article deals with a historical sketch of colonial and post-colonial built-environment in Sri Lanka from a critical perspective, one of the feature articles deals with the contribution of a major state sector organisation to the national development.

The other feature articles attempt to show that architects contribution to national development goes beyond designing individual buildings to designing townships in rural regions, and housing neighbourhoods for the poorest of the poor. Special tribute has been paid to an architect - educationist who has contributed to the development of education, particularly architectural education of Sri Lanka. Even the student's page is on the theme of development dealing with transportation and urban design.

In our attempt to cover a wide spectrum of projects and events we may have missed few important buildings, but that was not intentionally done by the authors or the editorial board.

Our main intention was to cover at least the major sectors of development and to demonstrate to our readers (particularly non-architect readers) how architects in the public sector and also private sector have contributed to national development in the past.

This is also an attempt to educate the public on the architect's role in national development.

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