Business Feature

Fifty years of architectural education

Ruwanthi Abeyakoon

Architecture students at a training programme The Sri Lanka Institute of Architects building at Wijerama Mawatha

Architectural education in Sri Lanka spans for 50 long years. This year Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA) celebrates their golden jubilee on September 17. The history behind architectural education in Sri Lanka cannot be over looked as it has bestowed several eminent personalities to the society.

In 1961, the first professional level course in Architecture was started at the Institute of Practical Technology. Until then there was only a technical level course in Architecture conducted by the Government Technical College.

Thus those interested in obtaining professional qualifications in Architecture were compelled to travel to the UK or Australia.

The Ceylon Institute of Architects (Predecessor of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects) made significant contributions individually as well as a collectively to raise the Standards of Architectural Education to its present status.

Presently tertiary level courses are conducted at the University of Moratuwa and also the Colombo School of Architecture.

The Board of Architectural Education (BAE) of the SLIA functions as a body to educate young architects to acquire post-tertiary level professional qualification.

The first few of the local private sector architectural practices were established in the 1920s. One such practice was Adam & Small who designed several buildings in the City of Colombo.

They designed the first section of the Lake House Building in early 1926. They were also the Architects for the Times of Ceylon Building constructed in the Colombo Fort in 1936.

Architect Edward who was practicing in Madras established an Architectural office in Colombo to design and supervise the Town Hall Building and Architect H.H. Reid who was attached to the PWD joined Edward in his practice.

The Public Works Department (PWD) of the Government of Ceylon, recruited many architects in the 1920s to work on the new University Project at Peradeniya. By 1935 several Ceylonese Architects had returned to Ceylon after qualifying in England. Among them were H.J. Billimoria, Fritz de Silva, Oliver Weerasinghe, and Herbert Gonsal.

During 1938 -1940, H. J. Billimoria joined the Government service as the first Town Planner of the nation. By the late 1940s T. N. Wynne-Jones, H. J. Billimoria and Justin Samarasekera were working for the P.W.D., Oliver Weerasinghe and Neville Gunaratne for the Town Planning Department, Wilson Peiris for the Colombo Municipality and K. Jayatissa for the Department of Archaeology.

As there was no separate institute or association to represent Architects, Architects Wynne-Jones, H. J. Billimoria and Justin Samarasekera joined the Engineering Association. Wynne-Jones was an Architect cum Structural Engineer from Wales.

He was also at one time the President of the Engineering Association of Ceylon while H. J. Billimoria was the Secretary until his death in 1956. The first attempt to form an Institute of Architects was made in 1948 with Herbert Gonsal as the prime mover. Due to disagreement on some issues, the matter was not pursued at that time.

Further attempts were made in 1951 and 1954 by Wynne-Jones with Herbert Gonsal as the chief proponent. A number of meetings were held to work out a constitution and in 1956 the Ceylon Institute of Architects (CIA) was established by this small group of overseas qualified Architects, who also had membership of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

The Inaugural meeting was held on September 11, 1957 at the Tea Propaganda Board, Price Building, Prince Street, Fort, Colombo.

As Oliver Weerasinghe was due to take up an assignment in the United Nations in a few months, Wynne-Jones requested Oliver Weerasinghe to take the Chair and become the first President of the CIA.

Having adopted a constitution, which followed that of the British Institute, the intention of the CIA was to obtain the status of an allied society of the RIBA. They achieved this in 1960, by which time the membership of The Ceylon Institute of Architects had risen to 30.

The CIA received the encouragement of the then President of the RIBA, Sir Basil Spence and the considerable assistance of C. D. Spragg the then Secretary of the RIBA. In recognition of this assistance Spragg, was later elected by the CIA as its first Honorary Fellow.

Due to the hard work of these founder members of the Institute, a School of Architecture attached to the Institute of Practical Technology, Katubedda was established in 1961.

In 1976, through a private member’s motion by the then Minister of Housing and Construction, Pieter Keuneman, the Ceylon Institute of Architects was incorporated as the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA) by an Act of Parliament, called Sri Lanka Institute of Architects Law No.1 of 1976.

After Incorporation, the Institute was called upon to perform important public duties and to take responsibility for the education and examination of architects for the purpose of providing a professional qualification.

In order to improve the services offered to the members and public, the Institute established a permanent office at the premises of the SLAAS Building in April 1978.

Since then, the Institute has adopted Standing Orders, and a Code of Conduct, and has established a Board of Architectural Education to serve its members, the General Public and the construction industry of Sri Lanka.

A long overdue amendment to the SLIA Law was presented to Parliament in 1996 by the then Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Public Utilities, Nimal Siripala De Silva.

The Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (Amendment) Law No. 14 of 1996 vested power in the Institute to form an “Architects Registration Board”.

With the formation of this Board in February 1997 all those who practice the profession of architecture in Sri Lanka are required to register under three categories namely “Chartered Architects”, “Architects”, and “Architectural Licentiates’.

One of the main objectives of the SLIA is to promote and advance the study, practice and application of, and research in architecture and kindred subjects, and the arts and sciences connected, therewith.

The Department of Architecture of the University of Moratuwa offers both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Architecture. The first degree course, which is recognized by the SLIA and RIBA for exemption from Part I of their Professional Examination is of three years full time duration and leads to the BSc (Built Environment) degree.

This course is designed to provide a good foundation for advanced studies and leads to several career prospects that relate to the built environment, such as Architecture, Planning, Project Management, Landscape Design and Architectural Conservation.

The Specialisation in the professional career structure arises out of the postgraduate course in Architecture, which is of two years full time duration and leads to the MSc (Architecture) Degree.

This degree is recognised by the SLIA and RIBA for exemption from Part II of their Professional Examination.

By successfully completing this course a degree holder can prepare to acquire full professional qualifications in Architecture from the SLIA by passing Part III of its Professional Examination, the above degree holders can eventually obtain the Overseas Membership of the RIBA.

This is a part - time lecture course to train students for Part I and II of the Professional Practice Examinations of the SLIA.

The students are expected to work as apprentices in architectural establishments registered as trainer establishments during their course of study. Thereafter they have to work for one more year on a full time basis before they sit Part III of the SLIA Professional Examination.

Over the years the course has become an avenue for persons who are keen on studying architecture but are unable to obtain university admission because of high competitiveness and limited number of places available.

The course is in its 18th year and eight batches of students have so far obtained professional qualifications since inception.

In 1999 the SLIA decided to establish a School of Architecture to run the course. The school was named the Colombo School of Architecture (CSA), and academic studies continue as a part time course with the same apprenticeship -based educational structure under this new organization.

The school prepares students for the Professional Practice Examinations conducted by the SLIA. The Lecture Course for Part III of the SLIA Professional Examination is conducted directly by the BAE of the SLIA.

At present architectural education has reached heights and the students are employed all over the world.

The practice of architecture in the Asian Region is entering a new era where dynamism in the approach to design with high-tech material and technology is envisaged for the future.

The students are trained to be conscious of the fragile natural environment, the socio-economic conditions related to the country and the context of the built environment within which they are required to design.

Sustainability of the environment is a criteria now built into the design process, which requires the search for durability of architectural systems, minimising the use of resources at construction and manufacture of material, conservation of energy and designing for flexibility.

The Department will align its teaching methods to encompass these future needs and train the students to design for a sustainable environment within a context appropriate to our country.

(Special thanks to Prof. Chitra Weddikkara, Dean, Faculty of Architecture and Prof. Lal Balasuriya, Chartered Architect Urban Designer and Professor of Architecture.)

Using astrology to manage your business - Part 2

Dhammika Vitharanage

Contd. from last week

Let us move on to see which Rashi (Houses) Lords would influence an individual’s employment profile/prospects and his/her entrepreneurial success/failures and to ascertain in which areas/directions his/her employment or entrepreneurial success lies.

In ancient times, at the birth of a child, parents used to take this new born child to the Rashi (if a Rashi existed) in order to get his/her horoscope reading and the parents would go to an astrologer with the time of birth to obtain a horoscope reading in days where a Rashi was not present.

The Rashi or learned astrologer would then analyse the planetary pattern and advice the parents about various facets of life like education, profession, marriage, wealth, health etc., and on these lines parents/elders would guide the child to attain his/her birth inherent profession/vocation, may it be the case of ‘being employed by another’ type of person or ‘starting one’s own business type of person.

The astrologer further sub-dividing is able to advice on what kind of a specific profession the ‘being employed by another’ should aim at i.e. production, operational, sales, marketing, accounting, human resources, management, legal etc. and for those who ‘start a business of their own’ the learned astrologer would provide guidance as to which field they should follow to commence their own business i.e. when the planet Venus is strong, the Entertainment and Hospitality trade is a field in which he/she would be successful in and when planet Saturn is strong the Medical/Healthcare sectors would be the best chosen field for one’s success.

Before proceeding further, it is strongly emphasised that all these are generic statements on business astrology and would difer on an individual/personal basis and strongly emphasise that these theories would apply to all in a consistent manner.

It would differ due to planetary permutations/combinations of each individual and this is when the service of a competent astrologer is needed.

It is a generally known fact that whatever the religion or nationality may be, each individual has a star Sign (Lagnaya) and that sign has a ruler or the in charge or the fatherly planet.

Taking a look at that planet first would assist to gauge the nature and extent of an individual’s success in all aspects of life.

If the sign (Lagna) Lord is well placed and strongly positioned then he/she would be successful in their respective field whether engaged in employment or owning a business i.e. Lagna Lord placed on the 10th house is generally considered as being good although not necessarily being a hard and fast rule as these differ according to planetary permutations/combinations of each individual as mentioned previously.

The power of the Lagna Lord provides the fundamental pillar support for an individual to succeed or fail in his/her profession vocation or in a own business.

Simply the name fatherly planet gives us the whole comprehensive meaning as in ordinary human life.

If a person’s father is educated, wealthy and powerful then the child would enjoy the benefits of his/her father’s accumulations and would have a hassle free life and on the other hand, if a person’s father was an uneducated, poor layman, the child would have to undergo hardships in life.

The same rule applies to the Lagna Lord (fatherly planet) principle.

Although we mentioned a Lagna Lord (fatherly planet), we are yet to explain the theory of signs and their respective fatherly planets. There are only 12 signs and all humans fall within these 12 signs.

Further, there are 7 material (tangible) planets and 2 non-material (intangible) planets but only the 7 material planets can act as lagna Lords.

The other two non-material planets (Rahu and Kethu) do not fall into the category of Lagna Lords.

Seminar on how to conduct business in today’s environment

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry, will conduct a seminar on “How to conduct business in today’s environment” tomorrow at the Longdon Room, Hotel Taj Samudra.

Today’s global economic environment poses many challenges for business to succeed. There are many policy changes, both local and international which affect business.

There is the push for liberalisation and globalisation with the new focus on social responsibility, and the emphasis for green products, rapid development in new technology calling for business innovation, and e-Commerce, among others, all requiring serious consideration in business planning and execution.

One must adopt financial strategies to cope with today’s credit risks management. The seminar discusses some pitfalls and potential land mines in today’s business environment.

The stakes are indeed high. While there are challenges there are also new opportunities for business. The speakers will take up practical approaches to deal with both challenges and opportunities.

The speakers include an academician who keeps up with today’s challenges and a business entrepreneur who also plans to offer joint venture opportunities during his presentation.

They will both interact with participants on the topics to be discussed to give the seminar a practical and innovative approach in facing the challenges and to succeed in today’s business environment.

Leoncio Cubillas, is a consultant and trainer from the University of the Philippines, a renowned state university in the Philippines. He specialises in Entrepreneurship Development and Planning, Production, Marketing, Entrepreneurial Finance, Feasibility Studies, and Technology Assessment, among others.

He has participated in seminars on Entrepreneurship for Planning and Development in Dhaka, Bangladesh; Brunei Darussalam; Peshawar, Pakistan; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is a consultant of the World Bank, Swiss Development Agency for Cooperation and also faculty affiliate of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business.

Gonzalo Catan is not only a successful businessman but also an inventor. He has accumulated a lot of awards. He is a B.S. in Agriculture with major in Entomology and Minors in Chemistry and Plant Pathology.

The seminar will also feature a successful Sri Lankan entrepreneur, Chairman of KIK Group of Companies Lalith Kahatapitiya, who will address participants on “The changing policies at home that can offset business and how local businesses are coping with these policies”.