Opa At Your Service

Vision 2020: The way forward

Following is a paper presented at last year's OPA Annual Sessions:

Between 2000 and today vast strides in technological development has been witnessed in this country especially in communication and electronics. Mobile phones have over stepped the land phone and have penetrated all strata of society; computer literacy stands at 20 percent but is almost 50 percent in the 15-20 year group indicating that nationwide the figure could top 50 percent mark by 2020.

Even in other sectors mechanization has revolutionized what has been standard procedure for centuries; for instance in agriculture the increasing use of machinery for harvesting has made the ancient tradition of communities participating in that activity and thereby has affected the social harmony and coherence as well.

At the global scale more people are now convinced that activities of mankind have brought the world to the brink of grave disaster. It is thus seen that the changes that modernization is bringing in to the society are beneficial and destructive at the same time.

These changes are bound to make fundamental changes in the live of people as individuals, members of a family or part of a community. Individuality and individual aggrandizement is going to overshadow social consciousness of people. In a country where the rule of law is generally lax in application, legislation to counter the adverse effects of such deterioration would have minimal effect.

On the other hand, the employment pattern is bound to change too; agriculture will employ a lesser proportion of the population and services and IT sectors will increase their share in the job market. With new developments in office technologies and equipment surfacing almost every other month, the office environments will need to be extremely flexible to accommodate drastic changes every other year.

Corporate competitiveness will also intensify and event the envelopes of buildings that project the corporate identities may need to be revamped regularly. In short, the way we conceptualize office and employment in the city will need a sweeping modification if we are to respond to the changing needs effectively.

The way the urban dweller is living is also changing; the apartment is no longer the curiosity it used to be in the 70's. Colombo's skyline is dotted with high-rise apartment blocks that promote an isolated life style. This type of building that recently was almost exclusively reserved for the high-income groups is now being applied for middle and low-income housing so that by 2020 a significant proportion of urban population will be living in high-rise apartments.

On top of it all, there are the global crises that also threaten us such as global warming and many of its consequences such as sea level rise; we are also increasingly contribute to contributory factors such as use of fossil fuels for energy and excess of resources for construction work.

Sustainability of designs and their degree of "greenness" are going to be yardsticks of measuring the creativity of architects. The artist in the architect will have his feet firmly planted on the ground to respond effectively to this challenge.

In this scenario the architect of the future is faced with three primary issues; to incorporate modern technology in the design and create a built environment that is a harmonious mixture of the old and the new; to compensate for the increasing isolation of the human being brought about by new technology by enhancing the spatial quality of public space that would foster greater social interaction; and to ensure that their designs are "green" and they are derived from the need for global sustainability.

The wave of demand for modernization of offices and residences is bound to have fatal repercussions on the heritage buildings and precincts in the city.

The old buildings of Colombo Fort that has been declared as a conservation area somehow are receding into the background. It will be the architect's duty to ensure that heritage buildings receive their due respect in the built fabric of the city.

The hustle for prominence from the corporate sector should not result in architectural chaos; the old cities such as Colombo, Kandy, Matara, Anurahdapura etc. should retain something of its dignity. The architects may need to develop a unified aesthetic ethic that would result in a harmonious urban environment encompassing all the value that we cherish. In fact, this task can profitably be combined with the necessity to retain environment-friendly quality of urban space.

At the same time the buildings of tomorrow may need to accommodate technologies not yet invented; this necessitates the architect to be able to anticipate technological development.

His abilities to come to grips with the philosophies of modern technology will be a vital characteristic for his survival in 2020. The architect will have to make his buildings sustainable and adaptable so that new technology would not necessarily mean use of more resources. It is also imperative that a new vision of apartment buildings be formulated that would suit the individual characteristics of Sri Lankans; the isolation enforced by apartment living, the loss of identity, the rushed schedules of individuals be they students or adults, neglect of old people and disregard to their infirmities are issues that are especially difficult to tackle.

However architects may need to join forces with other professionals in planning and social sciences to work out solutions. The importance of public spaces cannot be exaggerated in this regard; these, whether indoor or outdoor, will be the areas that could counter most of the ill-effects of modernization.

Public spaces that attract people at all times of the day and provide for relaxation and healthy social interaction will be the soothing balm that could heal the urban main. In this way we could bring back the communal coherence and harmony that was fostered in the various agricultural practices in the days gone by; with that will come the coexistence of nature and man thus reducing our share to global warming.

Development and material prosperity are accompanied by environmental degradation, personal neuroses and sense of social dejection and unless an environmentally and socially-sensitive approach is adopted, the social ills some developed countries are infested with today will be our lot tomorrow.

In this rapidly changing scenario, the task of architectural education and training and the Duty of the profession of Architecture would be to produce architects who would possess skills and attitudes to respond to these challenges creatively and come up with solutions that will have a greater impact on human lives and also the substance of the planet.; They will be "architects at level zero."

Sri Lanka Institute of Architects

Questions and Answers

Ownership title registration

Question: I am a regular reader of your column. I shall be very much grateful if you will kindly advise on the following matter.

My house and premises were verbally gifted to my grandfather, by a British Landlord, as gratuity for over 90 years ago. Now, we are fifth generation occupying this house.

I have all necessary documents (NIC address, Registration of Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates, in the family, and Electoral Register, Water bills, Electricity bills and also Assessment Tax bills, copy of District Court Land Case documents etc)

Can I apply for Grant of Ownership under Voluntary Title Registration with the Land and Land Development Ministry? Is it necessary to produce the copy of Deed of Land along with the relevant application. Please kindly enlighten me on this matter through the Daily News OPA at your earliest convenience.

S Loganathan - Wattegama

Answer: Your family has occupied the said house and premises for over 90 years as stated by you. Also we note that you are in occupation as the fifth generation.

The only few questions to address is any other members of your family such as your uncles, aunts brothers or sisters making the same claim or any outsider making a claim as his or her ancestral property. If you don't envisage any such hurdle, you may engage a Notary Public or an attorney-at-law and prepare a "Deed of Declaration" under prescriptive right and register it with the Land Registration Department.

We are not clear on what you mean by District Court Land case document.

Also you have referred to producing a copy of the Deed of land by which we presume you are referring to the original deed of the land with the British landlord as the owner.

Your attorney or Notary Public should examine these documents and advice you accordingly.

Non-discharge of matured Life Policy

Question: I shall be much thankful if your could find a solution to the above and publish in the Daily News, the original life policy was misplaced and was able to trace during the year 2009 and from then onwards we have been writing to the Life Manager and subsequently to the AGM several letters in 2010.

But the discharge forms were not sent for the past six months. Please advise me as to how I can get my claim settled without further delay. My Life Insurance Policy is with the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd PLC and the Life Policy No. is 404 799 for the period 08-12-1976 to 08-12-2004 the proposal No. is 619008 for Rs 30,000. The agent code is 303116.

P Nallathamby-Kandy

Answer: The misplacement of your original Life Insurance Policy could be the cause for delay in discharging of this Policy. Further due to computerization, old policies have not been fed into the computer.

We spoke to an officer in the Life Policy settlement section at the Insurance Corporation of Sri Lanka. He has contacted the Kandy Branch and requested for the file and all details. He undertook to attend to the discharge of your policy soon. You must keep the original policy of yours safely in order to prove that you have already not been paid and to surrender at the time of payment.

We will follow up your case vide the Insurance Corporation but suggest that you too follow up on telephone No. 011-2357200 and contact Nishanka. Subsequently we also contacted the Kandy branch. They requested that you call over at the Kandy Branch of the Insurance Corporation along with the original Life Policy No. 404799. The Kandy Branch, Tel. No is 081-2234954. If you do not succeed in getting your refund, please revert.

Undivided share of paddy field

Question: Thank you very much for the prompt reply, published in the Daily News, October 14, 2010. For the last 10-15 years, I have been trying to sell this but obstacles stood on the way.

Co-owner-Moratuwa

Answer: We are glad to note that you are a regular reader of the Daily News and especially the "OPA At Your Service Page". Our efforts are to contribute at least in a small way towards a well-informed society and also assist people in need.

This page has become an easy way to solve many a problem for people from all walks of life.

We are happy to have served you and trust our advice was useful to you. Quite a number of our readers communicate to us the final outcome of solving their problems.

However, we are sorry that sometimes it takes weeks to publish the answer to the question due to the queuing up of several questions and sometimes the time taken for us to obtain the response from Organisations that can solve the problem.

Publishing of story books

Question: I would be much obliged if you would kindly let me know whether a person who is talented in writing creative stories can independently print short story books and sell in the market in Sri Lanka?

Or is there any legal requirement to be fulfilled or are there any formalities for a new writer to follow to enter into the book market in Sri Lanka. Kindly enlighten me on this.

Puvaneswary Perumal

- Wattala

Answer: Yes, you are obliged to fill in a form and obtain an "International Standard Book number (ISBN No.)" issued by the "National Library Service Board." This form once completed and submitted will serve as a form of registration. You have to pay Rs 50 per book or title, immaterial of the number of copies to be published.

This ISBN No has to be printed in the copies. Also it is mandatory to hand over one copy of the book to the National Library Service Board, Situated at No. 40, Independence Avenue, Colombo 7, their Tel. No 011-2698847 for any further details.