Allure of Architecture

This week reminiscences features President of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects, Ranjan Nadesapillai, one of the foremost authorities in the field of Architecture. With Nadesapillai at its helm, the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects will propel Sri Lankan society into a better architecturally designed environment in the not too distant future.

“I was born in Colombo to parents who were actually a combination from the North and the South. In the early 50s that would have been a major issue. I was entirely educated in Colombo at St. Benedicts College, starting from lower Kindergarten to the A/levels. During my school career I was involved not only in my studies but also in sports. My main area was hockey, captaining all three school teams: The Colombo School team, Sri Lanka Junior and Sri Lanka school teams. Subsequently I joined the Colombo Hockey Association. During my school career I used to carry a prize every year at every prize giving. I have also won my school colours for hockey, winning the award for the best hockey player in one year. I also became the Head Prefect of the school, involving myself in all aspects a schoolboy should have, rather than being attached to books only,” said Nadesapillai.

He proudly declares that he didn’t go to any tuition class in an era when tuition classes were becoming a fashion, and was selected to the University of Moratuwa after A/levels. There he did his B.Sc and his M.Sc in Architecture. After that he joined the membership of the SLIA and qualified himself as a Chartered Architect in 1986.

Great experience

“I graduated in 1979, and joined a firm of architects. The greatest opportunity I got at that time was to work on the biggest hotel project at that time - the current Cinnamon Lake. I had the opportunity to work under engineer Navin Gunaratne and Architect Ulrik Plesner. They were the key people under whom I worked on the project. That was a great experience as I was a junior architect on a project of that nature. I was also one of the junior architects involved in the building of Trans Asia as well. After my Masters Degree, I worked for the Urban Development Authority where I had the opportunity of becoming a member of the Cabinet tender board. There I was involved in another major project - the General Hospital stage one.

Asked why he chose Architecture as his vocation, Nadesapillai replied that during his school days they had less to select. “After A/levels if our marks were acceptable then we were required to select an area and architecture happened to be one of the choices. I was keen in the designing and construction of buildings and the overall three dimensional form being created.”

“We live in an era where people are talking about green buildings and sustainability. If we study our history, these topics have been observed by our predecessors long years before the outside world started talking about them. So, it is our people who know what should be done. If that opportunity is created, there will be more scope for our architects. As Secretary of SLIA, I feel I have contributed my share to the profession.

“Under my leadership we have created certain programmes and had negotiations with the government. Basically our intention is to create opportunities for a new generation of architects, which we are still working on. To a great extent negotiations with the government have been successful, but there is still more to be done. This is for the betterment of the members and the society in the future,” explained Nadesapillai

Client’s aspirations

“In Colombo the skyline has changed from lower scale of buildings to buildings of greater height. People are now thinking more about sustainability. “An Architect is a person who is required to understand the socio-economic, cultural, psychological and various other social needs of a client. The Architect also has to understand the client’s spatial needs and make that into a three dimensional form which is acceptable to him and meet all the client’s aspirations, and which is presentable to society.”

The next big question that follows is what does it take to be an Architect? “If you are going to do Architecture there is no point in your having done all your subjects perfectly well in school, if you can’t think three dimensionally. Some of us don’t have that ability at all. Not every human being has that ability. If you don’t have the ability to think three dimensionally, it will be absolutely difficult and not worth doing architecture,” said Nadesapillai.

“In the 1970s the field of Architecture was not well known to the Sri Lankan society. “It was really with the opening of the economy in 1977 that the architectural industry started growing. In the early 70s there would have been about maximum 10 to 12 architectural firms. The opportunities were given for the local industry to develop in the 70s by way of large housing projects.

“These were mainly being given to the few companies that were there, who did not have any experience in handling so many large projects at that time. With the boom in the 1970s and the opportunities given for practices to grow, architectural practices became better known in Sri Lanka. The few practices that were there managed to expand further and build their capacities. There is basically no need for outsiders to come and work here.

Construction industry

“So the industry grew and our graduates mainly till about the mid 90s remained in Sri Lanka and served the country. Very few migrated or went in search of jobs outside. Currently the situation has changed. A lot of our members/ professionals in the construction industry have moved out of the country and although the government has spent on their education and development, I don’t see the country getting a direct return for what the government has invested. The money is sent here doing a job outside. But it is far less than if we develop ourselves. Then the industry is developed and capacities are built up.

“Then the living standards and social standards of the professionals here would grow immensely. And that will help to create and bring in more foreign exchange than being employed out of the country and bringing in foreign exchange . So this is a priority we should look into at this moment in time when the country is stepping into a capital development process. The development process taking place in the country should create more opportunities for the development of the local construction industry.”

SLIA (Sri Lanka Institute of Architects) has a membership over 1,000. The City School of Architecture is 25 years old and Nadesapillai counts many successes in his life. “Whatever we have been involved in, we have done it with great dedication.”