Living Well: Lessons from Geoffrey Bawa

No.105 — Read old posts on Tinyfarmlab.com
Reading Time 5 minutes

Recently, on our trip to Sri Lanka, we had the privilege of stepping inside Geoffrey Bawa’s worlds — his home in Colombo, his Gallery Café, and his beloved estate, Lunuganga. The last one was through a VR exhibition called Garden as a cloud.

Walking through his residence left us with more than pretty images.

We came away believing more firmly that,
to design beautiful,
livable spaces for others,
an architect must first live well himself.

Apart from the light falling on the white walls,
what amazed us was his collection:
art,
antiques,
objects from different parts of the world.

His home and Lunuganga are full of these,
old furniture,
ceramics,
garden follies,
statuary,
artefacts,
chairs from other designers.

These are not mere decorations;
they are woven into the fabric of the space,
creating memories,
texture,
intimacy.

Who was Bawa

Geoffrey Manning Bawa was born in 1919 in Colombo,
to a family of mixed heritage:
his father of Muslim and English ancestries,
his mother Dutch-Burgher
with German, Scottish and Sinhalese roots.

Though he first trained in law,
and practised it,
he found himself drawn towards beauty,
landscape,
art,
travel.

After his mother’s death,
he travelled for two years,
before formally studying architecture in London.

He qualified as an architect quite late,
around age 38.
Proof that it’s never too late to start again.
That detours enrich the path.

Lunuganga: his autobiography in landscape

He bought a derelict cinnamon and rubber estate on the banks of a river.
For decades, he shaped it.
Pathways, garden rooms, courtyards, follies.
A place where inside and outside blurred.

It became his laboratory.
A place to test light, shade, water, proportion.
A place to host friends, artists, writers.
His home was not static.
It was alive, evolving with him.

Decolonising Architecture

His European tours shaped him,
but he didn’t copy.

He believed in drawing from Sri Lanka itself.
Courtyards,
shaded verandas,
open plans,
local stone,
timber,
tile.

This was his “Tropical Modernism.”
Modern, yet rooted.
Global, yet local.

His projects stretched from small homes to grand hotels.
From the Gallery Café to Sri Lanka’s Parliament.
Different scales, same sensitivity.

Gardens as living rooms

In his work, the garden was not a backdrop.
It was a room.
Water bodies reflected sky.
Trees framed courtyards.
Fragrance, sound, texture,
all senses engaged.

He built landscapes that slowed you down.
Made you notice light,
air,
and silence.

What we carried back

In the Gallery Café,
light fell softly into courtyards.

In his home,
antiques whispered stories.

At Lunuganga,
water, trees, and stone
blended effortlessly.

Geoffrey Bawa showed that
good architecture is not a style.
It is a way of living.
A way of noticing.
A way of caring.


Love,
Raghav and Ansh

P.S.: If you are on LinkedIn, let’s connect. You can read our latest post here.


What you can watch - The Legacy of Geoffrey Bawa

What you can listen to - She Builds Podcast - Minnette De Silva

While we celebrate Geoffrey Bawa’s work, we should not forget the work of marvelous Minnette de Silva

What You Can Read - Bawa: The Sri Lanka Gardens

If you found value in this newsletter, please consider sharing it with a friend.

Kindly forward them this link.

You can read old posts here.

Tiny Farm Friends Newsletter.
Every Sunday, we share tiny valuable lessons to help you transition to the countryside and build naturally.