Domus Srilanka Magazine - December 2014

In this issue

Art is a form of meditation, reveals H A Karunaratne as he rambles through his house in Nugegoda, a haven where his creativity is freely exhibited with paintings, sculptures, murals and various other forms of art work that grace and fill up every inch of space. Regarded by many as the ‘father of abstract art’ in Sri Lanka, Karunaratne opted to be an artist on his own volition even as many discouraged him from treading what they deemed as a hard path for a career.

Through his recent projects for three different Chinese sites, Christian Kerez reflects on how a Western architect might adopt a correct attitude to local building traditions.

Situated in a dense residential area in Colombo, a flowering Cassia tree isolated by a dearth of greenery marks an instigating presence in relation to the design of the house. Throughout the premises, the accentuation of colour, structural expression of steel and an intense focus on detail convey defining features and at times departure from convention.

Situated in a highly active and large suburb of Colombo, the building stands as a symbol of revival amidst existing low-rise mixed developments that rendered a landscape devoid of any creative influence. The basis for building’s design posed a duality in capturing the solidity of a financial establishment while moving away from intimidating structures to lend itself to a people-friendly environment.

Elementary geometric volume and purist architectural language allow a new building by two Swiss firms to find a harmonious sense of belonging in the context of traditional thermal baths found in this famous Alpine resort.

We publish this extraordinary work of architecture, designed in 1943 by the Argentinian master for his musician father. The great protagonist of the South American modern movement managed with this building to express spatial, technical and formal quality, making it certainly one of the most significant achievements of its time.