Geoffrey Bawa is Sri Lanka's leading architect. His masterpiece is the Kandalama Hotel.
The Kandalama Hotel faces the irrigation pond with a small mountain in the background.
The linear plan of the building extends for nearly a kilometer along the hills. Its shape built with concrete columns and beams is simple. Nonetheless, it becomes very attractive because of the exquisite layout of the architecture like another landscape, the richness of open spaces, and the vibrant greenery that covers the exterior appearance.
Along a passage, all the functions of the hotel are lined up, and when walking from the pool at the west end to the spa at the east end, a guest experiences another landscape. Occasionally, the passage becomes a bridge or a tunnel that excavates a rock, and at points where it encounters stairs or a function changes, the passage swells to create an open space. It is a luxury that the open spaces like a margin occupy most of the area of the hotel.
When sitting in a chair in an open space and interacting with the vague scenery of the pond, my worldly thoughts disappeared by not being dramatic.
Monks protested against the construction in the natural area, fearing the impact it would have on the ruins of their monastery, and environmentalists criticized about the affection to the pond's water. In response to those, Bawa changed the layout and paid more attention to water and the exterior appearance. The architecture resulted in blending more into nature.
reference
"Geoffrey Bawa the Complete Works" (David Robson, Thames & Hudson, 2002)
Please do not use or upload our photos without permission.
