Kadju House creator Pradeep wins Geoffrey Bawa Award for Excellence in Architecture

Thursday, 24 July 2014 00:34 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

2013/14 Geoffrey Bawa Award winner Pradeep Kodikara recieves his award from Geoffrey Bawa Trust Chairperson Sunethra Bandaranaike last night at the awards ceremony held at Par Street Mews

- Pic by Upul Abyasekara

Pradeep Kodikara, the creative mind behind Kadju House in Tangalle, won the third cycle of the Geoffrey Bawa Award for Excellence in Architecture last night. The winner received the iconic ‘obelisk’ award, shaped after Bawa’s own design features found in the gardens of the famous Lunuganga, and a monetary award of Rs. 1 million. Yudish L. Ganesan was the runner-up for his re-design of the Royal Bar and Hotel in Kandy with commendations made for Chamila Alwis Weerasinghe’s design of his own home in Mattegoda and Ranjan Aluwihare’s design of Guava House in Mawanella, Kegalle. The event held once every three years and modelled on the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, of which Bawa himself was a recipient in 2001, was organised to coincide with the renowned architect’s 95th birth anniversary yesterday. The contributions of Professor Ronald Lewcock and Professor Senaka Bandaranayake were also honoured at the event with prestigious lifetime achievement awards, awarded by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust. Apart from their notable contributions to the field of art and architecture, Professor Lewcock has been a commentator on the work of Geoffrey Bawa in architecture journals and authored numerous volumes on architecture that have been published by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust, and Professor Bandaranayake gave the inaugural Geoffrey Bawa memorial speech in 2003 and has been a previous trustee of the Geoffrey Bawa Trust. Also present at the event was renowned Hollywood and Bollywood Director Mira Nair who spoke of how Bawa’s designs have inspired her own creative process. “He let functionality drive his creative process” Nair said. “His thinking became a cornerstone of how I think of my films.” The winners were chosen from a short list of nine contenders announced in February. They varied from designs of houses, hotels, a bank, the entry point to an expressway, a temple and a recreation centre and were selected out of 53 entries received. Apart from the winners, this distinguished group of architects also includes Chinthaka C. Wickramage, Sudesh Nanayakkara, Janaka Wijesundara, Palinda Kannangara.and Suranjan I. Ranasinghe. An exhibition of their work is being held at the Gallery Café and will be open to the public from 21 to 28 July. The Panel of Judges included Eugenie Mack, Architect Ashok Lall, Professor Chitra Weddikkara and Deshamanya Professor Radhika Coomaraswamy, who personally visited the sites in order to make the relevant assessments of the designs and the manner in which they are incorporated into the surrounding elements.