Celebrating handmade products by artisans and small businesses

• The Geoffrey Bawa design store and December design market

Central to Geoffrey Bawa’s practice was his emphasis on local craftsmanship and materials. The late architect once said, “The contribution of the makers, particularly the older carpenters and masons who are passionate about what they do, is equal to or more, in some cases than ours.” 

The Geoffrey Bawa Trust continues to engage with Sri Lankan artisans and makers through its design store, which functions as an extension of the Trust’s mission since 1982: to advance the fields of art, architecture, and ecology. The store began with a collection of merchandise released in conjunction with the 2019 Bawa 100 centennial before expanding to an online presence in 2020 during the pandemic lockdowns.

The Geoffrey Bawa design store offers a selection of thoughtfully-designed products reflecting the architect’s reverence for local craftsmanship and sustainable materials. When developing new products, the curatorial team identifies small and medium-sized enterprises based around the country who make innovative use of materials from the island. The team then works with these makers to create a unique item that draws inspiration from Bawa’s practice—including his collection of objects and his attitude to design—while reflecting high-quality craftsmanship and sustainability.

Most recently, a collection debuted alongside the launch of the third season of “To Lunuganga”, the eighteen-month program celebrating 75 years of the garden. This collection included chequered black and white soap by Mineral Earth Soapery, a sketchbook by Barefoot Ceylon, and t-shirts by Ceilao in addition to new iterations of previously-released items such as a tote bag by ging-home. Each product embodies a quality or facet of Bawa and his work in a particular way. For example, the soap visually resembles the emblematic black and white checkerboard that adorns several of Bawa’s floors and it smells of frangipani, the tree that anchors Lunuganga’s North Terrace. The sketchbook is covered in fabric designed by Barefoot founder Barbara Sansoni for Bawa, which can be seen at Lunuganga, and opens to a small illustration also created especially for him. The t-shirts display a cartouche of Lunuganga drawn by artist Laki Senanayake, and a “To Lunuganga” trilingual typographic print fills the front of the tote bag. 

The design store recently began offering a selection of miniature furniture—beginning with the “Next-Door Café” Chair and the Saddle Chair—fabricated by the Hatch Maker Studio as miniature editions of Bawa’s original chair designs. The release of this product precedes an upcoming exhibition featuring re-editions of furniture designs from the Geoffrey Bawa practice in collaboration with Indian furniture company Phantom Hands.

In addition to its own products, the Geoffrey Bawa Trust supports local craft through an annual holiday design market. The Trust’s third annual December design market will host Sri Lankan small businesses across creative disciplines including textiles, ceramics, and more on 7 December between 10:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the De Saram House, 61/6 Ward Place, Colombo 07.

Upcoming merchandise collections are currently in development, and stores will soon open at Lunuganga and in the Geoffrey Bawa Trust’s new Colombo office on Horton Place. The Geoffrey Bawa Design Store continues to expand its product range and is always seeking new opportunities for collaboration and merchandise development. To view the full collection of products available in the design store or make a purchase, visit the online shop at geoffreybawa.myshopify.com.