Portal to Sri Lankan Culture: The Architecture of Geoffrey Bawa, an Illustrated Presentation by Architect Thomas Soper, AIA

Date:     Sunday, June - 19, 2016
Time:    2 p.m.
Location:   Palo Alto Art Center, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto

SACHI in collaboration with Palo Alto Art Center is delighted to present an illuminating discussion on Sri Lankan Architect Geoffrey Bawa by Thomas Soper.

Geoffrey Bawa (1919-2003) is Sri Lanka’s and one of Asia’s most celebrated and influential architects of the 20th century. Bawa received the Aga Khan Special Award for a Lifetime’s Achievement in Architecture in 2001. His life, work, and legacy have had a tremendous impact on emerging architects in the regions of Asia.

Mr. Soper’s objective is to present Geoffrey Bawa’s inspiring vision as a world architect. He will elaborate on some of Bawa’s key projects to demonstrate his mastery of regional splendor, providing insight into Sri Lankan culture via his art form. Mr. Soper traveled to Sri Lanka in 2007, and continues to explore Bawa’s architecture with great fascination.During the recent Sri Lanka trip, Tom led a small museum group to visit some of Architect Geoffrey Bawa’s key projects, which he will focus on in this lecture.

Thomas Soper is a practicing architect working in and from the Bay Area for the past four decades. While the majority of his architectural projects are California and US based, his work has taken him as far away as Bangladesh where he designed a school for the American International School system. Tom is a member of the American Institute of Architects. He has traveled extensively to Asia including Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Korea, Myanmar and Iran.

Suggested Fee: $10, collected at the door.

Image: Kandalma Hotel, Dambulla. Geoffrey Bawa, 1991-4.

Photograph, courtesy, Thomas Soper.