I stayed in a Bawa architectural building.

Mar 20, 2019

It might be an exaggeration to say it's for life, but

This was one of the things on my Wish List for the past few years.

◻︎ Stay in a Bawa-designed building

I've experienced this.

To Sri Lanka, in the southeast of India,

10 hours by plane (surprisingly long even with a direct flight).

2 and a half hours by train from the capital,

And then, 3 hours by car from there.

I came all this way for this, to experience this place.

Heritance Kandalama.

Ta-da!

Images : https://www.heritancehotels.com ©️Heritance Kandalama

It's commonly known as "the hotel swallowed by the forest."

It was built 25 years ago,

And, needless to say, it was designed by

the master of resort architecture, Geoffrey Bawa.

Bawa is famous for creating the world's first infinity pool,

And his greatest characteristic is the "integration" of nature (outside) and architecture (inside).

And this hotel is said to be the ultimate expression of that style! Right?! (laughs)

Outside the window, it looks like this.

Annoying SNS feet (C) Me

There are no artificial structures outside the window.

As far as the eye can see, there's a lake, trees, and wild monkeys.

Step outside the room, and

It feels more like a "forest path" than a hotel corridor,

You can't tell from the pictures, but the smell is amazing.

A deeply concentrated, healing forest scent.

Beautiful legs (C) My friend who came with me.

As you can probably tell by now,

I'm talking about Bawa even though I have no "knowledge" or "worship" of architecture! (laughs)

And I'm not giving up; I'll continue to write about what I felt as an amateur, but

Normally, if you were to build a resort hotel in such a location,

You'd probably want to emphasize the beautiful scenery,

With a grand ceiling,

A grand entrance,

And grand windows, like, "Look at this!"

That's what ordinary people would do.

However, the ceilings here are surprisingly low,

There's no resort-like decoration whatsoever,

Even the reception area is rather plain.

This is my imagination (and I write it as if it's the correct answer), but

I think what Bawa was most particular about

was not the beauty of the building itself,

but rather the viewpoint of the people inside,

the "framing" of the view.

Because, no matter where you walk in the hotel,

From the windows, from under the roofs,

The views that are framed are so magnificent,

Your eyes are drawn to the outside even if you don't consciously try.

This feeling is truly strange...

Even an ordinary person like me can strongly feel Bawa's genius,

So I really want you to experience it. You absolutely can't convey it with photos.

Also, this.

The design leaves rocks and trees from outside inside the building.

How did they build walls around the rocks?

And won't this tree grow? Things like that,

Even to an amateur, there are many traces that probably completely ignored architectural common sense.

In reality, 25 years ago,

I imagine the people on site must have had a terrible time.

"Oh no, Bawa's come up with another strange idea!"

"Oh my goodness, give me a break!"

I bet they said that.

Definitely (laughs).

Still, the fact that he could realize his visions with extraordinary passion and drive

is probably why he's considered a genius.

image : https://www.buddhatravel.co.uk/Geoffrey-Bawa-Architect Bawa was born into the upper class in Sri Lanka, but he actually started his career as an architect at the age of 38. From then until his death at 84, he energetically created many works.