Design Prize

July 27, 2007 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan trust named after renowned architect Geoffrey Bawa has launched a national award with a million-rupee prize to recognize and reward good examples of contemporary island architecture. . Sri Lanka has a lot of young talent in architecture which should be recognized and encouraged, the Geoffrey Bawa trust says.

The new award has been modeled on the scheme run by the Aga Khan trust for Culture in Geneva.

Designs over the past ten years will be eligible for the award which would be given in mid-2008.

Buildings will be physically examined and the winner will receive a prize of one million rupees.

"The aim of the scheme is both to foster the production of good architecture and to encourage its wider appreciation in the community," Professor David Robson, writer and architect said.

"It also hopes to initiate a debate about architecture in Sri Lanka and to increase awareness of the built environment."

Architectural guru

Geoffrey Bawa, considered one of the best Asian architects of the second half of the 20th century, designed 12 hotels in Sri Lanka of which Bentota beach hotel, the Serendib Bentota, Kandalama in Dambulla and the Lighthouse hotel in