Geoffrey Bawa’s Garden

I had a guided tour of this amazing place while in Sri Lanka- truly the holy grail of Bawa projects. It is smaller than I had expected, but more lovely. It is not really a garden – it’s as if he has set up the experience of all the great architectural set-pieces he had visited in the world, from Italian palazzos to French Chateaux. He controlled the views so well, he even bought the island opposite the lake to stop the view changing. In this studio he and his assistants would work 18 hour stretches, weekend after weekend, including on such projects as the Parliament Buildings.