Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemBeyond Mac world and 'umbrella' architecture: an alternative design framework for urban public buildings in Sri Lanka( 2009)The obsession to become modern while maintaining a link to a glorified history is a prevalent practice in most postcolonial nations. Combined with layers of developmental politics, geo-political agendas, ethnic insecurities and globalization, there emerges an increasingly complex picture which is generally absent from developed post-industrial nations. Post-independent Sri Lanka is not immune to this canvas of complexity. As a result, professional input into non-residential building production has been caught up in the ostensibly irreconcilable position of, "how to revive an old, dormant civilization and take part in universal civilization." With the patronage of political and cultural elites of post-independent Sri Lanka, the production process of social space has created a paradoxical architectural paradigm of modernity and tradition. The enthusiasm of transnational tourism for commodified local culture has further crystallized this predicament. The resultant physical landscape has thus created a specific reference system through which architecture is understood, taught, perceived and appreciated. Symbolic and representative politics have marginalized the functional and social inclusiveness of the civic built fabric. Set against this background, this thesis intends to firstly, examine the historical background involved in constructing this dichotomous paradigm and the social costs involved. Secondly, the thesis aims to examine alternative mechanisms by which to expand the existing architectural debate, enabling the production of a more socially inclusive, context-generated civic architecture.