Explore Geoffrey Bawa like never before, at a new Vitra Design Museum show

Did you think you knew the work of Geoffrey Bawa? Even if the answer is yes, a visit to the new show at the Vitra Design Museum is certain to offer new insights into the lauded Sri Lankan architect's work to most – as 'Geoffrey Bawa: Architecture for the Senses', now open till the end of February 2027, takes a deep dive into the creative's life and oeuvre. It is a territory that might feel far away to many of the institution's more local Swiss, French and German audience, but, as visitors will discover, it speaks to timeless qualities and an ever-relevant approach to design and architecture that resonates the world around.

Tour the new Geoffrey Bawa show at Vitra Design Museum

Born in 1919, Geoffrey Bawa was one of the most influential architects of the 20th century in his region and beyond, easily joining the ranks of the world's modernist architecture masters as he blended the movement's principles with the rich history and traditions of Sri Lanka, crafting his own version of what modern architecture should be.

Bawa was born to a family of mixed Asian and European heritage, and was a lawyer before training as an architect at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. He graduated in 1957 and set up his studio in his home country, working throughout his career on some 200 projects – some now built and still preserved, some since demolished and several remaining unbuilt.

The architect also designed his own homes – both his urban space in Colombo and a countryside base at the Lunuganga Estate in Bentota, whose sprawling gardens and structures are now run by the Teardrop hotel group – and several of the spaces within, including his private quarters, are now available to book and stay in, adding an extra dimension to what constitutes a visit to Bawa's houses for the architecturally savvy – or simply curious – traveller.

So far, so familiar – as perhaps his own homes are the most well-known Bawa projects and the architecture that most non-specialist audiences, particularly outside Asia, might associate with his portfolio. Yet, the Sri Lankan architect's legacy is so much more than that, and this is precisely what this exhibition has set out to showcase.

Vitra Design Museum director Mateo Kries told us at the opening: 'When you talk to people in Asia, Bawa is extremely well known. No matter whether it's in Japan, in China, or in India, Bawa is like a hero. I had seen the works. Rolf Fehlbaum, our museum founder, had travelled and seen them, and we both thought we should do something on him. Vitra is not producing Bawa furniture. He hasn't built outside of Sri Lanka and India and Southeast Asia.

'We think Bawa is just one architect who shows how the International Style or modernist architecture connected with local traditional, and even colonial influences, and of course Bawa is not the only one to do this; but Bawa is probably one of the most influential examples.

'We wanted this to be an intense, immersive show. It should convey something of that intensity of the places where Bawa built. When you go there, the colours are very intense. Nature is very present because it's [of a kind] that grows extremely fast. It takes over in no time.'

The show is organised in four rooms – the first one starts with the architect's personal homes, a highlight of his portfolio and an ongoing project for him until his death in 2003. He designed both the structures and the gardens. In fact, they illustrate extremely well how much Bawa valued landscape and how he regarded the terrain, the nature and wildlife on each of his sites as an integral part of his project.

The next room takes the visitor into the political and socioeconomic context of Sri Lanka at Bawa's time, showing how he experimented with materials and why, highlighting some of his works – perhaps lesser known than his residential designs, which also include the Ena de Silva house, recently relocated to Lunuganga – that have a more public and social aspect.

Among them is the St Thomas' Preparatory School (the architect here experimented with modernist construction and breeze-block ventilation, which eventually proved tricky in the country's hot and humid climate) and the majestic New Sri Lankan Parliament in Kotte.

Room three zooms into the fascinating blend of art and craft that Bawa brought into his works. Fabrics (such as those his client Ena de Silva produced), paintings, mosaics and more were integrated into the architect's buildings, not simply as ornaments or beautification techniques, but as integral building elements – a fabric that is not added to a ceiling, but indeed was the ceiling; or a mural or relief that formed part of the building's structure from the get-go, rather than being added later.

'He really saw architecture and art as intertwined, so we call this room 'Weaving art into architecture', and the focus is on those creative collaborations and how these work,' says Shayari de Silva of the Geoffrey Bawa Trust, who worked as a co-curator on the show, alongside exhibition curator Johan Deurell and Ikko Yokoyama of M+ (the exhibition is set to travel to M+ in Hong Kong after its time at Vitra). 'So when you see a batik panel above, it is literally a ceiling. It's not art on a ceiling.'

The final room explores the 'total picture' of Bawa's work, zooming out and looking at entire sites through aerials, drawings and the way Sri Lanka's lush nature interacted with and indeed was regularly and respectfully included in the architect's designs. There are lots of bits of information that will inspire and perhaps even surprise - exhibits include the Kandalama hotel, surely one of the world's first even green eco-hotel projects, planted roofs and everything.

The show brings together archive drawings, models, film and newly commissioned photography by Iwan Baan in an exhibition design sensitively put together by Lina Ghotmeh in a way that not only creates a warm, enveloping environment that takes the visitor one step closer to the Sri Lankan context of Bawa's life, but also feels in harmony with the Vitra Design Museum's own building, a Frank Gehry original from 1989.

The result is an immersive journey through the world of Geoffrey Bawa – and if you can't make it to Sri Lanka any time soon, this is definitely something worth experiencing.

'Geoffrey Bawa: Architecture for the Senses' is open from 26 September 2026 to 28 February 2027 at the Vitra Design Museum

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