| Abstract: | Madhura Prematilleke practises with his colleagues at Team Architrave in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and considers himself an Asian Modernist in search of what he calls a ‘robust architecture’ that ‘can accommodate - and indeed thrive upon - the manner in which it is used, misused or otherwise “Asianised”’. This view of Modernism stems from the fact that, as Prematilleke explains, ‘in a cultural landscape such as ours in Sri Lanka - where urban contexts are chaotic, tastes are wildly heterogeneous, and usage of buildings abrasive, Modernism, in particular, with its aspirations of purity and lucidity, is hardly able to cope’. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
