Juxtapositioning of unusual furniture

Whilst sorting through my many photos recently trying to sort out some order from my chaos, I happened to find some examples of unusual furniture taken during a trip to Sri Lanka. All these examples of furniture and interiors are by Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa.

The hotel and furniture in which we stayed was designed by Mr Bawa, so I decided to have a prowl around and photograph various examples of his unusual take on hotel furniture.

Above is a barstool and in the same range are table and chairs in the reception area. These examples are from the same range with just the one chair at the table which has very different angles.

The photograph above is taken from the bar area. The furniture here although interesting to look at with the juxtapositioning of the wooden benches with metal chairs, the latter being extremely uncomfortable! Fortunately, cushions were provided if asked for.

At this point I must point out that the architecture of the hotel (Blue Water) is extremely stark, with not many curves. Even the gardens are very angular with not much to relieve the endless lawn and palm trees.

During my time in Sri Lanka having read about Mr Bawa, I asked if I could visit his house. All the photos below are taken on his estate. He died a few years ago, but his house is now lived in by caretakers. There are also apartments on the estate which are let to visitors, although I cannot guarantee the quality.

Above is a Bawa chair, did not get to try it out, but from looking at it, comfort was not a priority!

The above bench is interesting. Both the bench and window frame are made of wood, both have weathered at the same rate. The trees behind are actually jungle, the colours are so restful.

I found the monochrome colour scheme broken by the terracotta wall very interesting. The way the chairs have been painted on the black and white stone floor make a big impact. Again the window brings the green of the jungle into the room.

Here is an example of juxtapositioning of two ordinary settees with antique furniture. The two white settees sit opposite each other with the trunk used as a side table. The whole scheme is anchored down by a neutral mat. The flooring was highly polished hard wood.

Another hotel designed by Geoffrey Bawa was The Lighthouse near Galle, and I had heard that in this hotel there was the most amazing staircase.

Below are two photographs I took of the staircase. It depicts Dutch and Sinhalese warriors.

The staircase is spiral in construction and looks absolutely stunning. Unfortunately it was quite dark and as you can imagine large, so the flash of my camera made little impact! Again although an amazing staircase, I found it very difficult to walk down it avoiding a tumble whilst looking at the simulated ‘battle’ going on around me! You can see the scale by the photo of the man walking down the staircase in the photograph on the right.

Anne Stuart