Browsing by Author "De Silva, W"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

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City as a performative place: asala perahara and the spatial dynamics of Kandy
(Department of Architecture University of Moratuwa, 2014) De Silva, W; Dayaratne, R; Wijesundara, J
Traditional cities are dynamically re-enacted through regular performances and rituals. Kandy city is described within this per formative phenomenon in order to understand the dynamics of the place. Phenomenology is the research methodology . A theoretical framework, synthesizing key concepts of place, sense of place, dwelling, Chora, becoming, non-representational landscape theory and performance theory is developed and used to examine performance of the Asala perahara ritual process in Kandy city. Case study findings illustrate that, Asala perahara marks geometrical patterns, in the landscape connecting different locations, rituals, people and the invisible dimensions of the place. Unfolded place within this cultural drama, experiencing natural –cultural setting and body performances is a dynamic process. Spiritual experience is significant in these ritual performances and built forms , inseparable from people and the place. Analysing of Asala perahara explains that city is understood as an inside enclosed by three mountains, reflected in the city form and architecture of Kandy. This reveals important guide lines for city conservation and developments.
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An Employment programme for low income groups
(2014-03-15) Senanayake, MAP; De Silva, W
In this case-study we try to understand the unemployment income of low income'groups in the city of Colombo and study the possibilities of creating employment opportunities for one of such communities* At first, in the first chapter, we deal with the unemployment problem in a wider context; examining .the relationship between employment and factors of production - land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship . How these factors of production could generate employment opportunities and how unemployment could affect the Man's living conditions are also discussed. In the following chapter, we prepare population projections for the C.M.C. area and attempt to estimate the magnitude of unemployment considering the backlog of unemployment and the need of employment opportunities during the period until 1991. In the third chapter we identify low inccme group areas in the city by using various criteria. For this , employment stress areas are identified by analysing ward-wise" employment indicators" and housing stress areas are identified by analysing "Housing indicators". A corelation between housing stress and low income communities is observed. Next we analyse employment conditions of low income groups in regard to their income levels, work places, nature of employment and status of employment by studying some previous surveys conducted in low income communities in the Colombo City. Next chapter is devoted to describe the findings of the survey conducted in our case study area - Mattakkuliya Sammantranapura. Here the size of the population of the community, employment and income levels, unemployment magnitudes and wishes, desires and needs of the community are discussed. This is a client oriented survey based on interviews and questionaire method.' Our Intention-is to prepare an employment programme for unemployed low income people in this community for its development. After identifying the skills and resources of the community we engage in a survey to find institutional resources that would be useful to solve their unemployment problem. With this background information we fix our objectives which are, in someway, connected with our goal of "employment generation" for unemployed people. Having revealed the 'community resources' and 'institutional resources' available, we identify strategies to generate employment opportunieis. Then the relationship between community development and employment generation, vocational training programmes which can give employment and •' economic mobility'* to unskilled, »unemployed people are discussed. Some feasible action projects and their objectives are described in the last chapter. These projects have been planned in a way to open avenues and overcome constraints for the community to achieve development on. a collective effort.
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Gender performativity in urban public spaces- case of fort railway station, Colombo
(Centre for Cities & Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2023-04) De Silva, S; De Silva, L; De Silva, W; Dayaratne, R; Wijesundara, J
This paper explores the way spaces are gendered, by qualitatively analyzing public spaces under a feminist perspective. It looks at spatial attributes and everyday actions to understand the subjectivity and reality of spaces. The term “gendered spaces” is used when power dynamics of gender are reflected in a space. This could be perceived as a result of defining gender roles associated with public-private spatial divisions. The railways were pioneering urban interventions that contributed to blurring these strict boundaries of space. Women, the seemingly disadvantaged group, found empowerment through the increased accessibility, but were yet subjected to discrimination and inequal opportunity. This phenomenon is reflected in the historical evolution of Colombo Fort railway station. Under this background, physical and social attributes of spaces within and around Colombo Fort railway station are assessed under Gender Performativity theory, through activity mapping, interviews, surveys and videographic observations. Furthermore, spaces were understood through tactical responses; everyday practices of regular users, which were categorized as “activity” and “signs”. The findings of the case study showed that women navigated through the public space with comparatively less freedom and higher caution even in the absence of physical obstructions. A higher percentage of men identified their occupancy at the station as partially recreational, while women’s occupancy was determined by the need for safety, privacy or functional needs. The performative nature of gender becomes evident in the study; the conditional access granted for women as well as their own actions signified their subordinate position, while men expressed authority in space when the social order was challenged. However, instead of merely being victimized; women seeked empowerment within the patriarchal structure itself, rather than directly challenging or disrupting the system. These gendered responses to spatial attributes contribute continuously through time in reshaping and restructuring of social structures and gender norms.
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Healing space in street architecture : examination of urban context with special reference to the City of Colombo
Nanayakkara, S; De Silva, W
Psyche of the each individual is concerned important and by healing their minds the perception of them will not destroy the existential space of the city. Because the major impact on the man is, the space he habits and on the space, it is the man who habits. Within this, the cities should develop their spatial medium related to man and his nature. To make man ease with the things that he is performing, visual space, clues and the progression in which he experience matters because he will have an impact on the space where he habits. And to move him in the direction and to make him stay the streets has to have an effort with the built environment around
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Nature and buddhist architecture: Sri Lanka
De Silva, W
This paper examines 'nature' in the form of natural landscape, focusing on Sri Lankan landscape. Natural landscape in this study is discussed as physical features, physical geography and topography of the earth surface - topos. These physical features exist in variety of ways; mountains, rocks, stones and boulders, hillocks, terrains, valleys, water in many ways and trees and vegetation. Sri Lankan natural landscape consists of distinctive and varied physical features -topos - and many of these have been converted to Buddhist architecture: natural landscape represents significant role in these places. This paper examines how Sri Lankan natural landscape influences Buddhist performances, shaping landscape and architecture. It examines literature in philosophy, Buddhist philosophy and phenomenology of landscape and place. It analyses the relationship of patterns of settlements with the physical features and geography of its location, focusing on Buddhist performances. It is examined that these topos directs divine and mundane dimensions. The paper argues that Sri Lankan landscape provides unique locations for Buddhist divine understanding, which is ordinary in everyday life experiences and place concepts. It is revealed that these places as specific examples of compositions of Buddhist understanding with natural landscape and divine experience of natural landscape with mythical landscape in a variety of ways, resulting natural-cultural-architectural places bounded by cultural performances. These kinds of place understanding reflect ontological relationships developed between people, nature and their designs (settlements) rather than as traditional or modern.
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Transactionism in the built environment : an examination on user personalization and modifications in urban middle-income apartment complexes
Weeraparackrama, DA; De Silva, W
Urbanization and the migration of population to the cities have raised an unavoidable question of accommodating those people in lands with high prizes. Today, some people have to deal with High-rise living weather. they like it or not, considering other conveniences for their life and most of all, compromising their ideals on "home", their most personal domain. It is evident that failure to understand the values and aspirations of the people has resulted in lukewarm spatial experience of people. The needs of personalization of the spaces people occupy never changes. Though apartment complexes allow little variations to be done by the users, identification of probable user needs lead to more flexible designs, which can facilitate the user modifications according to their needs. But this approach needs a good understanding about the relationship between built environment and human behavior and what a "Home" means to a person. Therefore, this dissertation is an attempt to identify the relationship between built environment and human behavior and the unchanging need to personalize the built space they accommodate. The identification of the ways to facilitate transactions in user personalization in a positive way will be the theme of the attempt.
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The Visual characteristics of railside landscape for tourists’ satisfaction
(Faculty of Architecture Research Unit, 2022-12-02) Guruge, SPPGDK; De Silva, W
Moving Landscape Aesthetic Quality (MLAQ) has been a topic that had taken less attention from the researchers. Though a great effort is given to interpret the aesthetic quality of the landscape, the tourists’ preference for the moving journey has not been much talked about. The objective of this research is to study the Independent and interdependent moving Railside landscape character through landscape indicators, which is found by considering the tourist satisfaction. This paper gives important information on human landscape preference (perception) which will add value to the moving railway landscape. The study is based on seven landscape indicators (coherence, disturbance, complexity, mystery, naturalness, Imageability, and visual scale). Colombo Fort to Badulla railway landscape experience is investigated with a sample of thirty participants. Data was collected based on an online questionnaire survey with quantitative and qualitative data. Six case studies were selected for the survey by analyzing the overall result of the areas by considering the geomorphology and the spatial character of the landscape. Findings revealed that the moving landscape character of the railway journey inspires the tourist satisfaction.