Sustaining colour in preserving urban context: an insight from tangible cultural heritage in Kandy city

Abstract

It is the obligation of architects to design buildings and places for the present, thinking about the future, yet inspired by the past. Hence, the story behind a local context's evolution should be narrated through the local heritage down the timeline to be preserved for future generations. Thus the issue identified was how the urban character and the city image of a particular context can be preserved amid current hap hazardous developments with social trends. This paper tries to address the question of how colour is a necessary attribute in preserving the local urban character because of its adaptability through various means of application. Sri Lanka is a very diverse country with a history and culture that values and imbues colour with significance and meaning. The living heritage city of Kandy was taken as the case study limiting to 2 major arterial streets which run through the city center to study the current built fabric's character. The study objectives were to find out whether the local heritage has been preserved through the built fabric, if not, to find out why and any previously imposed guidelines regarding maintaining the built fabric to preserve the local heritage down the timeline with special reference to colour while meeting with new social developments and their rationale. Therefore, interviews were conducted with local and foreign visitors, architects, and local planning authorities to get their opinion on the current state, the possible future of local heritage preservation and to get a general census on creating an applicable guideline to the city built fabric. Finally, it was concluded that through the correct application of colour the urban character would eventually result in creating a city image which will sustain an authentic city identity while preserving the local heritage and culture.