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The Mulacari of Peradeniya University: Shirley De Alwis-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis KNO Dharmadasa, in Hanthana Night, produced by the Üniversity 0f Peradeniya Alumni Associatio Western Australia Chapter, August 2023 The word Mulacari in the Kandyan period of Sri Lankan history meant “the chief architect”. These would have been the great architects of yore like the one who designed the “Brazen Palace” (Lovamahapaya) during the Anuradhapura period. But we have no information about their titles or names. Shirley De Alwis (1898-1952) who was appointed the “University Architect” in 1946, was the man who designed the eight original Halls of Residence -Marrs, Jayatilaka, Arunachalam, Hilda Obeysekara, James Peiris, Marcus Fernando, Sangamitta and Ramanathan.  He also designed the Senate Building — which was modelled on the Brazen Place, although on a modest scale.  The Science and Arts Faculty buildings as well as the Geography Building are also creations of Shirley De Alwis. Today, the Peradeniya University is considered one among the ...

Aug 11, 2023 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged , , ,
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Shirley De Alwis: The Hand behind Peradeniya University’s Designs Source:Thuppahis KNO Dharmadasa** Shirley D’Alwis, the first University Architect, died in harness. He was working day and night to complete the job entrusted to him – the preparation of the buildings he had designed and started constructing – for the university to be shifted to its intended site in Peradeniya. After a long and protracted “battle of the sites” fought in the legislature and in the media, the State Council had finally decided in September 1938 that the proposed University of Ceylon was to be a unitary and residential university and that it should be sited in the land to be acquired from the New Peradeniya Estate, a tea and rubber plantation on the lower Hantana range on the banks of Mahaveli Ganga. It was a picturesque site with the tree clad hilly terrain sloping down from the Hantana range to ...

Apr 26, 2021 Posted by In Articles Tagged
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Designing Peradeniya Campus Source:Thuppahis Thuppahi’s recent presentation of a striking photograph unearthed by Gerald Peiris which depicts world-famous dignitaries on their way to formally declare the University of Peradeniya open for the business of study and play has  attracted pleasure as well as information on the hands that may have been at work on this design. The debate on the choice of site for a new University branch is a separate and complicated issue. The focus here is on the architectural and landscaping designs.  As I indicated, Shirley De Alwis [also spelt D’Alwis?] was the principal architect (and we require bio-data on this man). But, what else can we gather? Here are some preliminary responses. The Editor, Thuppahi Note from Nathan Sivasambu in London, 19 April 2021: “Michael, Thank you. I’ll have it framed. I was Peradeniya at the time. Prince Philip declaring open the University at Senate House, “which was designed on [in ...

Apr 26, 2021 Posted by In Articles Tagged , ,
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