THE MID CEYLON-TURY AROUND THE CITY ... PT. 2

You can't talk about mid century architecture in Sri Lanka without mentioning the magnificent Sri Lanka Planeterium in the heart of Colombo, the beautiful and lovely colonial neighborhood of Cinnamon Gardens, or Colombo 7. I'm very fond of this area because it's where I was born and grew up! The Planetarium was one of my all-time favorite sights when I was a little girl, and it remains so to this day.

It was built in 1965, and was designed by architect Pani Tennakoon. The inspiration for the innovative and elegant structure was the Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool, England.

Although we passed the Planetarium almost every day during our stay in Sri Lanka, I was not able to take photos, so these are ones I found online. 

Here's the entrance to the Planetarium building:

A closer look at the triangular structure and the walkway around it:

 The view from the triangles!

 The little "moat"-like waterway around the structure:

The Planetarium is to undergo major renovations in 2015, and I'm really excited to see how that will turn out! I can't wait to take our son to visit this amazing place, and hope he will love it as much as I did at his age.

THE MID CEYLON-TURY AROUND THE CITY, PT. 1

Traveling around Colombo, the former capitol of Sri Lanka (and also its biggest city), you can see what a vibrant, modern and exciting metropolis it is. But it's also a historical place, known to travelers for thousands of years. If you explore the far-reaching neighborhoods of Colombo, you can see all kinds of historical sites and architecture, from places of worship (Buddhist and Hindu temples, Muslim mosques and Christian churches) to the canals built by the Dutch in the 16th century, as well as quite a few British colonial era buildings.

You can also see a lot of amazing mid century architecture throughout Colombo and its suburbs, from government buildings to private homes. I wanted to get pictures of these buildings, but it was not easy to stop for photo breaks when traveling with a rambunctious toddler! However, I did manage to capture (and find) some. On our next trip to Sri Lanka I'm going to try and get many more pics of Sri Lanka's mid century architectural heritage, but for now here are some of the images I captured (or found).

First, the walls of St. Anthony's nursery school in Borella, Colombo's largest suburb. This little school was established in 1942 as part of the ministries of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in Sri Lanka:

I took these photos from a moving car, so my apologies for the not-so-good images

Here's a photo from the school's Facebook page, where you can see the beautiful curving mid century architecture behind the staff: 

I hope we can see more of this school on our next trip!