A Place For Peace

Monsoon Modernism

The island nation of Sri Lanka is home to a remarkable expression of modernist architecture.

The principles of European modernism were adapted to meld with the culture, climate and vernacular building traditions of the land.

Categorized as Tropical Modernism or Monsoon Modernism, it continues to influence builders throughout Asia and the Middle East.

About The Project

Much of Sri Lanka’s modernist legacy is now under threat due to aging buildings and development pressure. There is an urgent need to document what remains. It is the mission of Monsoon Modern to build an audio-visual archive of the remaining work and the key individuals associated with the movement, and to raise awareness of this remarkable cultural heritage.

The Trailblazers

Pioneers like Geoffrey Bawa, Minnette De Silva, Ulrik Plesner and Valentine Gunasekara left behind a notable legacy of built work.

Their design ethos has influenced generations of architects, such as C. Anjalendran, whose buildings are very much of their place and time but uphold the core values of economy and elegance in building.

The Team

Rajiv Wanasundera

Rajiv Wanasundera

Rajiv Wanasundera is an architect and urban planner. He is an associate at Lord Aeck Sargent, an architecture firm headquartered in Atlanta. Rajiv has taught design studios at the Georgia Institute of Technology as a visiting lecturer. Rajiv’s primary research interest is contemporary Sri Lankan architecture and he has published several papers and presented at international conferences on this topic. He was a contributor to Habitat: Vernacular Architecture for a Changing Planet, published by Thames & Hudson in 2017.

Jesse Freeman

Jesse Stephen Freeman is the founder of Milk Crate Media, a commercial video production company. From 2002 until 2010 he was based in Atlanta, Georgia, and appeared on various Georgia Public Broadcasting programs, including Lawmakers and Prep Sports Plus. He also hosted Cover to Cover, a literary talk show on GPB Radio highlighting Southern writers. In 2010 he was nominated for an Emmy for Somebody Else, Somewhere Else: The Raymond Andrews Story, a documentary film he wrote and directed. Jesse holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland, where he was the winner of the 2012 Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction. He now lives in Madison, Georgia, a town famous for its antebellum homes.

Jesse Freeman
Will Eccleston

Will Eccleston

Will Eccleston entered the show-biz world through the stage door of a theatre in 1992. Technical stage work led into scenic carpentry and movie production work, then into post-production as a video editor/motion graphics dude. Will has worked on nearly every kind of media imaginable, racking up a pile of awards along the way. He was one of the most sought-after freelancers in the Atlanta market for over 17 years, working under the name Kinetiscape Films, and was lauded for his creativity, work ethic, problem solving, and people skills. In 2014 Will and family relocated to Asheville, North Carolina. It was there that he formed his current company, Kinetiscape Media. He continues to turn out beautiful work for clients all over the United States.

Mike Bruno

Mike Bruno is a video production and post-production specialist located in Atlanta, Georgia. As a filmmaker he has brought his diverse talents to films such as the award-winning documentary Breaking Through, the Emmy nominated 70th Anniversary of Atlanta’s Plaza Theatre, and award-winning webseries 31. Constantly engaged in developing his craft he can be found freelancing on independent documentaries, creating corporate content for clients, and advocating for LGBT+ and human rights.

Mike Bruno

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