Imagining Modernity: The Architecture of Valentine Gunasekara

This book is a detailed study of the architecture of Valentine Gunasekara (1931-2017). It provides an innovative lens to understand the formation of a Ceylonese middle-class, which was inspired by the post-independence desire for modernity. Their experiments, values and dynamic social history are the framework for this research.

Although neglected by his peers and marginalized by the prevalent discourse on vernacular regionalism, Gunasekara’s work poses important questions regarding the uto...