Monsoon Notebook: Exploring Home

Abstract

This thesis explores the meaning of home, and the role it plays in my relationship to architecture. It rests in the transitional space between my native Sri Lanka and Canada, where I have lived for the last eighteen years. When I began my Master of Architecture, I attempted to connect with my original home, but there was no amount of academic research or technical expertise that could answer my questions. And so, without a clear objective, I followed an inward calling, that I needed to return to my place of birth.

This thesis records my rite of passage into architecture by undertaking a journey home, a less traditional interpretation of the Grand Tour. I set off to find meaning at the source, to the place where home and architecture meet, always searching through the lenses of everyday life. I began my trip in Colombo, and soon found myself in a deeply engaging yet rather unplanned series of experiences that helped define my relationship with my homeland. It was only by fully immersing myself within the place that I was able to discover its poetry; the sound, smell and feel of the rain awakened my senses, entering me and guiding me forward in my journey to finding meaning in architecture.

This is my monsoon notebook. It records, presents and re-presents my travels as a means of architectural grounding and self-discovery. My photographs, journal entries and childhood recollections depict a place of architectural learning that is now part of me, in my body and my senses.