Minnette
De Silva
?-1998
Minnette
De Silva was the first Sri Lankan woman to be trained as an Architect and the
first Asian woman to be elected a Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
She returned to Sri Lanka in 1948 and her experiments in architecture began
with the karunaratne House, Kandy. This house still stands as a testimony to
the brave family who had faith in Minnette and her ideas.
In 1960 she left Sri Lanka for 5 years and called it her period of self-renewal.
She spent this time traveling in Greece, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and
revisited India. After her return to Sri Lanka she was engaged in the design
of a series of large tourist hotels. In 1975 Minnette went to Hong Kong to join
the Department of Architecture as the first woman architect. She left Hong Kong
after 5 years, and in 1982 Minnette settled down to work on the much-needed
"Art Center" in her hometown Kandy. She was a fellow of the Sri Lanka
Institute in 1977. She passed away in November 1998.
links
The
Hecar Foundation
Women in Architecture
Google search for "Minnette De Silva"