rki_tectura

Designed by architect Louis Tenaerts, c. 1930 - Rue de la Seconde-Reine 5, Brussels, Belgium Copyrights - CIVA (Source -  https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=979478734199608&set=gm.3653488911616093&idorvanity=1482321378732868 ) François Louis Tenaerts, commonly known as Louis, was born in Laeken on September 5, 1898, to Joseph Tenaerts, a carpentry contractor, and Marie Thérèse Caroline Van Lierde, both natives of Laeken. The family resided at 212 Marie-Christine Street. Details about Louis Tenaerts' education remain somewhat unclear. It is known that his older brother, Désiré, attended evening courses at the Saint-Luc School of Construction in Schaerbeek before World War I. Louis, on the other hand, is believed to have studied architecture for eight years at the Saint-Luc School in Molenbeek, which operated from 1898 to 1939. After completing his studies, he fulfilled his military service, which took him to Germany. His military records list him as a "candidate-archi...

 "..., working on the site as a carpenter is the best possible classroom. Words and textbooks are not enough to produce a full-fledged carpenter. It requires the invaluable experience of working on a 'good site'. In the old days there were stories of people who, in disguise, would apprentice themselves to master carpenters in order to steal their techniques, learning what they wanted little by little on the worksite. Even for a good carpenter, it seems, this type of thing wasn't regarded unusual in order to become a master of the craft. " Extracted from  Nishioka, T., Kohara, J. and Brase, M. (2016)   The building of horyu-ji: The technique and wood that made it possible . Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture.  

 Part 2 After publishing the previous episode, my mother enthusiastically gave me a better account (I could still see from my iPhone screen, the nostalgia and happiness in her eyes as she recalled these stories), especially on the photographs. I will also try to rectify some of the mistakes in the previous. Therefore Part 2 will not be my personal accounts, there of my mother's. The American-style house was actually built by my grandfather's elder brother in the early 1960s (probably 1964); not by my grandfather as mentioned in the previous article. The house was rented out and apparently, there had been a dispute over the tenants refusing to move out after the expiration of the lease (I do not know whether there had been a written agreement). The house had the front part (as in the B&W photograph) with a lobby, living, and two bedrooms. Even though the house was American Style_ the kitchen was a separate unit made with clay walls (probably wattle and dobe) and the toilet t...

Part 1 Our grandparents’ house or the ' සීයලා  ගෙදර' ( Seeyala Gedara 1 meaning grandfather(s)' house - See notes below ), which we used to call it, was a special place where we used to live in the annexe of the same house even before moving to Kurunegala (once when my father was working in Dambulla). From time to time we used to visit our grandparents, especially during the vacations and during weekends. I later learnt at Architecture school that it was an American-style house, built during the 1960s (my guess is 1964), which was the trending architectural style for houses among the new middle class (emerged after 1956).  It would be wrong to say that he was originally from a middle-class background. He was born into a wealthy family in Galle, but had to face many difficulties after his father's death. He was well acclaimed for his brilliance in his studies among his peers especially in Physics passing ALs with flying colours in theory. However, he could not take part ...

This is a special episode which is a collection of memories and thoughts which I gathered  from comments I received both via the blog and mainly through personal conversation  after publishing th e first episode.       My father (to whom I refer as ' Appachchi' - the Sinhalese upcountry word for 'father; or as 'Appu'_the shorter fondly version) shared a memory of him saving three of us from falling a balcony during our stay at Gampola. Government servants moving places like gipsies from one city to another when they receive a transfer after 4 years was a common experience during those days. From the year my parents got married in their mid-30s (doctors married late due to their academic and professional commitments in the early stages of their careers) to the year we settled down in Kandy , my parents have had m oved a number of  times ; Hemmathagama, Ankumbura, Kandy (few times- at one occasion my father was working in Kandy while at another he was a...

I have been living in a few different types of living spaces. Though I vaguely remember living at a doctor's quarters in Gampola and at an apartment in New South Wales, Australia (both due to memorable events; the first is my eldest brother falling into a limestone pit and the latter because of myself falling from a staircase, ending up in my head between the wall and a flower pot.       My solid memories of living space during my childhood were of a small single-storey house my parents rented in Kurunegala. It had an entrance porch, living, dining, kitchen, single washroom, two bedrooms and two courtyards, each opening into the living and dining; and it had a large garden where my two brothers and I used to hop around and stretch ourselves to our heart’s content.  Our house was 'the' cricket ground for our friends in the neighbourhood. The garden was a usual space for me since it allowed me to free myself from everything else; a place where I found solitude; I ...