Minnette de Silva
| Minnette de Silva | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1 February 1918 Kandy, Ceylon |
| Died | 24 November 1998 (aged 80) Kandy, Sri Lanka |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Alma mater | J. J. School |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Awards | Royal Institute of British Architects |
| Practice | Khedwar and Mistry |
| Buildings | Karunaratne House |
| Projects | Kandy Art Centre |
Minnette de Silva (1 February 1918 – 24 November 1998) was an internationally recognized architect, considered the pioneer of the modern architectural style in Sri Lanka. De Silva was a fellow of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects.
De Silva was the first Sri Lankan woman to be trained as an architect and the first South Asian woman to be elected an associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)in 1948. De Silva was also the first Asian representative of CIAM in 1947 and was one of the founding members of the Architectural publication Marg. Later in her life, she was awarded the SLIA Gold Medal for her contribution to Architecture in particular her pioneering work developing a 'regional modernism for the tropics'.
Minnette de Silva was born on 1 February 1918 in Kandy to a prominent MP, George E. de Silva and Agnes de Silva, a universal suffrage activist. She was educated at St. Mary's, in Brighton, England, and returned to Ceylon in 1929. She was not able to train as an architect in Colombo, so she had to persuade her father and her maternal uncle Andreas Nell to allow her to travel to Bombay to train at the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art.
As Minnette did not complete her matriculation, she had to work as an apprentice for the Bombay-based firm, Khedwar and Mistry, where she befriended Perin Mistry and her brother Minoo, and attended private classes at the Architectural Academy before enrolling at the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art. Minnette was part of the cultural and political circles which included Mulk Raj Anand and Ravi Shankar and became the architectural editor for Marg, the new publication for Modern art and culture. During the time of political upheaval in India, she attended a Free Gandhi March and as a result was expelled for not writing an apology to the head of the School. She then started working for the emigre architect and planner Otto Koenigsberger in his office in Bangalore working on prefabricated housing for the Tata Steel City plan in Bihar.
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