Recognising design for ecological coexistence

The Geoffrey Bawa Trust and its partners are excited to announce the launch of a new award for excellence in design for ecological coexistence.

The Geoffrey Bawa Moonamal Award seeks to catalyse a new movement in Sri Lankan design by recognizing projects that decentre the human, reverse anthropogenic degradation of the environment, and foster ecological regeneration through interdisciplinary collaboration for the coexistence of all lifeforms and landscapes.

The award takes its name from the Moonamal tree at Lunuganga, Geoffrey Bawa’s garden near Bentota. A legacy of the site’s original forest landscape, the Moonamal is an indigenous species that embodies the need for ecologically sensitive designs balancing human requirements with those of nature.

After five cycles of the Geoffrey Bawa Award for outstanding contemporary Sri Lankan architecture, the Trust and its partners are pivoting to a new award that will address the growing gap between design, ecology and the environment. The Trust is partnering with the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka, and is in conversation with other institutional partners who will support the interdisciplinary vision of this new award.

Design has historically prioritised human needs and comfort, often exploiting the surrounding environment for human-centric ideals. Reversing environmental damage and restoring natural landscapes will help to build spaces that allow for greater human-nature coexistence. Design can reverse the damage done by an anthropocentric approach by stimulating an ecosystem’s ability to recover from disturbance and minimising further damage to an area.

Increasing interdisciplinary thinking within design will be critical to support this paradigm shift. This means involving stakeholder communities around the site, and working with experts across different fields of practice, from architecture and design, to ecology, environmental science, and public policy. Increased collaboration and dialogue will not only lead to strong designs, but also promote stable, resilient and equitable growth.

As such, the Moonamal Award will be granted to a project that equally considers human and environmental needs, using a design that is guided by an in-depth social and ecological knowledge of the project site.

The Award launch kicks off a series of programming across Sri Lanka to promote the Award’s vision of design for ecological coexistence to potential partners, applicants, and the public. Nominations are set to open in August 2026, along with further details about the prestigious award fellowship. The Award shortlist and winner are expected to be announced in mid-2027.

The award process is overseen by members of a steering committee, including: Anushka Wijesinha, economist and Director of the Centre for a Smart Future; Channa Daswatte, Chairperson of the Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts; Soham Kacker, Curator of Living Collections at the Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts; Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne, environmentalist and Chairperson of Preserving Land and Nature (PLANT); and Sunela Jayewardene, environmental architect and founder of Federation of Environmental Organizations (FEOSL).

For more information about the Moonamal Award, please visit: geoffreybawa.com/awards