Anjalendran - Architect of Sri Lanka (Relié)

Over the past two decades Anjalendran has established himself as one of Sri Lanka's leading architects and his work has attracted interest across the entire Indian subcontinent. His buildings have a simple directness and although totally modern in spirit, they acknowledge the rich traditions of Sri Lanka. Anjalendran's architecture is about using the simplest of materials to create magie. Whether working with ample budgets or at rock bottom cost (as with his SOS Children's Village orphanages), his projects focus on not only creative buildings, but - à la Frank Lloyd Wright- also their landscaping, furniture, and decoration.
The process through which he creates his architecture is just as interesting as the architecture itself. During the past twenty-five years Anjalendran has worked from home, never employing more than four student assistants at any one time. He has no office as such, no secretary, no car, no mobile phone. He operates without a bank account and has never signed a contract with either a client or a builder.
These same twenty-five years in Sri Lanka have been blighted by a cruel and destructive civil war. Manv of his fellow Tamils (an ethnic group) have left the island for good, but Anjalendran has stayed on, maintaining always that he is first a Sri Lankan and second a Tamil; that he is, first and foremost, an architect of Sri Lanka.