Seventh Edition 2019-2020

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Milinda Pathiraja (1974) is Director, Partner and Co-Founder of Robust Architecture Workshop (RAW), a professional firm based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The work of the firm has been exhibited in the international section of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2016. In the same year, it received the Terra Award for Earthen Constructions, a recognition preceded by the Global LafargeHolcim Silver Award, in 2015, and the LafargeHolcim regional Bronze prize for Asia Pacific in 2014. RAW’s design and construction approach is indebted to Milinda Pathiraja’s doctoral research at the University of Melbourne – The function of robust technology in the construction of a “third-world” practice: architecture, design and labour training – where he investigated the possible role of architects as facilitators of construction and development policies. Milinda Pathiraja is often invited to present his work at conferences and events around the world. Pathiraja was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Architecture at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, between 2011 and 2016. Today, he maintains Honorary Senior Fellow duties in the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and teaches at the EPF Lausanne. As a student, he won the President’s Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis from the Royal Institute of British Architects (2011), the CIOB Australasia Excellent Building Postgraduate Research Award (2011), the University of Melbourne Chancellor’s Prize for Excellence (2012), and the Australian Alumni Excellence Award for Education (2014).

Ganga Ratnayake (1974) is Partner and Co-Founder of Robust Architecture Workshop (RAW). After having earned in 2000 her Master of Science in Architecture at the Moratuwa University, Sri Lanka, she worked as an architect in Melbourne.