Scaping Away Cities and Towns
Dulani Denipitiya Proud Product of University of Moratuwa
It was an impromptu interview with this Charismatic individual where she chatted away with no difficulty. Dulani Denipitya, a former student of St. Bridgets Convent, Colombo grew up in an Artsy and creative environment, where her Mother Nandika Denipitiya a Chartered Architect and Father Mahesh Denipitya, a Music Director. Her brother Eshan Denipitiya is studying for a BA in classical piano performance at the Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore.
No doubt, she was an energetic and crafty personality while in school, and I quote her “I wanted to be different. Not go with the flow.”
Dulani Denipitiya was the only student of the Architecture Department, in the University of Moratuwa to be awarded with a First Class Honours Degree for Landscape Architecture. She was also in the opening batch of the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree programme in Sri Lanka, University of Moratuwa.
Few among her many other academic achievements would be - Winning the Gold medal for the best performance in the Honours Degree of Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, presented by the University of Moratuwa at the general convocation 2017. Final Year Comprehensive Design Project ( CDP) - obtained an A grade for the project of “Performancescape” - Landscape Arena for Performativity at Maradana A landscape for the performing arts designed at the old Maradana railway yard site Final year dissertation - obtained an A grade for the research on “Landscape Architecture Approach to Urban Flood Management with special reference to the Diyawanna Oya and its surrounding” “When I was small I had no idea of what I wanted to be. Of course we all wanted to be a Doctor or a Lawyer, but that was when we stereo typed our lives accordingly. I knew I wanted to do something different and be my own self.” Dulani stated.
“I got 9 A’s for my Ordinary Level Examination and then chose the Physical Science stream for Advanced Level. I always wanted to go to a Local University even though I knew for sure that Engineering is not for me! Simply because it was what everyone wanted to be. I wanted something more creative and artsy which would intrigue me every single day.”
“My mother is a Chartered Architect and I’ve seen her visiting sites and the drawings and the whole works of it. Surprisingly I didn’t want to do what she was doing either. After A/ L’s when I got my results, I was going through the UGC guide to Universities and I saw that University of Moratuwa is starting a Bachelors Programme for Landscape Architecture. This was new to Sri Lanka at that time, and the description of the Degree excited me, while portraying that it needs a creative individual to excel in it.”
“I knew I found what I wanted to do. Use my skills of physical science and creativity together to bring out a truly different and mesmerizing outcome.” Dulani was truly excited.
“When someone say s ‘Architecture’ all you could think of is designing four walls and a roof over the top to go with it. But it really isn’t just that! It is way more challenging and interesting than that. Landscape Architecture which is what I’m specialized in, it is not designing a backyard of someone. In this field we incorporate aspects of architecture, botany, social studies, ecology, and geology. So it’s not really part of architecture but a completely different field. We design the outdoor environment which includes urban, suburban and rural areas, roadscapes, and public parks. Breathtaking really when designing cities to look mesmerizing” her happiness is quite evident at this point!
Dulani adds “Being in the very 1st Bachelor of Landscape Architecture batch, it was initially very difficult for us, mostly because we didn’t have a batch above us to follow. Therefore we basically had to figure out our own path and the way we needed to work. There were 47 in my batch and we definitely worked together throughout the 4 years with the ultimate aim of making a name for ourselves as Landscape Architects and establishing the profession of Landscape Architecture in Sri Lanka. So I had a bunch of great friends to help me through as well and we are all from different parts of the country, different social and cultural backgrounds so we basically helped and learned from each other as well.”
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