Dear Reader, 

Time and again I’m inspired by the people around me, either by their vision, creativity, knowledge or perseverance and often by a combination of those qualities. On King's Day 2017, I visited Martijn & Jeannette, who live in a little palace full of collected treasures. Jeannette then handed me this book with the simple introduction: “This is one of our favourite architects, he's from Sri Lanka and I'm sure you'll like him too.”

Immediately I was sucked into the book and I totally forgot about the party outside. Geoffrey Bawa and his works added a new dimension to my connection with Sri Lanka. Sure, I always thought the nature in Sri Lanka was fantastic and the people on the island were super sweet, but I think almost everyone will have that feeling after visiting the country. But Bawa hit me hard on aesthetics and I'm already very sensitive in that area ;-)

Image by Ruben van Nimwegen

Geoffrey Bawa is one of the most influential architects in the 'Tropical modernism' style. This book is an extensive document of and an ode to his works, from 1950 to 2000, with beautiful photos, original drawings and a lot of background information. Not only do I love Bawa's architectural style, I’m also impressed by how he respected nature and the environment and gave both a prominent place in his designs.

(Click on the image to see the book trailer)

When the idea of ​​Four Leaves came to my mind, the inspiration for the look & feel was immediately clear: it should breathe Tropical Modernism, it should breathe Geoffrey Bawa. During our trips to Sri Lanka, we visited a large part of his buildings and also the works of his students have turned out to be worthwhile! Today Bawa is still the base for new things that we do and that is why we wanted to add 'geoffrey bawa: the complete works' as the first product, now that we are slowly expanding to a lifestyle range.