After a month long submissions accepted from Sri Lankan students currently studying locally and internationally, and leading to several weeks of judging and technical evaluation by renown industry experts, Port City Colombo’s “Envision the Future” student design competition has come to the most anticipated and excited moment of announcing the finalists.  Competition was aimed at young university students in the creativity study field to get their involvement to design a creative beach sculpture and an iconic interactive wall to beautify the Marina area of the Port City Colombo. 
 

The design competition is a part of the Port City Colombo’s launch initiatives and aims to capture the Sri Lankan spirit through several strategic monuments that will act as beacons when the project is identified globally. With several phases of the project already underway, such as the public beach and parks, the sculptures and the interactive wall will be a part of its next stage of development.
 

A solo entrée -Rochelle Fernando from Academy of Design (Interior Designing), solo entrée - Lakal Piyarathna from University of Moratuwa (Architecture), a three-member team of Tharindu Perera, Pulasthi Handunge, and Viranga Waduge from City school of Architecture (Architecture) were the top three entrees out of selected top ten of beach category. 
 

Nazka from Academy of Design (Interior Design), Sachith Vithanage from University of Moratuwa (Architecture), Shikara Silva from University of Moratuwa (Architecture), Brahmanage Anjani from Academy of Design (Interior Design), Chathumi Vidanage from SLIIT (Architecture), the three-member team of S.A.I.P Perera from University of Moratuwa (NDT – Mechanical Engineering Technology), Oshan P. Wijesundara from University of Visual and Performing Arts (Performing), M.G.A.M Rajarathna from University of Moratuwa (Landscape Architecture), and a solo entrée Aishwarya Tennekoon from University of Moratuwa (Architecture) are selected among the top 10 entrees. 
 

Interactive Wall competition was topped by solo entree - R. Javaneesan from the University of Moratuwa (Architecture), a three-member team – Nethmini Liyanagamage from University of Manchester (Master of Real Estate), Shavendra Goonetilleke from the University of Melbourne (Master of Architecture), and Azamul Huq Abdul Haleem from University of Kent (Master of Architecture) and a solo entrée – Ranjaka Kalhara Hettiarachchi from SLIIT School of Architecture (Master of Architecture). 
 

Other finalists from the Interactive Wall category are Dhialshini Karthigesu from National Innovation Center (NIBM – Interior Architecture), Shenuka Samarasundera from Academy of Design ( Interior Design), Nazka Udayar from Academy of Design (Interior Design), Rochelle Fernando from Academy of Design (Interior Design), Chathumi Vidanage from SLIIT School of Architecture (Architecture), Chathura Henarangoda from SLIIT School of Architecture (Architecture), and a three-member team including Sarala  Hapuarachchi, Nipuni Wijeratne, and Kawmali Priyadarsha from City School of Architecture (Architecture). 
 

Anoma Wijewardhana– artists, Ruchi Jeyanathan – Architect,  Shilanthi  Abayagunawardhana–Senior Textile Designer and Xia Yuan- Associate Director of Atkins, are on the honourable jury for both competitions.  

Selected top three contestants of each category will complete their final presentations to the expert panel chaired by an internationally renowned artist, architect and engineer  Cecil Balmond, by 20thOctober 2020. Winners of each category will be announced by the end of October 2020. 
 

The beach sculpture and interactive wall concept competition was open to Sri Lankan nationals who are undergraduate and Master’s students currently enrolled in any registered university in the country or overseas and reading in the fields of art, architecture, design, engineering, and/or any other programme that aligns with creativity. Graduates who have completed their degree in the academic year 2019/2020 were also eligible to apply. Individuals were encouraged to apply as a solo applicant and as a member of a team (a maximum of 2 submissions), a team was limited to a maximum of 3 members.
 

The winning concepts will be awarded more than LKR 700,000 in cash prizes and will be chosen to construct at the Marina District beach at the Port City Colombo premises. The winning individual/team of each competition will be called upon to cooperate with an international construction company selected by CHEC Port City Colombo (PVT) Limited to create the sculpture.
 

The Academy of Design (AOD) partnered with Colombo Port City, to mentor the design concepts along with the ARTRA magazine as the official ART partner. 
 

Made up of five precincts: a financial district, central park living, international island, the marina, and island living, Port City Colombo is a world-class city for South Asia in the making. Port City Colombo sits on 269 hectares of land reclaimed from the sea and was declared a part of the Colombo Administrative District last year.
 

Built to ensure the prospects of the next generation, Port City Colombo is the largest land development project and is considered the most futuristic project in Sri Lanka at present.