Domestic architecture of the Sinhalese elites in Sri Lanka remained as unchartered territory until recently. Having focused on the period of nationalism, which indeed is an area in oblivion (both historically and architecturally), this research established that the elite are in a position to better represent/evoke the shifting political/social/cultural forces (i.e. periodic changes) through their architecture within the Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) society. This was the foremost research question tackled. Moreover, the works of the architects Geoffrey Bawa and Valentine Gunasekara were singled-out for being two most varying trajectories aimed at the elite; the background study of post-independence architecture having led the way. How they represented the aspirations of two differing elite groups - the 'governing elite' and the 'political-class' - was then confirmed having placed them against the extant elitist theories. Moreover, the cultural strands of the Ceylonese elite to survive from pre-colonial and colonial situations were identified, and how the articulations became evident in their domestic architectures was assessed through case studies. On the other hand, as broader aims, the applicability of the outcome of the main research question to contexts other than Sri Lanka, communities other than the Sinhalese, or time periods that draw their meanings for being historically/architecturally significant, were established. Other than the foregoing unique contributions to knowledge, the enquiry into the area of elitism was significant. While Western theories on elitism were considered to determine the most apposite, the under-studied sphere of Eastern elitism was tackled in its pre-modern and modern conditions in order to assess social stratifications for the periods in question - Kandyan, Dutch, British and post-independence. Based on social structures of these periods, their elitist positions were envisaged and domestic architectures identified for the results to be presented as a structural analysis. Within this process, more delicate differences such as typologies and phases were revealed, and included in a supplementary catalogue with a repository of new knowledge for future research to dwell on. Moreover, narration of the entire historical spectrum of the island's elite domestic architecture is noteworthy as an original exploration. Optimistically, the imperative findings of this study would open up paths for future researchers in the field.

The thesis is a detailed study of the changing middle class home in contemporary Sri Lanka. It examines whether and how the interaction of spatial boundaries and embodied meanings have changed as a consequence of current social change. Results suggests that the middle class home in Sri Lanka has transformed from a 'pre-open economy4 model and stabilised into a new a 'post-open economy model', after the free-trade regime was introduced in 1977. Quantitative analysis of forty house plans investigated through space - syntax and statistical tools suggested that configurations, thresholds, positions and vistas of space have been organised and controlled to create generic spatial patterns in two alternative models, corresponding to pre and post open economy periods. Qualitative analysis through accounts of home lives by women that the 'pre-open economy model' was first socially constructed during the British Colonial Period (BCP), which embodied behaviours of a strongly institutionalised home life. A 'lifestyle' constructed within Victorian ideals with a strong emphasis on power structures of the institution of the family was embodied in the spatial classification of the BCP home. Quantitative analysis also suggested that the 'pre-open economy' spatial classification has transformed and stabilised into an alternative model in recent years as a 'post-open economy' model. Published records in Sri Lanka suggests that indicators of social change that affect gender issues such as roles and position of women, decline in domestic services, transformation of family structures, merging of conjugal roles and distancing from the neighbourhood as a community, are global phenomena, known to change during urbanisation in other contexts, for example during industrialisation and in the post-war periods in the UK society. Interestingly, such global phenomena have acquired spatial forms, which are conditional to the socio-historical structures in which the Sri Lankan middle class evolved. Qualitative analysis of accounts of home lives by women living from the post-open economy period revealed a 'user oriented lifestyle' and social boundaries between categories of users such as the family, visitor and outsiders have acquired novel forms of inclusion and exclusion. Thus, the synthesis of quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis suggest that changing spatial organisation relates to new forms of social solidarity seen to be consequential to larger social changes effected by the open-economy.