The tsunami of 26th December 2004 devastated many communities around the shoreline of Sri Lanka, including the small town of Unawatuna, south of Galle in the Southern Province.

Studio Daniel Libeskind was asked to work on a pro-bono basis for a UK charity “Unawatuna 2612” to develop a master plan for re-building the community, which all associated agencies could also use as appropriate, as well as to plan up to 150 houses and a variety of public buildings. SDL accepted with full professional commitment the commission to respond in as comprehensive and humanistic manner as possible, to help one’s fellows in such a time of trauma and tragedy. It is hoped that as much as possible can be achieved within a twelve month period, although it is clear that the charity and SDL are working for long-term development and it is not the temporary emergency relief work which is clearly being handled by other specialist qualified bodies.