Velupillai Suppiah Thurairajah (
Tamil: வேலுப்பிள்ளை சுப்பையா துரைராஜா, romanized: Vēluppiḷḷai Cuppaiyā Turairājā; 8 August 1927 – 14 December 2011) was a
Sri Lankan Tamil architect who designed many buildings in Sri Lanka and abroad.
Thurairajah married Selvaranee (Rani), daughter of T. Thirunavukarasu.[1][2] They had a son (Surendran) and three daughters (Vathsala, Manjula and Sashikala).[1][2]
Career
After returning to Ceylon Thurairajah joined the Public Works Department (PWD) in 1951 as a junior architect.[1][5] He then joined the
Architectural Association School of Architecture in
London in 1954 as a
Colombo Plan scholar, graduating in 1957 with a A.A. diploma specialising in tropical architecture.[1][4][5] He then resumed his career at the PWD before retiring in 1964 in due to government policies.[1][5]
After retirement Thurairajah started a private practice known as Thurairajah Associates in 1964.[1][4][5] The practice grew and in 1968 a branch office was opened in
Jaffna.[1] Thurairajah designed many of the tropical modernist buildings in Jaffna.[6] During a long career Thurairajah designed numerous buildings including factories, Hindu temples, hospitals, hotels, office buildings, residential buildings and university buildings in Sri Lanka, India, Australia and Middle East.[3][5]
Thurairajah was a fellow of the
Royal Institute of British Architects (1967),
Australian Institute of Architects (1989),
Indian Institute of Architects (1965), Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (1976) and
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (1968).[1][5] He was editor and publisher of a quarterly journal called Architecture and Arts in Sri Lanka from 1975 to 1981.[1] He was chairman of Eelanadu, a
Tamil language newspaper, in 1975 and one of the secretaries of the International Association of Tamil Research.[1][3] Thurairajah was one of the key organisers of the 4th International Tamil Research Conference held in Jaffna in 1974.[7] He was deputy district governor of the
Lions International Sri Lanka District in 1981 and secretary of the
Ananda Coomaraswamy Cultural Society.[1] Thurairajah produced the Tamil language film Kuthu Vilakku (Sacred Lamp) in 1972.[3][8]
Thurairajah migrated to Australia.[3] He died on 14 December 2011 in
Sydney, Australia.[2][9]