Dr Pamudu Tennakoon

Position Governing Body Fellow Junior Research Fellow
School Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty of History
Personal website ptennakoon
Email pmt37@cam.ac.uk
Department link History

Trained as both an art and architectural historian as well as a cultural anthropologist, Pamudu investigates how people occupy and traverse previously colonized cities and relate to the material remnants of colonial and postcolonial pasts in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Pamudu is an architectural and urban historian who holds a PhD in History of Art and Architecture from Brown University, where she concurrently completed an MA in Anthropology. Before her time at Brown University, Pamudu completed a BA majoring in the Growth and Structure of Cities and Fine Arts at Bryn Mawr College and an MPhil in Architecture at the University of Queensland. Pamudu’s research has been funded by the International Dissertation Research Fellowship awarded by the Social Sciences Research Council. At Cambridge University, Pamudu is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of History as part of the Colombo: Layered Histories in a Global South City research project.

The recent surge of interest and investment in colonial architecture in Colombo, Sri Lanka, demonstrates that colonial architecture still provides the backdrop for negotiations of the city’s history. Pamudu’s recent PhD dissertation centered on the 2021 demolition of the De Soysa, a colonial shophouse complex that stood in the neighborhood of Kompagngna Veediya for over a century. By refracting the long history of the De Soysa building and its material debris, Pamudu’s work unearthed how people continued to occupy and relate to the material remnants of their colonial pasts. This work emerged from her undergraduate and MPhil research on British and Dutch colonial structures in Colombo and Brisbane, from hospitals to bungalows.

While at Cambridge University as a part of the Colombo: Layered Histories in a Global South City project, Pamudu builds upon her doctoral research to look at the evolution of (post) colonial Colombo. Through architecture that has withstood the evolution of Colombo, this work expands on the larger political, social, and economic changes in the city. This project explores the intricate ways in which colonial cities evolve on the ground, using a range of sources that record tactics of engagement from everyday interactions to sweeping government declarations. Oral histories with architects, urbanists, activists, and urban dwellers opens a window into the evolution of the city through those who worked to shape the city and protect its architectural heritage. By following the archival architectural remnants through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Pamudu’s work further expands the traditional source base used to understand the history of Colombo.

What's on

Event Type (field_event_type)

A close-up of a purple allium flower with a spherical cluster of tiny blossoms on a tall stem, set against a softly blurred garden background.

Wolfson Bulb Trail

11/04/2026 at 10.00

Our new bulb trail allows you to enjoy our thoughtfully planted displays and explore our beautiful College Gardens at your own pace.

A vibrant abstract collage filled with layered cut-paper shapes, symbols, and text fragments in bright reds, oranges, blues, and purples, radiating outward from a glowing central area.

Art Exhibition: 'Epic Journeys'

11/04/2026 at 10.00

Visit Wolfson's latest exhibition 'Epic Journeys' featuring work by distinguished artist Hassan Aliyu.

An older woman in a red striped shirt and glasses stretches her arms out while standing on a sandy beach with waves in the background.

Lessons from WHO Non-Communicable Disease Initiative about Chronic Disease

21/04/2026 at 17.30

What links osteoporosis and heart disease? Dr Gordon Klein reveals surprising connections between two of ageing's biggest health challenges, and what they mean for prevention.