Arthur C. Clarke Home in Colombo - The Video

Back in the early 80’s, at that time a young man in his mid-twenties, i had the luck to meet in his home in Colombo, Ceylan, where he was living since1956, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, legendary science fiction writer and immortal author of 2001 : A Space Odyssey. When i arrived Clarke told me that he just signed with his publisher the contract for the 2001 sequel and i still remember him showing me in his office the latest pictures of Jupiter that N.A.S.A had sent to him. I stayed with him one hour, shoot some pictures - you have two of them below - and i still remember his warm welcome, specially for someone ringing at his door without appointment! 

Arthur C. Clarke passed away at 90 in 2008 and more than 30 years later after my first visit, i went back to Colombo and asked if it would be possible to visit Arthur C. Clarke office as it has been kept in perfect condition by Clarke’s Sri Lankan friends. They kindly let me in and thanks to a long travelling that should give you the feeling to move softly inside Arthur C. Clarke’s home you will discover his personal office, his wall of awards, and much more. 

As all of Arthur C. Clarke admirers won’t have the chance to travel to Colombo or be able to enter inside his last home i've put this video online and embed it here, for a last tribute to a visionary genius. The music that you will hear all along the video is in fact the score that Alex North had written for 2001 : 1A Space Odyssey which was not used finally by Kubrick. At first i thought using music from 2001 original score before realizing it wouldn't fit. Then i've found the Alex North score which, in my opinion, fits pretty well with the travelling and almost makes it mesmerizing. Hope you'll like it. 

During my last visit i've also taken dozens of pictures of Arthur C. Clarke home in Colombo so jump to the next article where you can see them in high-res. Part one is starting on the next page or HERE. All pictures and video were shot with the excellent Sony RX 100 M3 camera.







Pictures and video: Copyright Alain Littaye 2015

Arthur C. Clarke Home Pictorial Report - Part One

In these next articles i'm posting pictures of my pictorial report at Arthur C. Clarke home in Colombo. All pictures have been voluntarily uploaded in full resolution and, by a click on each picture,  you'll be able to zoom in them and discover Arthur C. Clarke office in details. Because the pictures are in high-res they may take sometime to appear on the page. If some are missing, please reload the page. To avoid a too long wait, i've limited the number of pictures per page and divided the report in several articles.

All pictures are copyright Alain Littaye and i thank you by advance to contact me at: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr if you want to use any of them.

We'll start by the entrance of Arthur C.Clarke home and what i call his "wall of awards". Above, the house as seen from outside. Below, the name of Arthur C. Clarke is always there, close to the entrance door.

The great Moon background is the first thing a visitor sees when he enter, before taking the stairs to the first floor.

Close to this "Moon" entrance there is a window in which are displayed different Arthur C Clarke souvenirs, including one of "Winner of Playboy Editorial Award"!

When you walk up the stairs, you'll see on the right an original poster for Stanley Kubrick's 2001 : A Space Odyssey.

A funny sign that you can't miss climbing the stairs "Mars: 35.000.000 Miles" !

At the top of the stairs, surprise, the original 1945 text of Arthur C. Clarke depicting his concept of a series of geo-stationery satellites, as well as the certificate of five shares of the "Communications Satellite Corporation".

Please jump to the next page for the part two or click HERE. To go back to the HOME page click HERE.

All Pictures: Copyright Alain Littaye.

Arthur C. Clarke Home Pictorial Report - Part Two

In this part two we'll have a look at what i've called Arthur C. Clarke "Wall of Awards". I have to say that, at the exception of Walt Disney and Frank Sinatra, i've never seen someone else who received so many awards in his life. A small note : although Sir Arthur did not believed in astrology, it's interesting to note that Arthur C. Clarke, Walt Disney and Frank Sinatra were all three Sagittarius, a sign with Jupiter being the "master" of the sign, Jupiter bringing generally luck, optimism, fame... and awards.

Above, the room at the top of the stairs, the one with all the awards is the next one and the awards are displayed on three walls.

Let's have a closer look at some of these in details!

A portrait of Arthur C. Clarke painted by, if my memory is right, a Sri Lankan painter.

A great picture shot in May 1947 at the Faculty of Science, Kings College, in London.

Arthur C. Clarke in on the first row, fourth from the left on the close shot below.

The room also include on the right some shelves with books, lots of them about Space...

...and over the shelves this great picture or Arthur C. Clarke, and i think it was shot the day he became "Sir".

Jump to the next page for the part three or click HERE. To go back to the HOME page click HERE.

All Pictures: Copyright Alain Littaye

Arthur C. Clarke Home Pictorial Report - Part Three

In this part three of my pictorial report we enter the main room and office of Sir Arthur C. Clarke. As usual, don't hesitate to click on each picture to see them in original size and have a closer look at the books and other items that Arthur C. Clarke had on its shelves.

But before we enter in his office let's have a look at this funny sign on the door, a reference to Arthur Clarke chihuahua friend - also see video HERE.

A view when entering his office, Arthur Clarke desk is in the background.

On the left, near the window, a charming small globe, placed upon an old Meccano box.

Right on the left of this small globe are shelves with all different kind of books.

Arthur C. Clarke desk. Note his wheel chair. On the right, an Apple iMac and the framed New York Times front page announcing "Men on the Moon". The shelves behind include all the different editions of the books written by Arthur C. Clarke.

A picture showing the reverse angle, as seen from Arthur C. Clarke desk.

Two closer shots of the shelves behind Arthur C. Clarke desk, the ones with his books in world wide editions. Zoom in the picture to see each title and check the cool items on the top!

Let's have a look now on the right where we can see a poster of the 10th Planetary Congress Association of Space Explorers in Moscow in 1974, as well as a picture of Arthur C. Clarke and his pet friend and a "key" gift from the Mayor of the County of Hawaii in 1970.

A closer look at some pictures of Arthur C. Clarke in his younger years that one can see on his desk or nearby.

The next photo is from circa 1942 when Arthur C. Clarke served in the Royal Air Force as a radar instructor and technician.

Arthur C. Clarke with Buzz Aldrin, Hector Ekanayake and friends, in Sri Lanka.

With some of his dearest friends, in Colombo.

We'll now have a look at the shelves located at the right of his desk which include books not written by Arthur C. Clarke as well as all sorts of items.

A close shot on the items and the Buddha head on the top of the shelves.

On the same shelves is the old picture below. My guess is that it shows Arthur C. Clarke father and mother.

The exploration of Sir Arthur C. Clarke office continues in the part four on the next page or click HERE. To go back to the HOME page click HERE.

All pictures: copyright Alain Littaye

Arthur C. Clarke Home Pictorial Report - Part Four

We continue the exploration of Sir Arthur C. Clarke office and as usual don't hesitate to click on each picture to be able to zoom and explore them in details. We will have a look at the pictures on the wall at the left of his desk, starting by these amazing pictures of Arthur C. Clarke ready to be filmed for scenes in the 1981 Baddegama Sri Lankan movie in wish he played the role of Leonard Woolf. For more infos about the movie see the IMDB page HERE. I wish i would have been able to avoid the reflection on the glass on some pictures, but it was impossible.

Four great pictures of the meeting of Arthur C. Clarke with Pope Jean Paul II, at the Vatican.

Back to space, now, with this great picture of Sir Arthur with Wernher Von Braun.  You'll find it without the reflection in the glass in the pictures section of the site.

Right behind it is this great picture - yes, it's "Star Trek Generations" actor Patrick Stewart on the right.

Memory of the first Moon landing sent to Arthur C. Clarke by Buzz Aldrin.

A great picture of Sir Arthur with Neil Armstrong.

Another great picture. If you zoom in the photo you'll see that it's Arthur C. Clarke face in the astronaut helmet.

Another picture from an astronaut friend  apparently inside the Space Station with Arthur C. Clarke book 'Fountains of Paradise".

Here comes Darth Vader with this picture sent to Arthur Clarke by David Prowse who played Vader in the Star Wars movies.

Back to Earth with this picture of Sir Arthur with Prince Charles.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke at India's Taj Mahal.

With a group of friend scientists at Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies.

During a conference - anyone who can tell me when and where is welcome.

The visit of Arthur C. Clarke's office in his home at Colombo continues in the part five, jump to the next page or click HERE. To go back to the HOME page click HERE.


All pistures: copyright Alain Littaye