The hamlet, laurie baker s home thiruvananthapuram, 3. How laurie baker revolutionized lowcost housing in 20th. Born on march 2, 1917 and brought u in birmingham england, laurence wilfred laurie baker 19172007 was the son of staunch and faithful methazoles parents. He focused on converting or replacing asylums once used. Gerard da cunha baker of india i was an anarchic 19 year old student of architecture on a study tour to the south of india, when i saw two buildings done by laurie baker. The british architect made india his home and its terrain inspired his costeffective, energyconscious architecture. The definitive biography of laurie baker laurie baker has worked in india for over forty years and is renowned for being one of the very few architects in the world to have designed and built buildings as diverse as fishermens huts, computer institutes, private homes, hostels, hospitals, churches, technical institutes, auditoriums, film studios and tourist centres. He bared his walls of beautiful brick works or stone masonry and made us admire the beauty of materials. Laurie baker building but mohan singhs house where he can live happily with. Architect laurie baker architectural design building. In 1990, the government of india awarded him with the padma shri in recognition of his meritorious service in the field. Government of kerala invites applications for laurie baker.
He bared his walls of beautiful brick works or stone masonry and. Rat trap bondrat trap bond brick masonry is an alternative tonormal english bond masonry walls by which 15%of cost can be reduced without comprimising thequality, strength and appearances. The first was a onetime home of his with a doughnut plan. Practical sessions encouraging handson exercises on varied alternatives in architecture. Baker studied architecture in birmingham and graduated in 1937, aged 20, in a period of political unrest for europe. Jun 14, 2017 this year, 2017, marks the centenary birth anniversary of arguably indias greenest architect, laurie baker, who was often called the father of sustainable architecture. In 1969, they moved to thiruvananthapuram, where baker worked for the remainder of his life. Elizabeth baker, in her memoir of her time together with laurie baker, the other side of laurie baker, discussed the berinag tea that they shared that was very special to them, as laurie was a man of exquisite and simple taste, who always loved the simple pleasures of life. The author gautam bhatia tries to frame most of the works of baker in this book although it was a tough job. Reprinted in 2014, this book authored by gautam bhatia makes an invaluable contribution by documenting the. Gandhi told him that anyone willing to work for the people was welcome to the country. March 2, 1917 april 1, 2007 britishborn indian architect he went to india in 1945 in part as a missionary and since then lived and worked in india for over 50 years he obtained indian citizenship in 1989 and resided in thiruvananthapuram trivandrum, kerala. Nick kindly pointed me towards laurie baker, the architects, website, where i found this gem of a manifesto, or architectural principles. Life, works, writing this book is the most the important and complete publication on laurie baker yet.
Laurie baker was truly a green architect, with considerable concern for harmony with nature as well as low maintenance cost. He emphasised local materials and traditional concepts in constructing dwellings, demonstrating a. He passed away in 2007 and has many buildings standing in india, but ive found that hes much less well known than some of his contemporaries like christopher alexander. His techniques not only use cheaper materials but also eliminate redundant details from the design. Lawrence wilfred laurie baker 2 march 1917 1 april 2007 was a britishborn indian architect, renowned for his initiatives in costeffective energyefficient architecture and designs that maximized space, ventilation and light and maintained an uncluttered yet striking aesthetic sensibility.
Vineet radhakrishnan, his grandson, has released a documentary on his life. Sust ainabilit y, archit ect ure, modernism, laurie baker 1. He lived for a few years at pithoragarh now in uttaranchal and then at vagamon, a hilly area of kerala. The britishborn indian architect, laurie baker, known as the gandhi of architecture, gave india lowcost building design with maximum efficiency and great aesthetic. Laurie baker 1999 this manual is mainly put together to help deal with working out inexpensive, effective and acceptable housing schemes for the homeless families in kerala. Nirmithi kendra in kerala center for development studies trivandrum 1975. Lecture 3 contemporary architecture laurie baker authorstream. Allow me to draw your attention to laurie baker, who is known for developing beautiful sustainable buildings in india, using traditional construction methods and natural materials. Laurie baker is an awardwinning britishborn indian architect and.
Laurie baker truth in architecture exotic india art. In his childhood he would accompany his father every weekend to visit cathedrals and other old buildings and then he would build models and draw pictures of what he had seen. Architect laurie baker view presentation slides online. Documentary on britishborn indian architect laurie bakers life, work thorugh the life and architecture of laurie baker, the author wants the younger generation to form their own opinions and views about the visionary who was known as the gandhi of architecture for his philosophy. Australian architectural graduate clare elizabeth kennedy discovers the unsung legacy of laurie bakers brick buildings in kerala, india on a six month sojourn to the subcontinent. Laurie baker building centrepromoted by hudco and dsib, govt. About the author born in birmingham, england, in 1917, laurie baker studied architecture at the birmingham school of architecture from where he graduated in 1937 and became an associate member of the, riba. He can be regarded as the father of green architecture in india. Laurie baker represented a unique tradition of architecture that blended man and nature. The exterior design incorporates elements from the architecture of the old cathedral. The government of india recognized baker s outstanding contributions to the country s architecture by awarding him the padma shri in 1990. Because baker did not like to do his jobs on drawing tables rather he preferred on site decisions. Ive been trying to collect up various manifestos and lists of principles, especially with. Laurie baker was an eminent architect originally from england who made india his home on mahtma gandhis advice.
A week later, the accomplished bharatanatyam dancer met the 64 architect with blue eyes. Mar 08, 2008 a biography of inspiring britishorigin indian architect laurie baker who pioneered costeffective energy efficient beautiful and simple architecture in india in brick mud and local materials. Mud laurie baker about the author born in birmingham, england, in 1917, laurie baker studied architecture at the birmingham school of architecture from where he graduated in 1937 and became an associate member of the, riba. In modern archit ect ure hist ory canon, only t he works f rom post independent. During the second world war, he served in the friends ambulance unit in china and burma.
Site visits to completed and ongoing projects which are based on the cost effective building technologies and bakers construction approaches. The book assembles influences, details and observations on and by laurie baker to treat one to an explicit and fitting record to his willingness to accommodate and experiment with architecture of frugality and his continuing capacity to inspire people in reevaluating excess. The former one was published by dc books and the later by penguin books and it is vailable in all leading book stores. In 1970, he came to trivandrum and has since been designing and constructing. He was an architects architect and he has left his footprints on the sands of time in relation to architecture with a human face. Laurie bakers architectural principles bringing designs to. Chandy, he received great encouragement and later married his sister while laurie continued his architectural work and research accommodating the medical needs of the community through his constructions of various hospitals and clinics. Laurie bakers architectural principles bringing designs. Laurie baker, an architect from birmingham, now settled in thiruvananthapuram, has effectively combined traditional techniques with indigenous innovations and has managed to bring down the cost of construction by half. Laurie baker full movie featurette for uncommon sense. The project is intended as a collaborative research of the laurie baker centre for habitat studies lbc, thiruvananthapuram, kerala with the sr sankaran chair in rural labour studies, national institute of rural development, hyderabad.
Remembering laurie baker, the pioneer british architect who. In his style we find the confluence of gandhijis thoughts and baker s own artistic view. Collectively costford has been able to realise about 20,000 buildings in kerala. Costford attempts to use some of the construction materials such as lime, bamboo, mud and exposed bricks and architectural elements such as the rattrap bond, filler slab void former. The exterior design incorporates elements from the architecture of the old cathedral that it replaced. Costford the centre of science and technology for rural development is an architectural practice in kerala founded by. Laurie baker vernacular architecture in india natural. Bakers unconventional approach to architecture redefined the concept of housing for the masses and earned him the name of architect of the poor.
But we took it as vernacular and labeled as an adaptation of kerala style. He obtained indian citizenship in 1989 and resided in thiruvananthapuram trivandrum, kerala. While costford and individual architects have documented bakers work in kerala, the documents have not been published yet. Laurie baker brick genius more margie australian architectural graduate clare elizabeth kennedy discovers the unsung legacy of laurie bakers brick buildings in kerala, india on a six month sojourn to the subcontinent. The bakers, now with three children, were forced to move south to the hilly village of vagamon in kerala. Jan 01, 2012 laurie bakers indian coffee house, trivandrum one of the prominent landmarks in the thampanoor area of trivandrum, where both the railway station as well as the bus terminal are located, is the indian coffee house designed by laurie baker. Laurie baker first visited thiruvananthapuram some 67 years back while he was working all over india from bombay to calcutta and delhi to thiruvananthapuram.
S huts, computer institutes, private homes, hostels, hospitals, churches, technical institutes, auditoriums, film studios and tourist centres. Laurie baker building but mohan singhs house where he can live happily with his family. About the author atul deulgaonkar is an independent journalist and author of. Life, works and writings, delves deep into baker s life and gives the readers a comprehensive view of him. Back of the book laurie baker was an architects architect and he has left his footprints on the sands of time in relation to architecture with a human face. Lecturecumdiscussions on laurie bakers approach to architecture and buildings. Applications are invited from individuals and organizations in the field of. Jan 07, 20 laurie baker building centrepromoted by hudco and dsib, govt. Documentary on britishborn indian architect laurie baker. Therefore please note that this is definitely a grossly incomplete list and has been pieced together in retrospect.
Leslie bakers masterpiece, the centre for development studies in kerala, is a 10 acre campus at a cost of rs15 lakhs, demonstrated the effectiveness of his plan. Laurie baker was so different from his contemporaries. So passionate was he about his mission to create shelter for as many as possible that he rarely documented any of his work per any typical architects norms. Take a 6 minute crash course on visionary architect laurie baker. In 1966, baker moved south and worked with the tribals of peerumede in kerala. The hamlet lowcost housing in current india as professor shailaja nair of thiruvananthapurams college of engineering, department of architecture tells us in a phone interview, frankly, there is a disparity between the volume of people who need such housing, and the people who are willing to accept it. Movie featurette for the upcoming full length documentary film on architect laurie baker. Baker did question the logic of plastered makeup as an unnecessary paste on unlike anybody before in kerala. It required the keen eyes and mind of laurie baker, who reached the state in the mid 1960s and made thiruvananthapuram his home in 1970, to force kerala to rethink, reinvent and in general, revisit its old architectural values. I travelled to kerala back in january 2004 and had indeed had coffee in the spiral coffee shop in trivandrum. The paper showcase embedded dimensions of sustainability in architect laurie bakers philosophy and practice of architecture through looking into his words and works. Laurence wilfred baker, born on 2 nd march 1917 in birmingham, england, moved to india at the peak of the indian independence struggle against the british.
Laurence wilfred laurie baker 2 march 1917 1 april 2007 was a britishborn indian architect, renowned for his initiatives in costeffective energyefficient architecture and designs that maximized space, ventilation and light and maintained an uncluttered yet striking aesthetic sensibility. Designed by iconic architect laurie baker, the cathedral has a templelike exterior but a conventional church interior. Apr 28, 2010 i travelled to kerala back in january 2004 and had indeed had coffee in the spiral coffee shop in trivandrum. This year, 2017, marks the centenary birth anniversary of arguably indias greenest architect, laurie baker, who was often called the father of sustainable architecture. Aug 03, 2015 take a 6 minute crash course on visionary architect laurie baker. The materials, the climate, the customs, all of course were different, but the principles were universal. Soon, she learned that the residence was built by laurie baker. The otherside of laurie baker by late elizabeth baker and lauire baker. Perhaps much of the content of the manual may be of relevance to many other parts of india. Government of kerala invites applications for laurie baker national award the department of housing, government of kerala has instituted a national award for sustainable housing, in the name of the renowned architect late dr. Exposed bricks, use of jallies in the place of glass windows, a rejection of geometric building designs.
A biography of inspiring britishorigin indian architect laurie baker who pioneered costeffective energy efficient beautiful and simple architecture in india in brick mud and local materials. Laurie baker or laurence wilfred baker was born on march 2, 1917 in a christian family. Aspects of traditional kerala architecture, temple architecture and eastern syrian christian tradition were integrated into the design. Lawrence wilfred laurie baker 2 march 1917 1 april 2007 was a british born indian. He worked as an architect for an international and interdenominational mission dedicated to the care of those suffering from leprosy. Laurie came to india in 1945, worked in the remotest of areas mostly in kerala, and passed away in 2007 at a ripe age o f 90. Remembering the genius architect in his centenary year. Costford attempts to use some of the construction materials such as lime, bamboo, mud and exposed bricks and architectural elements such as the rattrap bond, filler slab void former roofing used often by laurie baker in his work in kerala. In kerala we have no deserts and no big black cotton soil areas, but it is hoped that some sections of the manual will be of help to anyone planning to build small houses on. During the world war ii he was an anaesthetist to a surgical team in china where he also worked on control and treatment. Oct 12, 2016 gandhi told him that anyone willing to work for the people was welcome to the country. For laurie baker, a house was more than brick and mortar, it was a living thing. Laurie baker emphasised using local building material, even local tradition, in his works. Moving to india in 1945, baker began to work on leprosy centre buildings.
1283 679 1142 1079 182 33 491 417 1514 1123 720 970 1194 324 95 814 1025 929 460 1207 517 475 1165 11 504 1255 695 6 1488 455 1578 66 411 973 409 935 1247 731 110 831 1005 218 1090 170