2. (March 2, 1917 – April 1, 2007) British-born 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.
In 1990, the Government of India awarded him with
the Padma Shri in recognition of his meritorious
service in the field of architecture.
3. Baker studied architecture in
Birmingham and graduated in 1937,
aged 20, in a period of political unrest
for Europe.
During the Second World War, he
served in the Friends Ambulance Unit
in China and Burma.
4. worked as an architect for an
international and interdenominational
Mission dedicated to the care of those
suffering from leprosy.
focused on converting or replacing
asylums once used to house the ostracized
sufferers of the disease - "lepers".
Used indigenous architecture and methods
of these places as means to deal with his
once daunting problems.
5. Baker lived in Kerala with Doctor P.J.
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.
6. Baker sought to enrich the culture in
which he participated by promoting
simplicity and home-grown quality in
his buildings.
His emphasis on cost-conscious
construction,
An ideal that the Mahatma expressed
as the only means to revitalize and
liberate an impoverished India
8. Designing and building low cost,
high quality, beautiful homes
Suited to or built for lower-middle
to lower class clients.
Irregular, pyramid-like structures on
roofs, with one side left open and
tilting into the wind.
9. Brick jali walls, a
perforated brick screen
which utilises natural
air movement to cool the
home's interior and
create intricate
patterns of light and
shadow
10. Baker's designs invariably have
traditional Indian sloping roofs and
terracotta Mangalore tile shingling
with gables and vents allowing rising
hot air to escape.
Curved walls to enclose more volume
at lower material cost than straight
walls,
11. Baker was often seen rummaging through
salvage heaps looking for suitable building
materials, door and window frames.
Baker's architectural method is of
improvisation.
Initial drawings have only an idealistic link to
the final construction, with most of the
accommodations and design choices being made
on-site by the architect himself
12. His respect for nature led him to let
the idiosyncrasies of a site inform his
architectural improvisations, rarely is
a topography line marred or a tree
uprooted.
This saves construction cost as well,
since working around difficult site
conditions is much more cost-effective
than clear-cutting
13. Baker created a cooling system by
placing a high, latticed, brick wall
near a pond that uses air pressure
differences to draw cool air through
the building
. His responsiveness to never-identical
site conditions quite obviously
allowed for the variegation that
permeates his work.
14. Filler slab
Jack Arch
Advantages
20-35% Less materials
Decorative,
Economical & Reduced
self-load
Almost maintenance
free
25-30% Cost Reduction
Advantages
Energy saving & Eco-
Friendly compressive
roofing.
Decorative & Highly
Economical
Maintenance free
17. • 1981: D.Litt conferred by the Royal
University of Netherlands for
outstanding work in the Third World
• 1983: Order of the British Empire, MBE
• 1987: Received the first Indian
National Habitat Award
• 1988: Received Indian Citizenship
• 1989: Indian Institute of Architects
Outstanding Architect of the Year
• 1990: Received the Padma Sri
• 1990: Great Master Architect of the
18. • 1993: Sir Robert Matthew Prize for
Improvement of Human Settlements
• 1994: People of the Year Award
• 1995: Awarded Doctorate from the
University of Central England
• 1998: Awarded Doctorate from Sri
Venkateshwara University
• 2001: Coinpar MR Kurup Endowment
Award
• 2003: Basheer Puraskaram
• 2003: D.Litt from the Kerala University
• 2005: Kerala Government Certificate of
Appreciation
• 2006: L-Ramp Award of Excellence
19.
20. • Key features of his house are:
All the walls are made of mud bricks.
Timber salvaged from an old boat
jetty
One of the other signature elements
of his design includes the use of
circular walls, which use far less
brick than rectangular walls.
In addition, when he does use
concrete for a roof, he embeds
chipped or broken terra cotta
roofing tiles into the mixture.
21. These tiles, which normally would be
thrown away, contribute to the strength
of the roof, allow less of the expensive
concrete to be used, and reduce the
structural load of the building.
He used broken tiles for the outer paved
area of his garden.
The living room, An integration of new
building and salvaged timber from
traditional buildings that were being
demolished.
Baker's innovative use of discarded
bottles, inset in the walls giving a very
good effect of light and creating an
illusion of stained glass.
38. The main house is formed by a simple
three-floor stacking of the pentagon
on nine-inch-thick brick walls
internally each floor divides into the
bedroom, bath and landing
The additional segment on the ground,
forming the living/dining and kitchen, is
structured with bays of half-brick
thickness, alternating wall and wall
and door
43. CHALLENGES:
Severity of environment in which the
tribal's live.
Limitation of resources
Conventional architects stayed away from
these projects
Dealing with large insular groups, with set
ideas and traditions.
Dealing with cyclones
Area of each unit : 25 sqm
44. Exposed brickwork and structure
Sloped concrete roof
Openness in design and individual units
offset each other
Continuous latticework
in the exposed walls
Construction
45. Low sloped roofs and courts serve as
wind catchers
Open walls function to dispel it
Long row of housing replaced by even
staggering
Fronting courts catch the breeze and
also get view of sea
Dealing With Cyclones:
46. Little private rectangle of land in
between houses for drying nets , kids
play,
Provides sleeping lofts within and
adequate space outside for mending
nets and cleaning and drying fish
Open Spaces
49. elevation
Solution of Computer
Centre Design Problems
Fitting in naturally and
harmoniously with the
elevations of the twenty
five year old institution
Challenges :
50. • Using principle of lattice wall planning,
breezeways and built of natural brick and
stone keeping in consideration the
electronic sophistication
• He proposed a double walled building with
an outer surface of intersecting circles of
brick jails
• Internal shell fulfilled the constraints
and controls necessary for a computer
laboratory.
• Space between the two walls
accommodated the secondary requirements
for offices and storage areas.
