Analysis of the Center for Habitat Studies, Trivandrum designed by Laurie Baker and understanding architect's philosophy & ideologies

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CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
IN STITUTION DESI GN BY IN DIA N CON TEMP O RARY A RCH ITECT
LAURIE BAKER
CENTER FOR HABITAT
STUDIES
SHASHWAT SHARMA
1BQ18AT084 VI ‘C

2. CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE ASSIGNMENT 1
S H A S H W AT S H A R M A
1 B Q 1 8 AT 0 8 4 V I ‘ C ’
MASTER INDIAN ARCHITECT IN FOCUS
AR. LAWRENCE WILFRED “LAURIE” BAKER
Born 2 March 1917
Birmingham, England
Died 1 April 2007 (aged 90)
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Nationality Indian
EDUCATION:
Baker studied
architecture
at Birmingham
Institute of Art and
Design,
Birmingham, and
graduated in 1937.
• He also did humanitarian jobs in China
before finally settling in Kerala, India and
practicing for more than 4 decades.
• Later, the Laurie Baker Centre for Habitat
Studies in Thiruvananthapuram, a non-profit
society was founded in 2009, to propagate
his legacy and philosophies by education,
PRACTICE:
• Laurie Baker practiced architecture for few
years under prominent British Architects
during the post-war phase.
• INITIAL CAREER:
• From 1945 onwards he started to work on
various hospitals and care centers for
people suffering from Leprosy.
• He then moved to Kerala after marriage,
where he got to know of various
architectural ideas involving local
materials and efficient use of nature. He
also started to work with such techniques.
NOTABLE WORKS
MATURE WORKS:
• After practicing architecture in different
parts of India and finally in Kerala for about 4
decades. Baker felt the need to inculcate
and popularize the idea of vernacular and
cost-effective architecture.
THE HAMLET, 1980
BAKER FAMILY RESIDENCE,
TRIVANDRUM
INDIAN COFFEE
HOUSE, 1989
TRIVANDRUM
CENTRE FOR
DEVELOPMENT
STUDIES, 1971,
TRIVANDRUM
THE FISHERMAN VILLAGE, 1974-75,
POONTHURA
• His buildings tend to emphasise prolific – at times
virtuosic – masonry construction, instilling privacy
and evoking history with brick jali walls, a perforated
brick screen which invites a natural air flow to cool
the buildings' interior, in addition to creating intricate
patterns of light and shadow.
• Baker made many simple suggestions for cost
reduction including the use of Rat trap bond for
brick walls, having bends in walls that increased the
strength and provided readymade shelves, thin
concrete roofs and even simple precautions like
shifting dug up soil into the built area rather that out
of it.
• He advocated the use of low energy consuming
mud walls, using holes in the wall to get light. He
liked bare brick surfaces and considered plastering
and other embellishments as superfluous.
PHILOSOPHIES
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE
1. FILER SLABS: replacing un-productive concrete by a
filler material which reduces the weight of the slab.
2. ARCHES: The arch is significant because it provides a
structure which eliminates tensile stresses in spanning an
open space.
3. ADOBE OR SUN DRIED BRICKS: This is very old, well tried
and tested mud brick system common in many parts of
Kerala Of properly made, these mud sun dried bricks are
capable of being used for a two story house.
4. JAALI WALLS: These provide natural ventilation instead
of costly and environmentally damaging air
conditioning.
5. BAMBOO CONSTRUCTION: It is used for reinforcement,
shuttering, scaffolding, roofing, piles, filler material and
much more.
“BRICKS ARE LIKE
FACES TO ME”
~LAURIE BAKER
1.

3. CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE ASSIGNMENT 1
S H A S H W A T S H A R M A
1 B Q 1 8 A T 0 8 4 V I ‘ C ’
LAURIE BAKER CENTER FOR HABITAT STUDIES
INTRODUCTION: AREA STUDY
The campus has nine
buildings including:
• an office,
• a kitchen with a
dining hall,
• a dormitory to
house 16 persons
with a lecture hall,
• The 3.34 acre (1.35 hectares) campus is an
undulating piece of land dense with trees and
other flora and fauna.
• The campus at present has five buildings that
represent the last set of buildings personally
designed and built by Laurie Baker for one of
his friends who wanted to start a community
center for differently able children and adults
who will also interact with other persons in the
society.
• This initiative could not continue and hence a
proposal was made to secure the land and
buildings for
HIGHLIGHTS
Some elements of Baker’s Construction
Technique:
• Rat-trap Bond
• Jali Wall
• Filler Slab
• Frameless Doors and Windows
• Rubble Masonry
• Arches
• Bamboo Construction
• Mud Construction
• Built in Furniture
• Half Brick Wall
LOCATION:
• The LBC Campus is located in the Nooliyode Village in
Vilappilsala Panchayat, Kerala.
• 12 kms away from the centre of Thiruvananthapuram
city.
• 18 kms from the Trivandrum International Airport.
PURPOSE:
Laurie Baker Centre for Habitat Studies in
Thiruvananthapuram is a non-profit, educational
society founded in 2009, to propagate the legacy
and philosophies of Dr. Laurence Wilfred Baker (fondly
remembered as Laurie Baker) by education, research
and development in areas of cost-effective,
environment-friendly and local resource-based
alternative to building construction in India.
AREA: 3.496 acres
PROMINENT FEATURES
establishing the
LBC with financial
assistance from
the Government
of Kerala.
• a guest house to house seven persons,
• a tower that houses a rain water
harvesting tank and a view tower where
discussion sessions can be held.
• Most of the site is unbuilt .
• Built on a granite quarry, the deep
excavations provide contours to the site.
Laurie Baker, true to his principle of
building with minimum intervention to the
site shapes the buildings along these
quarry lines. The load bearing buildings
have no footings and are built on a
random rubble masonry foundation. •
What was once a barren land, is now
abundant with trees. The 1200 odd
saplings have grown into a forest rich with
flora and fauna within a span of 15 years.
2.
• The Laurie Baker Centre for
Habitat Studies in
Thiruvananthapuram, a non-
profit society was founded in
2009.

4. CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE ASSIGNMENT 1
S H A S H W A T S H A R M A
1 B Q 1 8 A T 0 8 4 V I ‘ C ’
LAURIE BAKER CENTER FOR HABITAT STUDIES
SITE PLAN: HIGHLIGHTS
APPROACH:
• Entrance is on the South-end of the
campus.
• Can be approached from the 8.5 m
wide Nooliyode-Vilappilsala road.
CIRCULATION:
• The 3.5 m wide pathway branches
and shapes accordingly after 120
meters from the main entrance to
connect the
• cluster of buildings, ensuring
comfortable circulation.
LEGIBILITY:
• The overall master plan incorporates the varying levels of the site,
and the rain water harvesting tank is situated at the highest point.
• The undulating surface of the land isn’t disturbed but is, in fact,
acknowledged and all the built forms are draped on the contours.
PERIPHERAL TREATMENT:
• The entire campus perimeter is bound by natural contours joined
by brick and stone walls at different places.
• The dense plantation of trees adjacent to the boundary wall also
acts as a distinguishing element for the campus from the
surrounding.
• Rubble masonry is preferred for the retaining walls against
undulations.
ENTRANCE SIGNAGE & BOUNDARY WALLS
STRUCTURE ON SLOPING LAND IN THE
CAMPUS.
3.

5. CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE ASSIGNMENT 1
S H A S H W A T S H A R M A
1 B Q 1 8 A T 0 8 4 V I ‘ C ’
LAURIE BAKER CENTER FOR HABITAT STUDIES
PLANS: ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
DORMITORY:
Dormitory of LBC can
house 16 people at a
time and has a lecture
hall.
• It is situated in between
the entrance of the
institution and the other
building block of the
center, • There is seating
space provided outside.
• Low cost housing
techniques are used
throughout the dormitory
• This building features
some of Baker’s most
virtuosic brick work.
curved jali walls creating
a breezy, shaded space.
• Design is adapted to best suit the existing flora and fauna.
• Use of low-cost building techniques throughout.
THE
DORMITORY
THE
ADMINISTRATION
BLOCK
MATERIALS AND FEATURES:
• Just like every other buildings
designed by Laurie Baker, these are
also made up of bricks majorly with
bamboo reinforcements at places.
• Arched corridors and Jali design on
walls can be seen
• Rat –trap Bond is used for masonry.
• Climate-responsive architecture is
portrayed efficiently.
Arched
corridors,
DORMITORY
Rat-trap Bond
construction
LANDSCAPING & FUTURE EXPANSION:
• Water bodies in form of ponds are created to give a
cooling effect.
• Built on a granite quarry, the deep excavations
provide contours to the site. Laurie Baker, true to his
principle of building with minimum intervention to the
site shapes the buildings along these quarry lines. The
load bearing buildings have no footings and are built
on a random rubble masonry foundation.
• What was once a barren land, is now abundant with
trees. The 1200 odd saplings have grown into a forest
rich with flora and fauna within a span of 15 years.
• Further expansion of the buildings is difficult as they are
already packed from either the level difference of
grown trees.
• But with the maximum of the site being unbuilt, there is
enough scope for upcoming structures.
Artificial Ponds
ADMINISTRATION
BLOCK:
• The administrative
building is sited in the
main route through
campus, and is
approached by a
rock cut staircases,
that connects to the
first floor level.
• The building’s plan, like
others on the campus,
was planned around
existing plants
• A narrow staircase
leads to a dynamic
roofscape dotted with
benches and mango-
shaped plant troughs.
4.

6. CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE ASSIGNMENT 1
S H A S H W A T S H A R M A
1 B Q 1 8 A T 0 8 4 V I ‘ C ’
LAURIE BAKER CENTER FOR HABITAT STUDIES
SITE PLAN: ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
• Planning done while keeping the user interaction the top most priority.
• Use of low-cost building techniques throughout.
CANTEEN/DINING
HALL
THE OFFICE
MATERIALS AND FEATURES:
BUILT-IN
FURNITURE
BAMBOO STAIRCASE
LANDSCAPING & FUTURE EXPANSION:
• Courtyards and open spaces play
equally important role in maintaining
harmony and balance between work
space and relaxation space along with
other built structures.
• The trees around which the structure
were designed are now fully grown and
their canopy provides shade and
comfortable atmosphere around the
structure.
• Apart from the bamboo staircases, the
normal pathway steps are cut directly in
the rocks
The Open Air Theatre
CANTEEN/ DINING HALL
• At the entrance is the dining hall
• Followed by a washroom in the centre
• A kitchen and storage space on the left
• A serving space at the back
OFFICE
• The ground floor contains office room, storage spaces, and
a visitors space.
• The first floor of the building is the residence of the office staff
• The furniture is built-in.
• Filler slabs and skylights are used
on the roof
• Terracotta tiles are used on the
floor.
• Most common arch shapes
come in semi-circular, pointed,
corbelled, and bell shapes
• The main feature of this office
building is the bamboo staircases.
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