Architect Laurie Baker

7/23/2019 Architect Laurie Baker

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(2 March1917 1 April 2007)


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Baker studied architecture in Birmingham and graduated in 1937, aged 20, in a period ofpolitical unrest for Europe.

During the Second World War, he served in the Friends Ambulance Unit in China andBurma.

He worked as an architect for an international and interdenominational Mission dedicated tothe care of those suffering from leprosy.

He focused on converting or replacing asylums once used to house the ostracized sufferersof the disease - "lepers".

He Used indigenous architecture and methods of these places as means to deal with hisonce daunting problems.


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Awards

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 Year 1992: UNO Habitat Award & UN Roll of Honour


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CONCEPTS AND STYLE OF BAKERDesigning and building low cost, high quality, beautiful homesSuited 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.

Brick jali walls, a perforated brick screen which utilises natural air movement to cool thehome's interior and create intricate patterns of light and shadow.

Baker's designs invariably have traditional Indian sloping roofs and terracotta Mangalore tileshingling with gables and vents allowing rising hot air to escape curved walls to enclose morevolume at lower material cost than straight walls.

Baker was often seen rummaging through salvage heaps looking for suitable buildingmaterials, 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 theaccommodations and design choices being made on-site by the architect himself.


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-Low cost' or`cost reduction' is not only concerning economy. Most modern buildingmaterials are manufactured articles (like burnt bricks or steel or glass or cement). Theirrespective costs are one important consideration but just as important is the question of howmuch energy (or fuel) was used in their manufacture.

The use of local materials is an example of economy because there are no transport costs.These styles show that people have discovered that there is a right way and a wrong way ofputting materials together so that they are strong and durable. A wall, for example, is notnecessarily stronger because it is thicker. The bonding together of a few stones is much

stronger than the heaping together of a lot of stones.


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Baker always carried his home-made diary fashioned out of oldpieces of paper from envelopes and other waste plain paperwherever he went. Baker's ability to sketch was one of the main

reason he never learnt Indian languages since whenever peopledidn't understand English he would whip out his diary andscribble a quick sketch to explain what he meant.

SKETCES BY LAURIE BAKER


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COST EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUES

20-35% Less materialsDecorative, Economical &

Reduced self-loadAlmost maintenance free25-30% Cost Reduction

Energy saving & Eco-Friendly

compressive roofing.

Decorative & Highly EconomicalMaintenance free


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Filler slabs employ replacing 'un-productive'concrete by a 'Filler' material which reduces theweight of the slab and also the cost by reducing the

amount of concrete used. Also, since the weight ofthe slab is thus reduced, lesser steel is required forreinforcement, further reducing the cost.

The arch is significant because it provides astructure which eliminates tensile stresses inspanning an open space. All the forces areresolved into compressive stresses. This is usefulbecause several of the available building materialssuch as stone, cast iron and concrete can strongly

resist compression but are very weak when tension,shear or torsional stress is applied to them.


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A dome can be thought of as an arch which hasbeen rotated around its central vertical axis. Thusdomes, like arches, have a great deal of structuralstrength when properly built and can span largeopen spaces without interior supports.


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Promoted by HUDCO and DSIB, Govt. of DelhiEkta Vihar, Sector - 6, R.K. Puram, New Delhi - 110022


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Rat 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.


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Bricks to me are like faces. All of them are made of burnt mud, but they vary slightly in shapeand colour. I think these small variations give tremendous character to a wall made ofthousands of bricks, so I never dream of covering such a unique and characterful creation withplaster, which is mainly dull and characterless. I like the contrast of textures of brick, of stone,

of concrete, of wood.We still do not see that the most important industry in the country is the building industry. Werefuse to see that it can absorb every type of worker from the highly-skilled scientist to thecompletely non-skilled labourer. It can solve a large area of our unemployment problem, and,furthermore, it can start immediately, if we will it, as no other industry can.

My observation is that vernacular architecture almost always has good answers to all ourproblems. In every district, wherever you go, the people themselves take an active part inmaking their houses. Now, for whatever reasons, they have lost their skills, and need to lookoutside for help.


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IT is a Baker's home in Trivandrum.Take a closer look at this remarkable and unique house built on five levels on a plot ofland along the slope of a rocky hill, with limited access to water: conditions most people

would never dream of building anything much less their homes under! However Bakersgenius has created a wonderful home for his family.


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The Center For Development Studies

Centre for Development Studies Ulloor, Trivandrum, 1971the most important project of bakers career. The significance of this assignment had less

to do with size and budget, than with the idea of exhibiting a range of concepts applied tobuildings of varying functions, scale and dimensions.

An area of nine acres accommodates administrative offices, a computer centre, an amphi-theatre, a library, classrooms, housing and other components of an institutional design.


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Here, at the summit, the library dominates the centre with a seven-storey tower; the

administrative offices and classrooms are scattered in a randomness determined by eachone's position on the slope. However, the buildings remain tightly connected throughcorridors that snake upwards to the library along breezy walkways and landscaped courts.


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This plan is contained within a 30 foot square structure. It can beused where only one teacher is available for dealing with a smallnumber of children of different ages. This structure is notuncommon in remote and hilly areas. It is in such regions where

education facilities, including the school building itself, are missing ortotally inadequate.

Seating is indicated in the plan merely to show how the group caneither be taught (or act) collectively or be separated into 3 or 4classes.

Plan Of A School (2 alternatives)

This plan contains both a teachers room and a mini stage. By re-aligning the seating - all can face towards the stage for assembly ordramas or music etc.


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The Loyola complex contains a high school and a post-graduatecomplex, both sharing a common chapel and an auditorium. It was herethat Baker's skills of cost-reduction met their greatest challenge, as itrequired a seating capacity of one thousand. In order to increase thelateral strength of the high brick wall, without the introduction of anysteel or concrete, Baker devised a wide cavity double-wall with cross-bracing brick.


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The total covered area of the chapeland auditorium and the gallery isapproximately 930 square meters. Thecost in 1970-71, including the furniture

and appurtenances, lighting andsanitation was kept within the originalgift sum of1.75 lakh rupees.

1. Chapel nave2. Sanctuary3. Narthex4. Sacristy

5. Chapel6. Terrace7. Auditorium8. Stage9. Green room10. Toilet


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Both the walls were pierced with a continuousfloor-to-roof pattern ofjails,so that the chapel wasadequately, though somewhat mysteriously, lit-andventilated. Despite its tall proportions, theacoustics of the hall were remarkable-the exposedsurfaces and the open patterns of brickworkcontrolling the reverberations.


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Loyola Chapel and Auditorium: Estimate of CostRate Quantity Figure Say

Excavation and refilling cu.ft. 0.06 16,000 960 1,000Concrete foundations 1:4:8 cu.ft. 1.20 1,900 2,280 2,500DPC:CM 1:3 crude oil 5% wt c. sq.ft. 0.30 560 168 200

RR masonry in 1:5 cm cu.ft. 0.95 3,360 3,192 3,300first class bricks in 1:5 cm cu.ft. 1.80 16,100 28,980 29,0004.5" brick in 1:4 cm sq.ft. 0.75 1,250 938 1,000ditto query extra sq.ft. 0.75 1,600 1,200 1,500flooring 4"1:4:8 plus c.finish sq.ft. 0.65 6,840 4,480 4,500slab floor c. finish 5000.5" cm plaster sq.ft. 0.22 11,860 2,609 3,0003 coat whitewashing sq.ft. 0.03 11,860 355 500

I Supercem 3 coats (2 and primer) sq.ft. 0.30 11,860 3,560 4,000

RCframe cu.ft. 11.00 8,500 8,500RCslabs cu.ft. 8.00 2,560 20,480 20,500Doors 5,000Windows 500Chapel ceiling 10,000Auditorium ceiling '" 7,500Roof weathering 3" jelly tiles etc. sq.ft. 1.50 1,150 1,725 2,000AC roofing sq.ft. 1.50 6,050 9,075 9,000

Steel trusses cu.wt. 115. 25,000Sanitation and drains 2,500Electrical installation 10,0003% contingencies 4,425 4,500Furniture for chapel 18,000

Total Rs 1,70,000


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Loyola Womens Hostel


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Abu Abrahams House


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Major Jacobs House


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Sewa,Villapilsaala


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Extension to CSI Church


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-Columbus is reputed to have discoveredAmerica, but a large number of people had been already living there without thepublicity of his discovery for a very long time. Similarly, when I made my own little

personal discoveries, I realised that I had merely chanced to find an extensive set ofbuilding systems which were in no way 'discoveries' to more than five hundred millionpeople! I wanted to make use of this new knowledge in my own work.


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Architect Laurie Baker

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