Unit 4 - Critical Regionalism: Ar Ramesh Kumar A

UNIT 4 –
CRITICAL REGIONALISM
Ar Ramesh Kumar A
Ideas and
selected
works of
Laurie Baker
Ideas and selected works of Laurie Baker
Laurence Wilfred "Laurie" Baker (March 2, 1917 – April 1, 2007) was an
award-winning British-born Indian architect, renowned for his initiatives in
cost-effective energy-efficient architecture and for his unique space utilisation
and simple but beautiful aesthetic sensibility. In time he made a name for
himself both in sustainable architecture as well as in organic architecture.
 Laurie Baker 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, since 1970 , where he later set up an
organization called COSTFORD (Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development),
for spreading awareness for low cost housing.
 In 1990, the Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri in recognition of his
meritorious service in the field of architecture.
Education and missionary work
 Baker studied architecture at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, 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.
 His initial commitment to India had him working as an architect for World Leprosy Mission,
an international and interdenominational Mission dedicated to the care of those suffering
from leprosy in 1945.
 As new medicines for the treatment of the disease were becoming more prevalent, his
responsibilities were focused on converting or replacing asylums once used to house the
ostracized sufferers of the disease - "lepers".
 Education to be inadequate for the types of issues and materials he was faced with termites
and the yearly monsoon, as well as laterite, cow dung, and mud walls, respectively,
 Baker had no choice but to observe and learn from the methods and practices of the
vernacular architecture. He soon learned that the indigenous architecture and methods
of these places were in fact the only viable means to deal with his once daunting
problems.
 Inspired by his discoveries baker began to turn his style of architecture towards one that
respected the actual culture and needs of those who would actually use his buildings,
rather than just playing to the more "Modernistic" tunes of his paying clients.
Gandhian encouragement and initial work
 After he came to India Laurie had a chance encounter with Mahatma Gandhi which was
to have a lasting impact on his ideology and also his work and building philosophy.
 After India gained her independence and Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, Baker lived
in Kerala with Doctor P.J. Chandy, from whom he received great encouragement
 Laurie continued his architectural work and research accommodating the medical needs
of the community through his constructions of various hospitals and clinics.
 Baker would acquire and hone those skills from the local building community which had
so fascinated him during his missionary work.
 In 1966, Baker moved south and worked with the tribals of Peerumed, Kerala, and in
1970 moved to Thiruvananthapuram
 Baker sought to enrich the culture in which he participated by promoting simplicity and
home-grown quality in his buildings.
 Seeing so many people living in poverty in the region and throughout India served also to
amplify his emphasis on cost-conscious construction, one that encouraged local
participation in development and craftsmanship - an ideal that the Mahatma expressed
as the only means to revitalize and liberate an impoverished India.
Central for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.
 One of the first buildings designed by Laurie Baker. 1971
Centre for Development Studies (Trivandrum, 1971) 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.
Architectural style
 Throughout his practice, Baker became well known for designing and building low cost,
high quality, beautiful homes, with a great portion of his work suited to or built for
lower-middle to lower class clients.
 His buildings tend to emphasize 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.
 Another significant Baker feature is irregular, pyramid-like structures on roofs, with one
side left open and tilting into the wind. 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 enter Baker's architectural vocabulary as a means to enclose more volume
at lower material cost than straight walls, and for Laurie, "building [became] more fun
with the circle."
Baker's works, such as this house, blend The Indian Coffee House in
seamlessly into the natural settings. Thiruvananthapuram
 Baker's architectural method is one of improvisation, in which 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.
 Compartments for milk bottles near the doorstep, windowsills that double as bench
surfaces, and a heavy emphasis on taking cues from the natural condition of the site are
just some examples.
 His approach to architecture steadily gained appreciation as architectural sentiment
creaks towards place-making over modernizing or stylizing.
 Laurie Baker's architecture focused on retaining a site's natural character, and
economically minded indigenous construction, and the seamless integration of local
culture that has been very inspirational.
 Many of Laurie Baker's writings were published and are available through COSTFORD (the
Center Of Science and Technology For Rural Development)
 COSTFORD is carrying on working towards the ideals that Laurie Baker espoused
throughout his life.
Awards
1981: D.Litt. conferred by the Royal University of Netherlands for outstanding work in the
developing countries. 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,1993: International Union of Architects
(IUA) Award,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,2006: Nominated for the Pritzker Prize
(considered the Nobel Prize in Architecture)

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UNIT 4 –

Education and missionary work

 His buildings tend to emphasize prolific - at times virtuosic - masonry construction,

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