Laurie baker

Lawrence Wilfred "Laurie" Baker (2 March 1917 – 1 April 2007) was a British-born Indian architect, renowned for his initiatives in cost-effective energy-efficient architecture and designs that maximized space, ventilation and light and maintained an uncluttered yet striking aesthetic sensibility. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and his own experiences in the remote Himalayas, he promoted the revival of regional building practices and use of local materials; and combined this with a design philosophy that emphasized a responsible and prudent use of resources and energy. He was a pioneer of sustainable architecture as well as organic architecture, incorporating in his designs even in the late 1960s, concepts such as rain-water harvesting, minimizing usage of energy-inefficient building materials, minimizing damage to the building site and seamlessly merging with the surroundings. Due to his social and humanitarian efforts to bring architecture and design to the common man, his honest use of materials, his belief in simplicity in design and in life, and his staunch Quaker belief in non-violence, he has been called the "Gandhi of architecture".[1]

He moved to India in 1945 in part as an architect associated with a leprosy mission and continued to live and work in India for over 50 years. He became an Indian citizen in 1989 and resided in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala from 1969 and served as the Director of COSTFORD (Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development), an organisation to promote low-cost housing.Baker was born into a staunch Methodist family, the youngest son of Birmingham Gas Department's chief accountant, Charles Frederick Baker and Millie Baker. His early schooling was at King Edwards Grammar School. His elder brothers, Leonard and Norman studied law, and he had a sister, Edna who was the oldest of them all. In his teens Baker began to question what religion meant to him and decided to become a Quaker, since it was closer to what he believed in. Baker studied architecture at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Birmingham, and graduated in 1937, aged 20, in a period of political unrest in Europe.Throughout his practice, Baker developed a signature style in 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. He derived creatively from pre-existing local culture and building traditions while keeping his designs minimal with judicious and frugal use of resources.[13] [14] 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. Another significant Baker feature is irregular, pyramid-like structures on roofs, with one side left open and tilting into the wind. Baker's designs

1. INTRODUCTION Laurie Baker was born on March 2, 1917 in a Christian Methodist family. After his matriculation, he joined the Birmingham’s School of Architecture and became an Associate Member of the Royal Institute of Architects (ARIBA) in 1938. In 1941, Laurie joined the ‘mission to lepers’ at Kutsing in inland China. In 1945 Laurie decided to go back to England and start his practice. But because of the war he had to stay in India(Mumbai) for three months. This was the period when he met Mahatma Gandhi who made a great influence on him. Laurie returned to England after this but only for a short period, he came back to India and settled in pithogarrh for a period. Later he married Elizabeth Baker and settled in Kerala.

2. DESIGN PRINCIPLES True to material and expression, exposed brick work, concrete and structural elements. Climatically responsive designs. His buildings tend to emphasize masonry construction, instilling privacy and evoking history with brick jali walls, a perforated brick screen which invites a natural air flow to cool. Laurie Baker's architecture focused on retaining a site's natural character, and economically minded indigenous construction, and the seamless integration of local material, crafts men and construction technique. 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. Study of potential services within the site( water ,drainage, power etc ) Well known for designing and building low cost, high quality, beautiful homes. Used many cost efficient methods and design.

3. observations All the natural elements are maintained aptly. Usage of natural light has taken care of most of the rooms has Jaalis and skylights to allow natural light to enter. Pitched roofs made of Mangalore tiles. Gables are used for proper air circulation and ventilation Grills of doors and windows are made of bits and pieces of iron and steel Stained glass in form of bottles and glasses are used to fill the window voids to create a light effect. Water tank is used to store rain harvesting water. Jaali forms are made out of bricks on walls and windows to allow natural light to enter. Water bodies in form of ponds present to give a cooling effect.

4. Some elements of Baker's Construction Rat-trap Bond Jaali Wall Filler Slab Frameless Doors and Windows Rubble Masonry Arches Lintel Bamboo Construction Flooring Mud Construction Built in Furniture Half Brick Wall

5. ARCHITECTURAL STYLE Throughout his practice, Baker became well known for designing and building low cost, high quality 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 jaali walls, a perforated brick screen which utilizes natural air movement to cool the home's interior and create 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. Curved walls enter Baker's architectural vocabulary as a means to enclose more volume at lower material cost than straight walls. 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.

6. CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Centre for development studies, Trivandrum, 1972-1974 The building of this centre also incorporates all the elemental characteristics of Baker’s style- the jali’s , the traditional roofs, the stepped arches, the over-hanging eaves and the skylights. 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 centre for differently able children and adults who will also interact with other persons in the society. An area of 9 acres accommodates administrative offices, computer centre , amphitheatre , library, classrooms, housings and other components of an institutional design.

7. planning The campus has nine buildings including: (1) an office, (2) a kitchen with a dining hall, (3) a dormitory to house 16 persons with a lecture hall, (4) a guest house to house seven persons, (5) a tower that houses a rain water harvesting tank and a view tower where discussion sessions can be held.

8. PLANNING The overall master plan incorporates the varying levels of the site, and the rain water harvesting tank is situated at the highest point. To minimize the cost of construction, all the buildings incorporate Laurie Baker's well-known construction technique - the Filler Slab. The magnificence of using filler slabs can be seen in the thin roofs which adorn the landscape. Typical of Laurie baker's structures - brick jalis , mango motifs, and openings are all part of these buildings. The campus exemplifies the practice of sustainable architecture. 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. Before the construction of these buildings, the campus was a rubble quarry with very little of green cover and top soil. However, within a period of ten years the campus has been turned into a dense green covered area with many plants and trees. It also houses a patch of forest-like area with wild growth of trees and plants. It is proposed to introduce organic agriculture without disturbing the existing green cover. There is also a plan for setting up a biogas plant as well as solar energy generating units. This simple ideology of Mr. Baker made him the person who successfully evolved new ways of construction which were cost-effective and energy-efficient.

9. ADMIN 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; here, a dramatic open space holds two towering trees. A narrow staircase leads to a dynamic roofscape dotted with benches and mango-shaped plant troughs. There is a visitor space with a balcony. And an admin room which contains all the work of bakers in books.

10. dormitory Dormitory is used to house a large number of people in a school or institution Dormitory 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 centre . 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. The monolithic walls rise up two stories, and end in a handrail on the second storey balcony. Private rooms are located at the back of the building, shielded from the public walkway

11. GUEST HOUSE A guest house to house seven persons, with a waiting room. There is courtyard surrounded by the rooms. In-built furniture's. The guest house is situated behind the office building.

12. 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. The furniture is built-in. Filler slabs and skylights are used on the roof Terracotta tiles are used on the floor

13. WATCH TOWER A tower that houses a rain water harvesting tank and a view tower where discussion sessions can be held.

14. Main features of this building • The design is in response to its sloping contoured site and seems to grow out of it. • Baker simply moulds his walls around the trees so as not to disturb it. • He designed the buildings at the Centre to practically cool them. • He renders jails, a perforated wooden screen found in traditional Indian architecture, in brick; The open grillwork allows cool breezes to waft into the interior while filtering harsh, direct sunlight. • Some buildings include a series of small courtyards containing shallow pools in the center, whose evaporation helps cool the air.. • In evaluating the campus for the Centre, Baker planned roads along the lower, while footpaths were routed along naturally occurring elevated areas; following the natural topography helps to limit erosion and despoilment of the environment. • Brick walls were left unplastered and brick corbelling was used rather than more expensive concrete lintels. • With his mastery over his medium, Baker creates a variety of textures and patterns by simple manipulation of the way in which bricks are placed in the wall. Each structure curling in waves, semicircles and arcs • The architecture of this academic complex was conceived as a demonstration of economically responsible building practices. • The teaching block, the largest of the buildings, occupies the highest point. • Its circular, brick-textured library tower is the core structure providing a visual focus. • A special staircase provides access to the different library floors.

15. features Areas for administration and teaching radiate out from the library. • The Library dominates the center with seven storey tower, the administrative offices and classrooms are scattered in a randomness determined by each ones position on the slope. However, the building remain tightly connected through corridors that snakes upwards to the library along breezy walkways and landscape courts. • The administrative offices and classrooms are scattered in randomness determined by its position on the slope. • However the buildings remains tightly connected through corridors that snake upward till the library along breezy walkways and landscaped courtyards. • Wall thicknesses change on different floors based on loading and requirement. tion and teaching radiate out from the library.

16. St. John Cathedral, Tiruvalla St. John Cathedral, Tiruvalla , built in 1973. Area: 1140 sqm The design of this provincial cathedral is away from the massive Baroque prototype of church architecture first imported by Portuguese Vatican Council of the early 1960s encouraged a reinterpretation of many traditional forms and ideals with a view to encouraging a more personal involvement of the worshipper in the church. Implicit in these changes was call for more accessible and culturally appropriate church architecture. With its circular plan and tent –like wooden roof, this Kerala cathedral is a response to the modern Vatican; an attempt to design an indigenous church type. The building is sited in a semi-rural context adjacent to a main road. One enters it through a large brick gateway proceeding down a broad set of stairs to the level clearing in a grove of coconut trees in which the building nestles.

17. The structure is built of local materials. Stone piers are the main load – bearing elements. Non –load-bearing brick infill, as intricate grill work, allows air and light to filter into the hall. • Long plywood trusses, assembled at the site, spring from the piers to meet at the apex of the structure about 25 meters above the floor.

18. features The clear –span conical roof, which has a collar of dormer windows, is crowned with an impressive cross. The sizable structure was erected with innovative adhoc engineering with the help of unskilled laborers and local parishioners(members of church community) The interior experience is inspiring, moody and reminiscent of soaring Gothic spaces. The building is a fine example of the architect’s arts and crafts training in England. This is well displayed in the Ruskinian harmony between the tectonics of the construction and the decorative and textural development of the architecture, a creative collaboration between the architect and various artisans who were responsible for some excellent iron and stained – glass work.

19. Thank you