Laurence Wilfred LAURIE BAKER

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Laurence Wilfred LAURIE BAKER
PRESENTED BY MANISH SINGH SWATI SAXENA
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LIFE HISTORY

• (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.

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• 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.1

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CONTRIBUTION TO INDIA

• 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.

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Initial work

• 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.

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• 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

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PRINCIPLES FOLLOWED BY BAKER THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE
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Architectural style

• 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.

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• 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

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• 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,

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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.

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LOW COST CONSTRUCTION
Advantages 20-35 Less materials Decorative,
Economical Reduced self-load Almost
maintenance free 25-30 Cost Reduction
Filler slab
Advantages Energy saving Eco-Friendly
compressive roofing. Decorative Highly
Economical Maintenance free
Jack Arch
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LOW COST CONSTRUCTION

• Masonry Dome
• Advantages
• Energy saving eco-friendly compressive roof.
• Decorative Highly Economical for larges spans.
• Maintenance free

• Funnicular shell
• Advantages
• Energy saving eco-friendly compressive roof.
• Decorative Economical
• Maintenance free

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Low cost constructions

• Masonry Arches
• Advantages
• Traditional spanning sytem.
• Highly decorative economical
• Less energy requirement.

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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
• 1993 International Union of Architects (IUA)
  Award

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• 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 from the Pritzker Prize

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The Hamlet
his residence
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
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The Hamlet

• This is Baker's home in Trivandrum.
• This is remarkable and unique house built on a
  plot of land along the slope of a rocky hill,
  with limited access to water
• However Baker's genius has created a wonderful
  home for his family

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• Material used from unconventional sources
• Family eats in kitchen
• Electricity wiring is not concealed

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Drawings
GROUND FLOOR
FIRST FLOOR
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STEPS LEADING UP TO FRONT DOOR
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A VIEW FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE
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STEPS DIRECTLY CUT IN ROCK
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ENTRANCE HAS SMALL SITTING AREA FOR GUESTS
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THE WALL IS DECORATED FROM BROKEN POTTERY, PENS,
GLASS
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A CALLING BELL FOR VISITORS TO ANNOUNCE THEIR
PRESENCE
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A MORNING AT HEMLET
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USE OF NATURAL LIGHT
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USE OF NATURAL LIGHT
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INNER COURTYARD CLOSE TO NATURE
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NEVER CUT TREES INSTEAD ADAPTED HIS DESIGN
ACCORDINGLY
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ARCHES LED INTO A BEAUTIFUL OPEN ROOM
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COURTYARD HAS MANY GARDENS AND PONDS
Pitched roof made of manglore tiles
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BAKERS FONDNESS OF ARCHES
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SIMPLE YET BEAUTIFUL WINDOWS
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GABLES FOR PROPER AIR CIRCULATION AND VENTILATION
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GRILL MADE OF BITS AND PIECES
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CONICAL STRUCTURE USED
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COST EFFECTIVE BAKERS WINDOW
Louvered window typical of bakers type
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STAINED GLASS EFFECT
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WATER TANK FOR STORING RAIN HARVESTED WATER
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Mrs Nalini Nayaks residence
(A Social Worker) Ulloor, Trivandrum (1971)

• Requirements-
• Meeting place.
• working place (training).
• Open spaces.
• Classroom dormitories.

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External ViewsGenerous sprawling ground
floor with three floor staking of pentagon
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• 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

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Ground floor plan
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1st Floor Plan
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2nd Floor Plan
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The Entrance
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View of entrance from living room

• Built furniture of bricks

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1st floor bedroom entrance.
Common door for entry and bathroom
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Jali walls
Sun light merging inwards.
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Jali window.
2nd floor bedroom.
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FISHERMENS VILLAGEPoonthura ,Trivandrum(1974-75
)

• 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
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Design strategies
Construction

• Exposed brickwork and structure
• Sloped concrete roof
• Openness in design and individual units offset
  each other
• Continuous latticework
• in the exposed walls

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Dealing With Cyclones

• 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

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Open Spaces

• 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

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PLAN
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COMPUTER CENTREUlloor, Trivandrum (1971)
Challenges
Solution of Computer Centre Design Problems
Fitting in naturally and harmoniously with the
elevations of the twenty five year old institution
elevation
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• 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
  jalis
• 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.

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plan
External lattice
Two storeyed outer wall is stiffened by a series
of intersecting circles,
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Space used for storage