Laurie Baker: Life, Works & Writings

by Gautam Bhatia

The Definitive Biography of Laurie Baker Laurie Baker has worked in India for over forty years and is renowned for being one of the very few architects in the world to have designed and built buildings as diverse as fishermen's huts, computer institutes, auditoriums, film studios and tourist centres. His distinctive brand of architecture, usually moulded around local building traditions (especially those of Kerela, his adopted home state in south India), is instantly identifiable and has, unsurprisingly, revolutionized traditional concepts of architecture in India. Baker's architecture is responsive, uses local materials and lays stress on low-cost design. This biograpy of Laurie Baker, like his work, is direct, simple and comprehensive; further embellished with sketches, plans, photographs and some of Baker's own writings, the book offers the professional architect view of the life, methods and thoughts of an unorthodox genius.

Genres: Architecture, Biography

328 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2003

Reviews

[Manu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brilliant book on the life of Laurie Baker the architect. I took on this book as an architectural book but soon realised that this book is not about Architecture but about the life and works of the Laurie Baker.
The narration keeps us going for a good while then once it comes to the project the lack of information will throw us off the track. As a whole the book is good and throws a lantern into the life of Laurie Baker and his missions all over India .
As a whole it's a pretty good book as it reveals some of the vernacular construction techniques that has been adopted and recaliberated by the Architect himself to fit to the various requirements of day to day building construction.

[Pbvravi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long before sustainability/eco-friendly became corporate buzzwords, Laurie Baker was constructing affordable housing/buildings using local & sustainable materials with innovative designs based local environmental conditions. What I really like about this book is, besides a biography of Mr.Baker, it includes details his work including plans and pictures of houses he designed. Must for a green architecture enthusiast.

[Jajo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could tell that Laurie Baker’s way of thinking is somewhat special. Along with his practical solution and understanding of the structure, material and local natural laws, there is no doubt that his work is very inspiring. His writings are striking and—has the right to be—cynical, but mind to embrace them with open mind. It makes me wonder whether those buildings still compatible with today’s climate condition and technologies.

I dare say this book is certainly not for any layman. I, who have some architectural background find this book hard to read, mostly because of the layout, the absence of footnote and caption of the pictures / images. Please, atleast few pages of glossary in the back of the book would help much with the reading. I hate reading while constantly googling. Perhaps it will be more suitable to read as an e-book.

[Rooshina Nair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was my base guide for my dissertation. I specifically had to study about Laurie Baker and his private residential projects based in Trivandrum. It was easier to spot the projects listed on this book, as they were all one of it's kind and with sufficient details that helped me thoroughly to complete the research.

Highly recommend this book to all Student Architects.

[Pranaya Khade · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best architectural books out there! I have turned into a complete baker -fangirl. I never thought I would ever read non-fiction but Gautam Bhatia's writing is amazing. It's informative and fun at the same time. Anyone who's reading this and studying architecture should take Laurie Baker's Quaker lifestyle as a concept...there is no way your jury won't be impressed.

[Sujit Sumitran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Building an environmentally efficient home and a friend gifted me this book. I dumped all that I was reading to complete this simple yet beautiful read. While I understand that this was about Laurie Bakers buildings, I wished that some of the content could have been devoted to his personal struggles and his life. Such a delightful character.

[Shikha · Rating 5 out of 5]

You learn to design even by just replicating the plans portrayed in the book. Conscious designs. When you write a book about a good human who is an architect, it would be something like this!

[Nilavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Changes your perspective on housing and to build affordable home. Suitable for all readers!!

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite architecture books. The photos are sometimes a bit overexposed and the paper is perhaps a little cheap, but the ideas in this book more than make up for these faults. Baker's work inspires by its very simplicity. The logic falls so much into line with common sense that it is hard to tell why this man is only now getting attention that he has recently passed away (April 1, 2007). Of course, he wouldn't have wanted the attention because it would have conflicted with his Quaker ideals.

I ordered mine from India from a bookshop in Mumbai before any were commonly available in North America.

[Gouri Shankar · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Architecture is a way of life in which groups and communities have used local materials to construct their buildings which will cope with local hazards ,natural features ,climatic conditions ,cultural ,social & religious patterns & so on... Architecture & Planning were not things designed for clients " Laurie Baker
I really love this man's philosophy ...... Great Architect !

[Shahbaz Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

very useful