The buildings of Laurie Baker are eco-friendly, cost effective and of good quality. He has established that he can build houses on land written off by everyone and with low budgets, says S UMA MAHESWARI.
Constructing a house can be quite a torrid affair especially when one’s financial resources are limited. It is an acid test for a man’s ambition, planning and perseverance. The question that lingers in an individual’s mind would be “Will I be able to construct a house with the money I have?
Laurie Baker, an architect from Birmingham, now settled in Thiruvananthapuram, has effectively combined traditional techniques with indigenous innovations and has managed to bring down the cost of construction by half.
Having refused active military service during the Second World War, Laurie Baker was sent to China as an anaesthetist with a surgical team. When the Japanese took over Burma, the surgical team at Hashio was trapped and had to beat a retreat through the jungle, during which Baker was infected with Malaria. He some how returned to China and was sent to recuperate at a mission station run by German nuns.
Later during his return to England via India Baker was introduced to Gandhiji. Influenced by Gandhiji Baker took up work for the betterment of the poor, the needy and the downtrodden.
Once a voluntary organisation, engaged in rehabilitation of leprosy patients, requested him to convert some buildings into hospitals. It was only then that he realised the potential for work.
Baker, a former associate of the Royal Institute of British Architecture very soon established that he could build houses on land written off by every one else and with budgets, that would be laughed at by others.
In the 80s, with the Gulf boom, Keralites acquired sudden wealth. Many pulled down their ancestral homes called tharavad. What resulted was the construction of heavy concrete structures.
Baker’s own residence is called ‘The Hamlet’. Visiting the place one will never realise the extent of construction of the building. The house has been fragmented to follow the undulated terrain. Dense foliage provides fresh air and coolness.
According to Baker, a traditional building or a vernacular architecture has thousands of years of history from which one can understand the living conditions, cultural patterns, climate, geology, flora and fauna, and several other details.
Baker recollected how the British Soldiers stationed in India during the last century had learnt the art of mud construction and introduced it into Australia, where today it is not just popular but also considered prestigious. One of the building that really inspired Baker was the Padmanabhapuram Palace - the royal residence of the erstwhile Travancore rulers. The black flooring, white walls, wooden jalli - that let in sunlight - all can also be seen in Baker’s constructions. Unplastered brick finish, brick jallis and filler slabroofs are the trade marks of his construction.
While he makes his own unbumt bricks, put together using mud, stain glass window, collages on the wall with broken bits of mirrors and China provide an aesthetic touch.
His techniques not only uses cheaper materials but also eliminates redundant details from the design. Concrete is sparingly used. Mangalore tiles are used for the roof which makes it light and inexpensive.
The walls are only half brick thick. Rooms are devoid of glass window, frames and sills. Instead small openings in brick akin to traditional jali are incorporated. Baker says “trellis honey-combed walling, wood screens and lattice are used in abundance making the room breezy and cool. Many architects however don't agree with him. They say that these are not durable. But according to Baker these buildings can be easily maintained and preserved for long, if the residents want to. Alternatively they can be very easily and cheaply modified.
According to him, if any conventional building practice in not essential to the house, one should do without it. In his suggestions for cutting costs without compromising on quality, he propagates the use of lime stone for masonry and plastering. And with lesser windows, the need for lintels is reduced which will bring down the cost. For flooring he advises the use of grindable, natural coloured stones, with ordinary gray cement, instead of white cement, oxides, stains and marble powder.
Baker uses materials that are locally available and which don't require cost intensive manufacturing facilities. It also encourages small scale entrepreneurs. Many of the big dams (Mullaperiyar) which still serves effectively, were built with lime and surkhi.
Meanwhile as local contractors refused to accept Baker’s techniques Baker had to train his own crew to carry forward his techniques. To date Baker has built nearly 2000 residences, five dozens of churches, mission building, schools, institutions and holiday resorts.
Very few architects have had the opportunity to work on such a wide range of construction. Baker has worked most extensively in Kerala. The building for the Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram, which he built at a cost of Rs15 lakhs demonstrated the effectiveness of his plan.