The ideal house in India will be built from materials found within a five-mile radius of the house.
He lived and worked alone, without rewards
by Gautam Bhatia.

He would teach his masons new brick-laying patterns emerging from his artistic fancy and keep watching them at work till they gave him just what he wanted. He used to give great attention to minute details of his buildings, observing the habits and needs of his clients. He used to derive a mischievous kind of pleasure surprising his clients with something they had always wanted in their homes, but had not thought of asking him
A legacy rooted in simplicity and integrity
by P. Venugopal. 

One of the most foolish architectural lies that anyone can imagine
- build a brick building, then plaster it all over and paint bricks on the plaster to make it look like a brick building!
Of Architectural truths and lies
by Laurie Baker. Hindu .

His belief in "avoiding all unnecessary items in all planning and design, materials and construction, and upgrading traditional local materials to plan for current day usage for all classes." The use of such materials bolsters a local and regional economy and reduces waste from fossil fuels used to transport materials from far-flung origins.
Of Mud and Men: Architecture as a Political Act
by Stephanie Miller.


I feel it is essential and enjoyable to get to know my clients and try and work out what they want and put it on to paper so that it can be built. Personally, I cannot see how I can, or why I should, go through all that effort to see them and talk with them and discuss their way of life and see their site and so on and then tell a partner or junior to "do a plan".
Call a brick wall a brick wall'
by Sundar Ramanathaiyer.

Laurie Baker used to work alone. He used to describe the box of instruments that he carried with him as his "office". On the day he won the World Habitat Award (1992), I was so happy that I had to be the first man at his door to congratulate him. I reached there early in the morning, at seven, but Baker had already left. His wife told me I could catch him at his worksite, a few kilometres away. When I went to the site, there, to my amazement, was Baker, perched precariously on a sloping roof winding wires, immersed in his work.
Master Mason
by G. Shankar. Frontline Magazine, 20th April, 2007, [C.ELDOC1.J14_/20apr07frn1.html]

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Life & Work

	Heart & Mind		Life & Work			The Legacy

In a chance meeting with Gandhi in Bombay, Gandhi had expressed his concern for the need of housing for the poor particularly in the Indian villages. He told Baker that India needed committed architects. This meeting inspired Baker to return to India in 1945 as the member of a leprosy mission.
Building blocks of simplicity
by Sujit Chowdhury.

In 1945, Horrified at being labelled a "sahib" and asked to stay in a large bungalow with many servants, Baker broke out. He bought a bicycle and rode off to stay with an Indian doctor at the leprosy hospital seven miles away. This "wonderful" doctor was P J Chandy, who had an "equally wonderful doctor sister": Elizabeth Jacob. In 1948, Laurie and Elizabeth married.

In the hills of Pithoragarh for about 15 years, Elizabeth and Laurie ran clinics and hospitals, and built schools, dispensaries and hospitals for the poor. And during all these years, Baker absorbed and gathered and put to living use, the approach of generations of local communities in building homes.
Laurie Baker`s art of living spaces
by Tripta Batra.

He has his own method of working with the masons on his building sites or training workers in their own remote territories to use twentieth century techniques while maintaining principals acquired over centuries to cope with India's own climate, materials, terrain and culture, not to mention increasing economic and population problems . He achieves this by himself laying the first course of the brickwork and explaining the maons what he wants through rough sketches on site.
About Laurie Baker
ARCHIDEV.ORG [C.J14 (M)]

To talk about the leitmotif of Baker's architecture may be contradictory and might even displease him. But they did have a trademark appearance. They were usually about un-plastered brickwork that were well pointed, filler slab roof, which carries concrete and reinforcement only where it is necessary, abundant light and a comfortable scale. They were cost effective, environment-friendly and affordable. He never contrived his building to make aesthetic statements but they invariably produced a likeable appearance.
Making spaces humane
by A. Srivathsan. The Hindu, Madras, 15th April, 2007 [C.ELDOC1.J14_/15aprh2.html].

Mud is the material of the 21st century

So why have we stopped using mud? Many rural families and poorer persons still build with mud. But official or government housing schemes rarely use it. Neither does the growing middle class.

Reasons for this are many: People now do not believe in making or doing things themselves. More people simply don't acquire simple rural skills these days. We are simply more class-conscious now.

So, mud is connected with poverty, cowsheds, pigsties, rural schemes and tribals only. We end up with options like reinforced concrete, cement blocks and the like.
Solutions To Indian Housing Crisis Lies In Mud?
TWN features

What can we do with a slum? We can "recyle" it; that is to say, we can build at the same site low-cost structures that accommodate an equal number of persons and provide plenty of open space and other facilities.
What can we do with a slum?
By Laurie Baker.

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The Legacy

	Heart & Mind		Life & Work		The Legacy

I felt some kind of a democratic movement should be formed to foster Baker's technology, to take it forward. That was why I decided to start the Habitat Technology Group in Thiruvananthapuram. For me, it was a sort of a political action too- - G Shankar, Habitat Technology Group.


Baker's ideas have caught the imagination of younger, environmentally minded Indian architects and engineers, and nearly 100 of them now work for a nonprofit organization that practices his approach, COSTFORD, or the Centre of Sciencen and Technology for Rural Development. In the past 15 years, COSTFORD has built homes for 10,000 poverty-level families, for which it charges no design fee.
The Brick Master of Kerala
by Adam Hochschild.

Centre of Science and Technology For Rural Development - COSTFORD
by Andrea Pavia and Hrydhal Damani.

Cost Effective Construction Technology At Costford
by Prashant.

In all their endeavors they encourage people's participation, be it the planning or the construction process. They believe in designing spaces, which are context sensitive and take the inhabitants and their needs into consideration rather than applying a standard design to every household.

Non - Conventional Foundations. Appropriate Technologies Training Material. Human Settlement Managaement Institute Workshop on Capacity building for project managers of building centers.
Compiled by: Gayatri R Rajesh

Earth construction in India: General advice for Mud Block: ASTRA Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012.

Use it, experiment with it, have fun with it and drop the idea that it is only for the rural poor
Laurie Baker [C.ELDOC1.J14_/15mar03dte1.pdf ]

Rat Trap Bond Masonry: Principles of construction: Basic Parts of Buildings: Walling & Openings: Gram Vikas.
[C.ELDOC1.tsunami/POC_Site_Selection(71-130).pdf]

Filler Slab Roofing: Comparing RCC and Filer Slabs.Steps for Construction of Filler Slab. Casting RCC plank. Laying of plank & Joist. Taken from Good Construction Practices in Appropriate Technologies. UNDP [C.ELDOC1.J14_/Good_Constru_Practi_Appropri_Techo.pdf]

What is an arch? Brick Arches, Stone Arches: Extracted from PRINICIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION: BASIC PARTS OF BUILDING'S WALLING AND OPENINGS. GRAM VIKAS [C.ELDOC1.tsunami/POC_Site_Selection(71-130).pdf]

Different Types of Arches: Bricks Chajjas, Reinforced Brick Lintel. Taken fromGood Construction Practices in Appropriate Technologies. UNDP [C.ELDOC1.J14_/Good_Constru_Practi_Appropri_Techo.pdf]

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Reference Resources at CED
Books by Laurie Baker himself

	Mud by Laurie Baker. COSTFORD, 1st January, 1988. [R.J14. built_environment/BE1_B1043.pdf] Price : Rs. 50/-		Houses : How to reduce building costs by Laurie Baker, COSTFORD, July 1986. [R.J14.1] Price : Rs.30/- No. of pages - 85
	Brick Work by Laurie Baker, COSTFORD 1988. [R.J14.11] Price : Rs. 5/-		A Manual of Cost cuts for strong acceptable housing, COSTFORD. [R.J14.606] Price: Rs. 60/-
	Rural Community Buildings by Laurie Baker, COSTFORD. 1st March 1977. [R.J14. 607] Price : Rs.50/- No.of pages - 48		Rural Houses, A Manual prepared by Laurie Baker, COSTFORD. [R.J14.13]
	Rubbish by Laurie Baker. COSTFORD. [R.J14.610] Price : Rs. 50/-		All these books can be got from COSTFORD, Ayyantholi, Thrisuur. 680 003.

Other References

Laurie Baker : Life, Work, Writings by Gautam Bhatia. Penguin books. 1991 [ B.J14.B61 ]

Laurie Baker. http://www.inspire-india.com/baker.htm. 30th April, 2007[ C.ELDOC1.0704/30apr07_habitat_1.html ]

Master Builder. The Times of India, 21st April, 2007 [ C.ELDOC1.J14_/21apr07toi1.pdf ]

Inspired by Baker, Jeet Iype conceived of the 'Good Earth' project, which is a community guided by the need to live in an environment-friendly and sustainable neighbourhood.


Rebuilding debates by R. Padmanabhan. Frontline, 3rd December, 1993 [ C.ELDOC1.J14_/B1155.pdf ]
Baker objected to the plan (in Latur) to build stereotyped, box-type houses and the plan to use prefabricated material for walls and roofs instead of material available locally, including the thousands of stones lying in the earthquake debris. As for the prevailing misgivings about the use of stone as a building material in the disaster area, he said it was flawed construction techniques and not stone that was responsible for the large number of deaths.

Recipe for quake proof houses by Usha Rai. Indian Express, Bombay, 5th August, 1992 [ C.ELDOC1.J14_/B1120.pdf ]
What is, however, needed is that walls should be properly constructed with local material and better 'bonding'. If this is done, 99.9 per cent of all reconstruction work will not need any special 'earthquake proofing'. Better masonry work would withstand all but major eathquakes, says Dr Baker.

Good architecture is useful architecture. The Telegraph (Calcutta), 15th December, 1995 [ C.ELDOC1.J14/J14_B1147.pdf]

ASHA for R K Puram slum dwellers. The Statesman (Delhi), 16th April, 1992 [ C.ELDOC1.J14/J14_B1122.pdf ]

Laurie Baker for low cost building. The Deccan Herald, Bangalore, 10th November, 1992 [ C.ELDOC1.J14/J14_B1114.pdf ]



Creating magic with space by Daksha Hathi. The Deccan Herald, 7th October, 2000 [ C.ELDOC1.J14/J14_B1005.pdf ]

Laurie Baker's creative journey by Joginder Singh. Frontline, 1st march, 2003 [ C.ELDOC.W00.14mar03frn1.htm ]

Laurie Baker, wonder architect, is hailed as practical 'demystifier' by Vidyadhar. The Times of India, 19th April, 1997
[ C.ELDOC1.J14/J14_B1054.pdf ]

Building On A Dream by Saibal Chatterjee. Outlook, 5th March, 1997 [ C.ELDOC1.J14/J14_B1055.pdf ]

Architecture Nouveau by Leela Menon. Indian Express, Bombay, 5th April, 1992 [ C.ELDOC1.J14/J14_B1080.pdf ]

Modest Materials Immaculate Conception by Arun Katiyar. India Today. 31st August, 1992

Is it possible: The alternative Approach. HUDCO. [ R.J14.611 ]

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