Laurie Baker Biography 
Laurie Baker is a British-born Indian architect widely regarded as one of the greatest architects of 20th century. He became an Indian citizen in 1989 and resided in Thiruvananthapuram in 1963 and served as the Director of COSTFORD (Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development). Moved to India in 1945 associated with a leprosy mission, he continued to live and work in India for over 50 years. He died at Thiruvananthapuram in 2007, aged 90. Government of India honoured him with Padma Shri 1990. As an architect, one of his most famous and popular architectural work is the ‘Indian Coffee House’ at Thampanur, Thiruvananthapuram.
His full name is Laurence Wilfred Baker. He was born on 2 March 1917 in Birmingham, England as the son of Charles Frederick Baker and Millie Baker. He had two elder brothers and one sister. He became a Quaker in his teens. Baker studied architecture at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Birmingham, and graduated in 1937. He moved to India associated with a leprosy mission during World War II, and initialled based in Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh (then called United Provinces). He was assigned the task to convert old leprosy asylums to modern hospitals with rehabilitation and occupation facilities.
While at Faizabad, he lived with Malayali doctor P.J. Chandy and his family. Later he fell in love with Chandy’s sister Elizabeth Jacob, and got married in 1948. She was a doctor. For their honeymoon, they traveled to the district of Pithoragarh. People started visiting Elizebeth for medical help as there were no hospitals in the locality, and later the couple decided to settle there. He built a home and hospital on the slopes of one of the hills and lived in Pithoragarh for sixteen years. They moved to Vagamon, Kerala in 1963, and finally settled at Thiruvanathapuram, where he spent his entire life.
He made many constructions in south India, with sustainable as well as organic architecture. His cost-effective energy-efficient designs made him one of the greatest architects of India, post-independence. As an architect, some of his major constructions are Centre for Development Studies at Thiruvananthapuram, Indian Coffee House Thiruvananthapuram, DakshinaChitra (Chennai), SACON Coimbatore, Chitralekha Film Studio at Aakulam etc.
Published: October 16, 2018
Updated: October 16, 2018
