Laurie Baker, the master of minimalism as many refer to, was not just an architect but a philosopher who spoke his philosophy through the irreplaceable structures he built and left behind in his lifetime. The man behind the architect goes beyond the architectural elements and construction techniques he espoused. It is a story about the social goals he sought to achieve through his construction methodologies and the relevance of the ideas he lived by in the current-day scenario.
Trying to capture this belief, his life, his architectural principles of cost effectiveness, his respect for nature, sensitivity to the local environment and the materials it offered, the minimisation of wastage, the fascinating innovative tools and techniques he evolved with using the most mundane materials and elements in design, bringing all these alive is the film “Uncommon Sense: The life and architecture of Laurie Baker”.
Produced by his grandson Vineet Radhakrishnan, the film screened recently at the InCITE Gallery showcases over 50 buildings of the legend, along with over 30 interviews involving architects, clients, urban planners, family and friends who worked closely with him. The film traces his remarkable life starting from England; China where he worked with lepers, dressing their wounds, taking care of them; and the Himalayas where he went for his honeymoon but stayed on for 16 years after seeing the local conditions lacking the presence of a qualified doctor, making the sojourn perhaps the longest honeymoon!
During the film screening at InCITE Gallery
At home
His movement is thence traced to the tribal forest of Kerala which ultimately became his home and would see a great number of his structures coming up in its domain. The film begins on a profound note, with Laurie Baker explaining the simple locking mechanism on his door that he had implemented, his innovative letter box, his bedside window that transforms into a table when required, setting the tone for the rest of the narration. When he receives a request from young architects to work in his office, Baker has a flat reply. “My bedroom is my office.” His innovative construction techniques, the differential approach to design, the penchant for eyeing even the most mundane of materials and elements in the most extraordinary manner, brings forth a lifetime of work that is irreplaceable and in a class apart.
The film effectively captures the man behind the architect, his thoughts, views, inclinations, starting from the khadi shirt and jola bag that held his mobile office to the way he physically got involved in the construction of his spectacular structures, at times precariously perched to inspect or set right a particular segment of the building.
Not only is his architecture and design sentiments captured by the film in its stunning glory, the ideas and leanings of Baker as an individual too is effectively recorded along with the chronological narration of events that unfolded.
Be it his care for one of his construction workers who had reached a ripe old age and could contribute negligibly, or redesigning a roof to accommodate a coconut tree that was past its prime and bore no fruit, or taking up the challenge of building tribal houses, the film shows Baker marking his path through action rather than words. The film is a fine tribute to the man who lived his beliefs in totality.
