“Transformed" by a meeting with Mahatma Gandhi in the 1940s,
British architect Laurence Wilfred Baker (Laurie) went to India
to design buildings for a leprosy mission. He spent the rest of
his life designing visionary and durable buildings at low cost
that were beautifully responsive to climate and country, to the
needs of poorer Indians, and to the tradition of Indian
craftsmanship. Practical delightDescribed as “droll” and
unassuming, with “no more than four sets of shirts and trousers,
all made of handwoven khadi fabric” to his name, Baker lived
simply with his Indian wife Elizabeth, a doctor, and their two
daughters and son in a home he had built. “His respect for
nature, instilled by his Quaker upbringing, guided his on-site
improvisations." Two favorite motifs, uniting beauty and
function, were his brick towers and pierced Mughal-style brick
screens "which allowed natural air movement to cool the interior
and create intricate patterns of light and shadow. ""The
results," noted the architectural commenta