Mr. G. Shankar – The First Meeting at HTG

There are very few architects in Kerala who are able & willing to work on old buildings. Mr. G. Shankar is one of them. But as the protégé of the great Mr. Laurie Baker, and as the founder & Chief Architect of Habitat Technology Group, he is a very, very busy man.

Acchan & Amma finally managed to meet Mr. Shankar on 11th April 2007. As discussed over the telephone, they had gone to his office in the morning accompanied by Rajesh from Changanasseri, to chalk a plan of action.

While waiting for Mr. Shankar to return from another meeting, Rajesh had expressed his skepticism about retaining the old wooden structure -“It is better to dismantle the old stuff…I could help you find some buyers..”.

Thankfully, Mr. Shankar took an altogether different view. His logic was simple, “You have come to me because you are interested in preserving the old house, its memories and sentiments... First of all I would like Rajesh to make a precise sketch after taking measurements. I would then visit the site before the next course of action”.

What about the Nelavara – the old, airtight, wooden granary at the center of the house? The storage space below it was getting infested with rats…Would it have to be dismantled?

“Oh, that won’t be a problem…we could perhaps replace the mud floor with something less vulnerable to gnawing rats. As for the Nelavara, we could make sliding windows into it and make it an airy space. But let me see it first.”

Mr. Laurie Baker (1917-2007)

Wherever you look, you see touching tributes to this amazing human being, and to a life well lived.

Here is a collection of quotes from a man who was true to his word:

“I have my own principles, which I am unwilling to abandon. I dislike falsehood and deceit. A building should be truthful.”

"Cost-effective houses are not just for the poor, they are for everyone. The equation that a cost-effective house is a house for the poor, implying a bad looking house, can definitely be proved wrong. Isn't it the responsibility of the upper and middle classes to stop indulging in extravagance and make better looking houses instead? This entire classification is wrong."

"Designing a house and getting someone else to build it is like preparing a menu with great care and then leaving it to someone to do the cooking and then the eating. It's no fun."

"Can one call the person who makes 500 similar houses an architect? It is not difficult to make 10 to 12 different houses using the same materials. That is why such established practices have to be stopped. One can come up with different options even without cutting trees or leveling the ground. Monotonous houses can be avoided."


"No innovative artist can hope to proceed in work without having gained an understanding of the local wisdom of a place.''

"Fortunately, I've never been cursed with a white-collar mentality and I see nothing degrading or infra dig in getting my hands and clothes dirty from physical work."

Tributes from the Web:

The Frontline – TRIBUTE - "Master Mason" - G. SHANKAR

Mother Jones: The Brick Master of Kerala

Uma's Blog (A great compilation!): Indian Writing - Farewell, Laurie Baker

Frontline - ARCHITECTURE - Laurie Baker's creative journey
An article adapted from from Laurie Baker by Atul Deulgaonkar (Akshar Prakashan, Mumbai) as translated from the Marathi by Joginder Singh and Shrinivas Warkhandkar.

Indian Express - Laurie Baker, for whom home was extension of land, dies at 90 - RAJEEV PI

Letters to FRONTLINE - Baker's Legacy

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