BUILDING BLOCKS OF SIMPLICITY: A TRIBUTE TO LAURIE BAKER

THE DECCAN HERALD, BANGALORE, 15 APR 2007

Building blocks of simplicity

Baker was influenced by Gandhi and applied low cost building techniques in hisprojects.Laurie Baker, the eminent architect, who made India his home, passed away recently leaving behindan inspiring philosophy and legacy. His approach to architecture was radical in the sense that itassimilated our indigenous traditions, eco-friendliness, economy and simplicity in a truly moderniststyle. His statement that “a building should be truthful” encapsulates his approach to architecture.This truthfulness derives its essence from the pragmatism and minimalism of the architecturalelements within the broader socio-economic and ecological contexts. This is what made Laurie Bakera popular one-man mission and his designs, a signature style.A chance meeting with Gandhi in Bombay in 1945 proved to be a turning point in young Baker’s life.After graduating in architecture from the Birmingham School of Architecture in 1937, he hadvolunteered for a group called Quakers to provide medical help to the British soldiers in theJapan-China War. He served in the group for three years in China and Burma but his ill health forcedhim to return home.Visit to IndiaOn his way back to Britain, he had to wait for a couple of months in Bombay and during this periodhe met Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi had expressed his concern for the need of housing for the poorparticularly in the Indian villages. He told Baker that India needed committed architects. This meetinginspired Baker to return to India in 1945 as the member of a leprosy mission.Initially, he lived in Kerala as a guest of Dr PJ Chandy. Subsequently, he travelled extensively thatexposed him to the poverty in the villages as well as the cultural diversity. He was struck by thearchitectural diversity of India and the richness of its localised traditions.He found that every region had its own architectural style depending upon the climatic factors and thelocally available material. One common element that he found was mud which was recyclable wasextensively used everywhere and that these structures stood for ages. Baker felt that native knowledgeand practices need to be preserved.During his travel in India, he realised that a patient’s recovery is faster in a familiar environment. Thismade him construct hospitals and schools with locally available material. Since he utilised theservices of local labourers, he started instructing them with drawings and illustrations.For 16 years, Baker built and operated schools and hospitals in north India and during this time hemarried Dr Elizabeth Chandy, a co-worker and sister of Dr PJ Chandy. In the early 60s, the Bakerssettled down in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, after a brief stay in Vagamon, in Kottayam.
Baker’s influencesLaurie Baker’s upbringing in the Quaker philosophy, Gandhian influence, his commitment to thesocial cause and a deep understanding of the Indian culture shaped his vision. He built modernbuildings with traditional techniques and material.He redefined the concept of low cost housing as it was misunderstood as low quality housing. Hesaid: “low-cost does not reduce or lessen structural stability and durability.” According to him, Indianarchitectural history is testimony to this. Most of the houses are made of mud or bricks baked at thesite are still standing strong.Apart from construction cost, the overall energy requirement on the production of raw materials likecement, steel and glass was also a serious concern for Baker. He commented once: “I have neverdoubted that in a country like ours any of us has any right to squander or waste, or use unnecessarilymoney, materials or energy.”He followed Gandhi’s idea that building materials available within five miles of a construction siteshould be used. It gave Baker innovative ideas to the extent that no two designs of Baker are similar.Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram built by Baker in 1971 is a masterpiece.Other such remarkable buildings are Chapel for Sacred Heart Centre, Chitralekha Studio Complex,Tourist Centre, India Coffee House, Children’s Village, among many others. He hardly cut any tree orlevelled the site to construct any building.Baker co-founded Centre for Science & Technology for Rural Development (COSTFORD) in 1985, anon-profit organisation for propagating low-cost housing particularly mass housing for the poor. Hewrote many ‘Do it Yourself” booklets for construction. He was a consultant on the housing relatedpanels of various state and the Central governments besides HUDCO and the Planning Commission.He was granted Indian citizenship in 1990 and was honoured with the Padmashree the same year. Hewas honoured with the UNO Habitat Award (1992) and World Habitat Award (1993). He wasconferred with honorary Doctorate by the University of Central England (1995) and University ofKerala (2003).Baker was active even at 90 as he worked on a restoration plan for Alappuzha and a sanitation systemfor the Sabarimala temple.Though his designs became his signature style, he was opposed to develop his style as a brand. His mission is reflected in his statement: “My feeling as an architect is that you are not after all trying to put up a monument that will be remembered as a Laurie Baker Building but Mohan Singh’s house where he can live with his Family.”

DEMYTHOLISING MYTHS

This is a book review of 'The Pregnant King' a mythological fiction written by Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik and published by Penguin India. This review was published in Deccan Herald, Bangalore.

Taking us back to the Vedic age, this book explores issues of gender identity and power that continue to remain relevant through time.

Deriving from Mahabharata that contains a plethora of myths, Devdutt Pattanaik, in his latest novel The Pregnant King, weaves an interesting narrative with contemporary relevance.Myths, being rooted in historical contexts are indeed a-historical for their inherent messages. These axiomatic messages are conveyed through dialectic between the symbolic representations of opposites; dilemmas and contradictions. Mahabharata is a meta-text having several subtexts; one of them is the story of Yuvanshava, the king of Vallabhi who drinks a magical potion and becomes pregnant. Pattanaik takes creative liberty to change the chronology that makes sub-stories run parallel to or to coalesce with the central story in order to highlight the moral dilemma of gender and power in the Vedic period, that is relevant even today. The narrative starts with the great war for dharma in Kurukshetra, in which all Kshtriya kings from all the kingdoms in Aryavarta are taking sides. But Yuvanshava, the king of Vallabhi, is forbidden by his mother Shilavati as he has no heir even after 13 years of three marriages. He is not allowed to even rule Vallabhi though he is a consecrated king because, “a king must provide proof of virility before he can rule.” On the other hand, Shilavati, an intelligent woman, rules Vallabhi efficiently but being a widow, cannot sit on the throne. She is a proxy ruler. In Vallabhi, there is a temple of Ileshwara, a God who blesses the childless with children. Ileshwara becomes Ileshwari on new moon night and remains in a female form for a fortnight. Ileshwara and Ileshwari bless men and women separately. This reminds Shiva’s form of ardha-narishwara. This resolves the contradictions between masculinity and feminity; some male characters in this novel have feminine qualities like Shikhandi and Bahugami.Shilavati continues to rule Vallabhi on the plea that she will enter vanprastha when her son fathers a son. Then a yagna is organised in which two Sidhas, Yaja (mind and truth) and Upajaya (heart and destiny), invoke forces of nature and manipulate them by various rituals. During the yagna, there is a ceremony in which Yuvanshava and his first wife have to give cows to newly wed Brahmin couples. Here, the tale takes a twist as a Brahmin boy named Somvat dressed as a woman (Somavati) comes to receive cows with his friend Sumedha. It was a disruption in the ceremony that enrages Vallabhi. Somvat, while waiting in the dark cell for the verdict by the king at dawn, encounters a Yaksha. Sthunakarna takes his manhood thus turning him into a woman. The same Yaksha had saved the reputation of Shikhandi who was born a girl but raised as a boy by donating his manhood to prove his gender. Shikhandi never returned the manhood that he had borrowed from Sthunakarna. It had made Sthunakarna genderless. The rules of dharma are rigid as the lineage and gender are given and hence, both Sumedha and Somavati were burnt alive. They became pisachas because they were not allowed to cross Vaitarni due to ambiguity in their gender and lineage. Though the yagna was disrupted, the two sidhas produced a magical potion and left it in a pot in the king’s mahasabha. By mistake, a tired Yuvanshava drank the potion and became pregnant. He delivers a son Mandhata from his thigh. Myths of Nara and Narayana and of Aruni talk of men delivering babies. Yuvanshava starts having motherly emotions conflicting with his gender and identity. Yuvanshava says, “I am seed and soil. Man and woman. Or perhaps neither. A creature suspended in between, neither here or there?”The Pregnant King is an interesting reading for the simplicity of its language and the lyricism. Devdutt Pattanaik transposes us to the Vedic period and makes us draw parallels across epochs with similar socio-cultural definitions of gender and power.

FRANCE IN CAIRO

Article published in Deccan Herald (Bangalore) Sunday Magazine

PHOTOGRAPHS BY SUJIT CHOWDHURY

Sujit Chowdhury stumbles upon the Khalil Museum in Cairo that houses rare French art collection.

While rushing through the various museums and monuments in and around Cairo, I was struck by the mention of Mr and Mrs Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Giza area that houses a priceless and the largest collection of European paintings and sculptures on this side of the Mediterranean. The Museum located on 1, Kafour Street, was originally the mansion of Khalil, a statesman and connoisseur of art. The building as well as the collection has to tell a lot about Mohammed Khalil’s life, Egyptian modern history and its cultural interaction with France.

Mohammed Mahmoud Khail (1877-1953) was born to an aristocratic family and he studied law at the Sorbonne University. It was in France that he fell in love with Emeline Lock Hector who was a student of music and had a passion for art. They married in 1903 in Paris. Khalil developed keen interest in everything French; from cuisine to costumes and from painting to architecture. The Khalils were more interested in the emerging trends in Western art of which Paris was the hub.

The first painting that the couple bought was ‘Water lilies’ by Renoir for merely 400 pounds — the value of which is now estimated to be $ 40 million. By the time, the Khalils returned to Cairo in 1918, they had a handsome collection of paintings, statuettes and other antiques. Initially, the Khalils lived at 11, Kasr al-Neil Street but soon they moved to the palatial building at 1, Kafour Street after Khalil bought this building from Mahmoud Fakhry Pasha, a long time minister to France and a friend of Khalil.


The eastern side of the building overlooks the Nile and it has intricate metal and glass work taken from the French Arnoveau style as revealed from its grand entrance and the massive window.

The western side of the building facing the Murad Street has features of Neo-Classical style with detailed ornamentations. The area of the building is about 1400 sq. meters surrounded by a beautiful garden and has four levels with marble winding staircase and French terrace. The basement of the building now houses the administrative office, library, Information Centre and an auditorium.

The first floor has largely the collection of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist School whereas the second floor has pre-impressionist paintings. ‘Life and Death’ (1889) and ‘Father Jeans Walk’ (1889) are two paintings of Paul Gauguin. Van Gogh’s ‘Vase and Flowers’ is another precious possession. There are paintings of other impressionist and post-impressionist artists like Monet, Renoir, Pissaro, Sisley, Eugene Boudin, Toulose Lautrec, Degas and Marie Cassette.

Many artists represented in the collection are also from different schools who significantly contributed in the emergence of modernism in Western art; prominent among them are Ingres, Gusatve Courbet, Theodore Rousseau, Millet, Constant Troyon, Charles Daubingy, Daumier and Declaroix. In all, there are 208 paintings beside 40 sculptures that include work by Rodin and Cajou. The museum also has a large number of French furniture, ceramics and rare books.

It is interesting to know why and how such a large number of paintings encompassing a longer period of Western art history found its destination in a private collection in Cairo.

One reason is the genuine interest of the Khalils in art and their wealth to buy these masterpieces from the Parisian art dealers. Another reason is the onset of the Second World War when Paris was seized by the Nazi and paintings were looted and confiscated. During that time, art dealers and gallery owners were compelled to sell the paintings at low price.

Khalils used this as an opportunity. Richard Mosseri, an art curator, was the mediator and with every trip to France, the Khalils returned to Cairo with a load of paintings, sculptures and other works of art. This is how Khalil’s mansion turned into a fabulous collection of objects d’arts.

While practicing as an eminent lawyer in Cairo and being in the board of directors of many Egyptian banks and insurance companies, Mahmoud Khalil started actively participating in politics and he was appointed as the minister of agriculture in the Al Wafd Cabinet in 1937 and became the Speaker of the Senate in 1939.
Together with Prince Youssef Kamal, he founded The Society of Lovers of Fine Arts in 1924 and became its chairman from 1942 to 1952. He also supervised the 1937 Egyptian Pavilion in the International Exhibition in Paris and also 1949 exhibition of décor Egypt-France. For his contribution to promote art, the French government rewarded him with the title of Correspondant de l’Académie des Beaux Arts and the Grand Cordon de la Légion d'Honneur.

In 1947, Mahmoud Khalil bequeathed the palatial house of Giza to Emeline and in 1953 he himself drew a will bestowing his beloved wife one third of his estate, including the art collection. Shortly, Mamoud Khalil suffered a massive heart attack and died in Paris on December 27, 1953.

In 1954, Emeline drew a will that upon her death the mansion along with all the art collection would go to the Egyptian government. She died on March 19, 1960. In 1962, the house of the Khalils was inaugurated as Mr and Mrs Mahmoud Khalil Art Museum.

Unfortunately, after Anwar Sadat became the President, he acquired the museum in 1971 and converted it into his office. All the art collection was relocated to a palace in Zamalek. It was only after Sadat’s death in 1981 that Mr and Mrs Khalil’s house was restored as a museum after establishing the authenticity of the retrieved collection from art specialists.

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