Laurie Baker Legacy - DC School of Architecture and Design

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‘In 1963 the Bakers moved to Kerala, Elizabeth Baker's homeland. Laurie happened to meet a Belgian monk Francis who followed the Hindu way of monasticism and had started an ashram at Kurisumala in a place called Wagamon in the Kottayam/Idukki border. When Laurie told him about their work in the Himalayas Acharya Francis convinced Laurie to come stay in Wagamon since the tribal people and poor displaced people here had no medical facilities at all. Both in Pithoragarh and Wagamon, the Bakers started a hospital and several schools. These were opportunities for Laurie to build. The unique and extreme climatic conditions and topographical challenges of the Himalayas and the remote densely wooded hills of South India meant Laurie had to use his ingenuity and skills to utmost’. ( lauriebaker.net)

‘After graduating from Birmingham School of Architecture, Baker made India his home where he addressed the housing needs of the poor, sometimes called the ‘Gandhi of Indian architecture’
Life and work are rarely as well aligned as in the case of the British-born Baker, who made India his home in the mid-1940s. His work developed an impressive model of a sustainable and egalitarian approach to architecture in India well before Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful and the 1973 OPEC crisis raised questions with which we are still grappling. Baker’s life-work, meanwhile, embodies important propositions for a socially meaningful practice of modern architecture anywhere. That he moved to India, at the urging of Mahatma Gandhi, to serve the very people that British colonisation had thoroughly impoverished, reveals the grain of his critical humanism. (He became an Indian citizen in 1988.) But his special contribution might well be to show that high-mindedness need not always involve heavy-breathing self-consciousness. The skill and creativity with which he designed and built sturdy, low-energy, cost-effective, context-aware architecture for the poor and elite alike attests to that. ( Himanshu Burte, Architectural Review 25 Nov 2019)

Letter From Design Chair
We at Vagamon Campus stress on wholesome growth of students without exception. We insist that every student pursue a hobby and participate in extra curricular activities which builds a strong self worth.
Right from inception, students and faculty are encouraged to discuss and question the fundamentals, be it the purpose or a Project - Contemplate on the use of vernacular medium or modern materials, Question the interdependence in the construction sequence.
A process based approach is adopted while imparting the Design Education. We encourage Innovation in teaching methodology. We lay stress on interactive sessions, Seminars, and Workshops not only Lectures and Design Studios.
We have healthy Interactions between industry and the academics to bridge the gap between Design and Deliverance. A realtime approach with hands on experience is what students at DC School of Architecture & Design go through.
A residential Campus gives students to get to know, spend time with classmates, professors and other academic advisors. It also offers a place to go for ideas and answers to questions that may arise in their academic or life journey.
A Campus life is social and an academic experience, we advocate a balance in order to maximize success in both areas.
Letter From Dean
Every epoch of human life and history has an expression in Architecture. We literally build our civilisations. And always, these buildings and physical structures exceed their immediate material needs and take diverse forms of cultural identity and aesthetics. A deep understanding of the regional and local ethos is the key to find our unique place in a globalising world.
Architecture education has the twofold objectives; to equip the future architects with skills and resources to achieve quality in design and to impart the values and perspective for a better understanding of society, aesthetics and environment.
The academic approach in DC School of Architecture and Design is designed to train the students to be skilled professionals and responsible human beings. Instructions in theory, technology, graphics and communication, history, architectural design of building typologies, complexity of urbanity and environment, focus towards the fist goal.
Social and art projects, guest lectures, talks, events, tours, rural immersion programmes, and nature related activities aim towards making the future architect to meet the society as responsible citizens.
The team of academicians and operations professionals of DC School of Architecture and Design is continuously on the process of structuring and improving the academic content and its effective delivery. Our course plan reflects the the consistent effort of updating the knowledge base and innovative delivery modes. Our goal towards better design and society is sure to come alive with a sustained response and hard work from our students.

TM Cyriac, Dean

Ar.TM Cyriac serves as the Dean of Academics at DC School of Architecture and Design. Prior to this, he has been engaged with architectural practice and academics, and had been part of the teaching faculty at TKM College of Engineering Kollam and College of Engineering Trivandrum till 1998.
TM Cyriac is the founder and principal architect of Environmental Creations. The firm is a prominent pioneer of hospitality projects in Kerala. Environmental sensitivity, heritage conservation, landscape conservation and regional sensitivity are the firm's trademark.
He was selected as the one of 20 future talents of Kerala by India Today magazine. Architect and Interiors India magazine designated him as one of the top 50 Architects and 15 green architects in India. He was awarded the Designer of the Year by Inside Outside magazine in 2004 and won the debut NDTV design award in 2014.
The research and documentation of regional architecture is an area of focus for T M Cyriac. In 2019, he curated the first edition of ‘SPACES’, Kerala Architecture Festival. He was a panelist in Iberian Heritage Biennale, Spain 2018. His areas of interest are history, cultural studies, travel and photography.
After his Bachelors degree in Architecture from College of Engineering, Trivandrum, he did his Masters in Landscape Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. He is also a guest lecturer at the University of Valladolid, Spain.
Every epoch of human life and history has an expression in Architecture. We literally build our civilisations. And always, these buildings and physical structures exceed their immediate material needs and take diverse forms of cultural identity and aesthetics. A deep understanding of the regional and local ethos is the key to find our unique place in a globalising world.
Architecture education has the twofold objectives; to equip the future architects with skills and resources to achieve quality in design and to impart the values and perspective for a better understanding of society, aesthetics and environment.
The academic approach in DC School of Architecture and Design is designed to train the students to be skilled professionals and responsible human beings. Instructions in theory, technology, graphics and communication, history, architectural design of building typologies, complexity of urbanity and environment, focus towards the fist goal.
Social and art projects, guest lectures, talks, events, tours, rural immersion programmes, and nature related activities aim towards making the future architect to meet the society as responsible citizens.
The team of academicians and operations professionals of DC School of Architecture and Design is continuously on the process of structuring and improving the academic content and its effective delivery. Our course plan reflects the the consistent effort of updating the knowledge base and innovative delivery modes. Our goal towards better design and society is sure to come alive with a sustained response and hard work from our students.
T M Cyriac
Dean, D C School of Architecture and Design
Ravi Deecee

Ravi Deecee is the President & Chief Facilitator of DCSMAT Institutions. He is also the founding trustee and member secretary of the DC Kizhakemuri Foundation.
Ravi Deecee heads DC Books, one of India‘s largest publishing houses. He is also the Managing Director of Current Books, the largest retail chain of bookstores in South India. He has travelled extensively across the world delivering lectures and attending seminars in publishing.
He is currently serving in many boards and associations of government and sector specific apex bodies including Federation of Indian Publishers, The Indus Entrepreneurs, Confederation of Indian Industry, Kendra Sahitya Akademi, Higher Education Council etc. to name a few.
He has done his high school education and higher studies in the United States of America, and has specialised in Management Education.
A visionary and an innovator, deeply committed to spreading knowledge, literature, and education, he is the guiding spirit behind DCSMAT Institutions.
Ar Aashish M

Ar. Aashish M has been with the industry for over 15 years and has now joined us as a senior faculty with the school. He has completed his B.Arch. from M. S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore in 2004 and completed MS in Sustainable Architecture from Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK in 2012. Additionally he also has completed an MBA in Marketing from Annamalai University, Chennai in 2018. In his 15 years of experience, he has been able to work with several oﬃces at Trivandrum, Bengaluru and Oman By which he has been able to acquire an expertise in Construction Administration, Architectural Site Management, Project Management, Team Building & Leadership skills and moreover an expert at BIM Modelling & Detailing.
Ar Rahul Sukumaran

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Ar Gisny George Kurian

Influenced extensively by the lifestyle and principles of the Late Ar.Laurie Baker, and having learned from the best, the inclination and field of expertise is ECO SENSIBLE ARCHITECTURE. Apart from being an academician, also a practicing Architect and Managing Trustee of an NGO, also been involved in conducting workshops and seminars. Completed Bachelor's in Architecture in the year 2013 from Dayananda Sagar Institutions. Most influential quotes : "Do it if necessary" - Laurie Baker "The Greenest building is the one not made." Ar.R D Padmakumar. Most influential words: “Sense" and "Sensibility"
Ar Harsha Mary Varghese

Harsha is an Architect and a Sustainability Enthusiast, holds a Master of Architecture Degree from University of South Australia (UniSA) with Sustainable Design as her core study stream. Completed her B Arch from College of Architecture Trivandrum in 2016. Harsha is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Architects and a Member of The Emerging Architects and Graduate Network (EmAGN). She was appointed as the Steering Committee Member for the Adelaide Sustainable Building Network (ASBN) for the year 2020-‘21. In 2019, she successfully completed University of South Australia’s Leadership Program, UniSA+ and was awarded ASPIRE Platinum award for the same. Her core interests are Sustainable Design and Development, Design Management, Communication Design and Research.
Ar Achut Harikumar

An Architect and Urban planner with an experience of working on urban scale projects individually and with the government in housing sector. He has engaged in professional practice and researches in housing policy and projects, urban planning, legislations and participatory urban governance. He was engaged with local governments, multilateral agencies, civil society organizations while doing my internships at CSML (Cochin Smart Mission Limited -Kerala). He has been carrying out research work in the field of Land and Housing, Urban Poverty, Slum areas. Completed his bachelors in Architecture from Holy Crescent College of Architecture, Kerala and Masters in Urban housing from CEPT University, Ahmedabad .
Ar. Ria Miriam John

Ria Miriam is an architect and a town planner, with a Bachelor degree in Architecture from College of Architecture, Trivandrum and a Masters degree in Town Planning specializing in Housing from College of Engineering, Trivandrum. She has been in the industry and academics since her under graduation in 2017. She has been working in her firm, Design Build as a ‘Partner Architect’ from 2017 where she has been involved in designing and construction of chapels and mainly small-scale residential projects. She has also been involved in Government flood relief and rehabilitation projects as part of ‘Rebuild Kerala Mission’ and formulation of Parking policy for Kollam Municipal Corporation and has a great passion for teaching and her research interests include sustainable development and energy eﬃciency.
Ar. Jaim G Koippallil

Jaim G Koippallil, is a passionate architect and an urban designer who completed his under graduation from College of Architecture, Trivandrum and did his master's in Urban Design from College of Engineering, Trivandrum. With more than half a decade of professional experience, his current focus is User Experience Design. He also has a keen interest in 'Tactical Urbanism' and believes even the smallest thing can have a big impact on people and the society. He also has a wide vision towards livability issues in informal settlements which forms the pivot of his research. In his academic career, he attempts to make strenuous efforts to instil thoughts in student's minds, on how the entire design process should emanate with the people and improve the quality of life. He has strong insights on the outreach of complex urban design concepts, in the simplest ways for the people to understand better.
Er. Merin Nikitha Anil

Merin Nikitha Anil is a young and enthusiastic Environmental Engineer who completed her graduation in Civil Engineering and did her master's in Environmental Engineering.She started her career with one of the top Environmental firms in Kerala, The Green Method Engineering where she got to explore more on different sustainable solutions to varied environmental issues. Merin always focuses on energy eﬃcient designs and helps students to connectarchitecture with nature. Apart from teaching Merin finds time for her passion 'Writing' and she's a blogger too. She believes that teaching is the best way to raise a socially responsible human being for a brighter future.