LAURIE Baker made three trips to Garhwal after the 1991 earthquake. The temblor claimed 768 lives and 42,400 houses tumbled down. In its wake, Dr Anil Joshi of the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO) requested the unassuming architect to travel to the hills. “Despite his age, he was magnanimous enough not only to come here but to teach us and the local masons some basics of safe house building,” says Joshi.

Baker held his first workshop with 22 local masons at Budna village in Ghansali tehsil of Tehri district. “We requested him to show us how to build a low-cost house and the grand old man obliged us with a stick in his hand and a firm resolve,” remembers Raghubir Kandwal, a native of Budna village who participated in the exercise.

“After Uttarkashi’s devastation in the quake, the locals were flooded with housing designs from many agencies, but it was only Baker who, using the local material and masons, constructed safe houses,” Joshi said.

Baker also trained 15 masons at Joshimath in Chamoli district, urging them to retain traditional wisdom in building houses. His practical wisdom and his sketches were collected and put together for Chamoli Earthquake, a manual on constructing quake-resistant and low-cost houses in the Himalayan region.

The test came in 1999. Chamoli was hit by an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale. Over 10,000 dwellings came down. But Baker’s houses stood strong.