1862 - 1946
| Names: | Baker, Sir Herbert |
| Date of Birth: | 9 June 1862 |
| Date of Death: | 4 February 1946 |
| Place of Birth: | Cobham, Kent, UK |
| Place of Death: | London, UK |
| Gender: | Male |
| Summary: | Architect |
 |
Early Life:
Sir
Herbert Baker was born in 1862 in Cobham, Kent, in Britain. He dominated
the architectural scene in South Africa from his arrival in the Cape in
1892 until his return to England in 1912.
Career:
After
completing his training and working in England Baker came to South
Africa to seek adventure
and to further his architectural career. Soon he was commissioned by
Cecil John Rhodes to remodel Groote Schuur, Rhodes’ newly bought
private residence. In 1900 Rhodes also sent Baker to Italy, Greece
and Egypt to
study the classical styles of these countries in order to incorporate
them into the grand scale buildings he wished to see erected in South
Africa.
He received much of his early training during the period when William Morris and the exponents of the Arts and Crafts Movement were advocating the use of natural materials and traditional building methods. The need to preserve old edifices was also focussed on, and the combination of this philosophy and his trip had a great influence on his work.
Before the turn of the century Baker designed and built houses and churches in the Cape, where he was living at the time. He incorporated local stone, thatch and timber and sometimes even his version of the traditional Cape gable.
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These buildings were significantly different from the fashionable houses of the period, which usually included imported materials like Welsh slate.Rhodes died in 1902 and Baker decided to set up a practice in the Transvaal, where he and his partners designed and erected many fine buildings including schools, churches and a number of Parktown mansions. All these buildings were built with locally quarried stone and the houses were known for their stateliness and clean lines. The churches were also famed for their solid construction and well-proportioned interiors.
Baker’s public works are even more famous and they are, too, made of local materials using local skills. The most famous of these are the Union Buildings in Pretoria and the South African Institute for Medical Research in Johannesburg.
Later Life :
Baker left South Africa
in 1912 to collaborate with Sir Edwin Lutyens in England. They were to
design the new administration buildings for the government of India in
New Delhi. His skills were in demand and he was honoured with a knighthood
and honorary doctorates from the universities of Oxford and the Witwatersrand.
He was buried in Westminster Abbey.