PALIKOODAM

Location: Kottayam, Kerala Architect: Laurie baker Founder: Mrs Mary Roy Established in 1967

The site along a gentle hill is graded into a series of related plateaus. The upper contours, serviceable from the road, contain the formal functions of kitchen and services and the dining hall breaks free from the composition. On the lower ground, the rooms twist, turn and triangulate into varying positions and sizes offering choices of formal classrooms as well as intimate study dens, larger halls and smaller nooks.

classrooms

The straight line and excessive rectilinearity may not directly offend a childs sensibility but baker feels the meandering wall, the circle and square as a counterpoint, make for a more desirable and inhabitable landscape

The playfulness of the walls reveal a delicately worked flexibility

The courtyard is a delineated enclosure that is open to sky allows children to discover new uses in a continual exchange with the building.

auditorium

Entrance and administrative block

On a rocky terrain the rock itself becomes the foundation for the building, but where a footing is required random rubble is brought together is a mixture of lime, sand and cement. The brick walls that sit directly on it are assembled in a variation of bonds and mortar mixes. Concrete is used very sparingly, often in a folded-slab design with waste and discarded tiles used as fillers, thereby making the roof light and inexpensive. The final expression is an outcome of this meticulous attention to structural and economic detail.

A characteristic feature of bakers work is the jaali, a perforated screen made of bricks with a surface of tiny regular openings in it, producing intricate patterns of light and shadow. It catches light and air and diffuses glare while allowing for privacy and security-combining the functions of a window and ventilator.

Architecture encouraging innovative teaching

The school breaks away from an inherited colonial tradition of suit, tie, and "pukka" English. Assemblies are not addressed by the Father Principal. Children never address their teachers as "Sir" and "Ma'am. In the Nursery Class and Std I to IV, instruction is completely informal. Little pupils sit on the ground in groups, and a single class can tackle three different subjects simultaneously. Teachers move from one group to another encouraging self learning and experiment

Pallikoodam- an effective demonstration of Bakers own strength, his own interpretation of tradition, technology and lifestyle.