Mitraniketan Clinic – Kottayam – Laurie Baker
Laurence Wilfred “Laurie” Baker (March 2, 1917 – April 1, 2007) was an award-winning British-born Indian architect, renowned for his initiatives in cost-effective energy-efficient architecture and for his unique space utilization and a simple but beautiful aesthetic sensibility. He came to India in 1945 as a missionary aid worker and since then lived and worked in India for over 50 long years.
Mitraniketan is a social service society and clinic up in the Vagamon mountains of Kottayam district, Kerala. It was started by Dr. Elizabeth Baker and renowned architect Mr. Laurie Baker in 1963 to meet the needs of the tea plantation workers and rural poor of the surroundings.
The idea was to render care to people who otherwise had no access to medical facilities and to make them at home while being treated. Hence the hospital was very simple and homely and made use of nursing services rendered by dedicated young women who were also trained by Dr. Baker.
