David Baker (architect)

Curran House affordable family housing in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco

David Baker (b. 1949) is an American architect based in San Francisco, California. He and his firm, David Baker + Partners (with partners Peter MacKenzie, Kevin Wilcock, and Daniel Simons), are known primarily for designing affordable housing projects, hotels, and condominium lofts, often in converted old industrial buildings.^[1] The 14-employee firm,^[1] formerly known as "David Baker & Associates", was formed in 1982 and is based in San Francisco's Clocktower Building, a condominium conversion Baker designed in the former factory of the Schmidt Lithography Co., at one time the largest printing company on the West Coast.^[2]

Baker was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1949. He grew up in Michigan and in Tucson, Arizona, in a house designed by his self-educated father, Bernard Baker.^[3]and attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Thomas Jefferson College, University of Michigan, and University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a Masters Degree in architecture.^[3] Baker says that he decided to become an architect as a child, when his father gave him a book on famous architects.^[3]

Tassafaronga Village LEED Platinum affordable housing in Oakland, California.

H2hotel was certified LEED-NC Gold in 2011

Career

After college in the 1970s Baker formed Sol-Arc, an energy consulting firm.^[3] His present firm, David Baker + Partners, was formed in 1982.

In 2008 Baker was one of three architects inducted into Builder Magazine's "Hall of Fame".^[4] One of Baker's projects, Soma Studios, was named one of the ten best new projects of the decade by a local critic.^[5]

External Links

• dbarchitect.com - official site, David Baker + Partners

References

1. ^ ^{a b} John King (2010-07-21). "David Baker + Partners serve society, environment". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/21/MNLS1ED9VK.DTL#ixzz0uL40Qtgh. 
2. ^ "Schmidt Lithography Co. Clock Tower"". Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/schmidt.html. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Meet David Baker, FAIA"". The Noble Architect. http://www.thenoblearchitect.com/interviews/meetdavidbakerfaia.html. 
4. ^ John Caulfield (2008-10-01). "Environments for Life". Builder Magazine. http://www.builderonline.com/award-winning-design/environments-for-life.aspx. 
5. ^ John King (2009-12-30). "Decade in Review: Top 10 in S.F. Architecture". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.dbarchitect.com/words/press/167/Decade%20in%20Review%3A%20Top%2010%20in%20S%20F%20%20Architecture%20.html. 

Persondata
Name	Baker, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death