David Baker, FAIA LEED AP (born December 20, 1949), is an American architect based in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He and his firm, David Baker Architects (with principals Daniel Simons and Amanda Loper), are known primarily for designing

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affo ...

projects, hotels, and condominium lofts, often in converted old industrial buildings. The 62-employee firm, 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.

Early life

Baker was born in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

on December 20, 1949. He grew up in Michigan and in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, in a house designed by his self-educated father, Bernard Baker. He attended

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

Thomas Jefferson College Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids. The universit ...

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, and

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

, where he earned a master's degree in architecture. Baker says that he decided to become an architect as a child, when his father gave him a book on famous architects. Tassafaronga Village

Career

After college in the 1970s Baker formed Sol-Arc, an energy consulting firm. His present firm, David Baker Architects, was formed in 1982. Baker was elevated to Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1996. In 2008, Baker was one of three architects selected for induction in the

Builder Magazine Builder may refer to: * Construction worker, who specializes in building work * Carpenter, a skilled craftsman who works with wood * General contractor, that specializes in building work ** Subcontractor * Builder (detergent), a component of mo ...

's "Hall of Fame". One of Baker's projects, Soma Studios, was named one of the ten best new projects of the decade by a local critic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, David 21st-century American architects Living people 1949 births Architects from California University of Michigan alumni