“A large part of being a good architect is being a good citizen.”
Jay Baker, FAIA
Since founding his firm in 1991, Jay Baker has produced a body of work recognized for design excellence at national, regional and local levels. For his contributions to architectural practice in the Category of Design, he was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 2002.
Jay oversees design integrity and drives the collaborative process within the firm. That means working with office colleagues and those in the industry, but more importantly, with the firm’s clients. As collaboration leads to advocacy, his clients share authorship of something that is readily familiar to them but that they hadn’t seen before.
Iowa State awarded him the Alpha Rho Chi Medal in 1978, identifying the one graduating architecture student who most exemplified Leadership, Service and Merit. He received that school’s Design Achievement Award in 1992 for Distinguished Contributions to the Arts. He received his Master of Architecture degree from Rice University School of Architecture in 1980, having been awarded a full merit scholarship for his studies there. He subsequently taught architectural design as a Visiting Critic at Rice for 10 years.
Jay believes that a large part of being a good architect is being a good citizen. In 1992, as President of the Rice Design Alliance, Jay recognized the dormant potential of Houston’s historic Hermann Park. He initiated, organized and delivered an international design competition intent on achieving built improvements to the park. Houston and the nation took note. The success of the competition prompted the commission of a Master Plan, subsequently adopted by City Council. Today, as Past Chairman of the Board of Hermann Park Conservancy, Jay is Chair of the Projects Committee, volunteering his time and expertise in overseeing $200m of improvements, funded by both private and public sectors.
When Did Making Things Start?
Growing up with a creative family, I’ve always been involved with making things. In the fall of 1964, I had just turned eight years old and my grandfather (SWR) was 74. He called our house and asked if I’d like to build a tree house – of course I did. My mother brought me to their house and said, “Have fun!” SWR and I walked to the shed where he kept his red Cushman golf cart. Pieces of wood were strapped in where a golf bag was suppose to be and a hand saw, level, and toolbox were along for the ride, wherever we were going.
We drove down the hill towards the forest below. Onward we went until he stopped the cart next to three trees. Two were quite close to each other and a third was a few feet away. He motioned for me to come with him. We walked over to the trees and he explained, pointing as he spoke, how we would use the two trees to make a ladder. The third tree, along with the “ladder trees,” would support the floor. The walls and roof would go on top of that. After describing his plans, he built it. I watched him use the level and a pocketknife to mark targets. I watched him use the handsaw to make seats for 2 x 4 steps. I watched him with nails in his mouth and hammer in hand, assembling things just as he had told me we would. Every now and again he would turn to me, smile, hand me the hammer and say: “Your turn!” I did the best I could.
Over the course of that weekend the tree house was finished. When I think of it decades later, I’m still shaking my head with a smile on my face. How much fun was that?
