{{Short description|American architect (born 1949)}} thumb|Curran House affordable family housing in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco
'''David Baker''', FAIA LEED AP (born December 20, 1949), is an American architect based in San Francisco, California. He and his firm, '''David Baker Architects''' (with principals Daniel Simons and Amanda Loper), are known primarily for designing affordable housing projects, hotels, and condominium lofts, often in converted old industrial buildings.<ref name="king">{{cite news|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|author=John King|title=David Baker + Partners serve society, environment |date=2010-07-21|url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/place/article/David-Baker-Partners-serve-society-environment-3181080.php}}</ref> The 62-employee firm,<ref name="king"/> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dbarchitect.com/contact |website=David Baker Architects |title=Contact Us}}</ref>
==Early life== Baker was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on December 20, 1949.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thenoblearchitect.com/interviews/davidbakerfaia.html |title=The Noble Architect Foundation |access-date=2012-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816073053/http://thenoblearchitect.com/interviews/davidbakerfaia.html |archive-date=2018-08-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He grew up in Michigan and in Tucson, Arizona, in a house designed by his self-educated father, Bernard Baker.<ref name="meet">{{cite news|url=http://www.thenoblearchitect.com/interviews/meetdavidbakerfaia.html|publisher=The Noble Architect|title=Meet David Baker, FAIA|access-date=2010-07-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622223620/http://www.thenoblearchitect.com/interviews/meetdavidbakerfaia.html|archive-date=2016-06-22|url-status=dead}}</ref> He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Thomas Jefferson College, University of Michigan, and University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a master's degree in architecture.<ref name="meet"/> Baker says that he decided to become an architect as a child, when his father gave him a book on famous architects.<ref name="meet"/> thumb|Tassafaronga Village LEED Platinum affordable housing in Oakland, California thumb|La Valentina Station affordable family housing at a light rail station in Sacramento
==Career== After college in the 1970s Baker formed Sol-Arc, an energy consulting firm.<ref name="meet"/> 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's "Hall of Fame".<ref name="hall">{{cite news|publisher=Builder Magazine|url=http://www.builderonline.com/award-winning-design/environments-for-life.aspx|title=Environments for Life|author=John Caulfield|date=2008-10-01}}</ref> One of Baker's projects, Soma Studios, was named one of the ten best new projects of the decade by a local critic.<ref>{{cite news|title=Decade in Review: Top 10 in S.F. Architecture|author=John King|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|url=http://www.dbarchitect.com/words/press/167/Decade%20in%20Review%3A%20Top%2010%20in%20S%20F%20%20Architecture%20.html|date=2009-12-30}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.dbarchitect.com/ David Baker Architects]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, David}} Category:21st-century American architects Category:Living people Category:1949 births Category:Architects from California Category:University of Michigan alumni