Cafe Floss Podcast: A Conversation with Cecil Baker
Listen as CEO and Principal Floss Barber sits down with a select group of bright individuals with accomplished careers in Philadelphia. In Episode 2, Floss talks with Cecil Baker, AIA.
Born and raised in Argentina, Cecil Baker, AIA, came to the United States in 1959 to attend Williams College. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and went on to get his Master of Architecture degree, studying under Louis Kahn at the University of Pennsylvania. Cecil brings to each project a unique vision, grounded firmly in his design ideals of serenity and distinct simplicity. He inspires clients to envision their projects in a new light, and through the partnership that develops, creativity and inventiveness flourish. Cecil finds joy in cultivating every phase of a project, and as a result, his hand can be detected in the largest of gestures to the smallest of details. Prior to the formation of Cecil Baker + Partners in 1982, he had, with three architect friends, established BRHB Developers, a building and development enterprise whose goal was to put into practice the planning principles that had been the core of his architectural experience, and in the process prove that good design and profitability are compatible. BRHB Developers built and marketed a portfolio of 279 apartments and single family residences. Cecil continues to be a partner in this real estate entity. In 2012, Cecil was appointed by the Mayor of Philadelphia to serve on the City Planning Commission’s Civic Design Review Committee. Cecil is a past board member and Vice President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the AIA. He has been regional representative on the national AIA’s Standing Committee on Housing. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University and lectured at other institutions of higher learning. Cecil’s firm is the recipient of more than 50 regional and national design awards. In 2008, he was named to the Hall of Fame by Residential Architect. Cecil lives with his wife, Fairley, in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia.