B. V. Doshi

Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi OAL (Gujarati: બાલકૃષ્ણ વિઠ્ઠલદાસ દોશી; 26 August 1927 – 24 January 2023) was an Indian architect.[1] He is an important figure in Indian architecture and noted for his contributions to the evolution of architectural discourse in India.[2] Having worked under Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, he was a pioneer of modernist and brutalist architecture in India.

B. V. Doshi
Doshi in 2013
Born
Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi

(1927-08-26)26 August 1927
Pune, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died24 January 2023(2023-01-24) (aged 95)
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materJ. J. School of Architecture, Mumbai
OccupationArchitect
Spouse
Kamala Parikh
​
(m. 1955)​
Children3
AwardsPadma Vibhushan (posthumous)
Padma Bhushan
Padma Shri
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Pritzker Prize
Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Royal Gold Medal
PracticeVastu Shilpa Consultants
BuildingsIIM-Bangalore, IIM Udaipur, National Institute of Fashion Technology New Delhi

His noteworthy designs include FLAME University, IIM Bangalore, IIM Udaipur, NIFT Delhi, Amdavad ni Gufa, CEPT University, and the Aranya Low Cost Housing development in Indore for which was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.[3]

In 2018, he became the first Indian architect to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize.[4][5] He was also awarded the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan, the Padma Vibhushan, [6] and the Royal Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal for 2022.[7]

Early life

Doshi was born to a Gujarati Vaishnav Hindu family in Pune.[8] His mother died when he was 10 months old and his father remarried, with his grandfather and aunts helping raise him.[9][10] At the age of eleven, he was injured in a fire accident, and thereafter walked with a slight limp.[11] He studied at the Sir J. J. School of Art in Mumbai between 1947 and 1950.[12]

Career

Early projects

In 1950, he went to Europe. He worked closely with Le Corbusier on the latter's projects in Paris between 1951 and 1954. In 1954, he returned to India to supervise Corbusier's buildings in Ahmedabad, which included the Villa Sarabhai, Villa Shodhan, Mill Owners' Association Building, and Sanskar Kendra. Corbusier is described as having been a major influence on Doshi's later work.

Doshi with Le Corbusier at the unfinished Shodhan House, c. 1955.

His studio, Vastu-Shilpa (environmental design), was established in 1955. Doshi worked closely with Louis Kahn and Anant Raje, when Kahn designed the campus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. In 1958 he was a fellow at the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. He then started the School of Architecture (S.A) in 1962.

Bimanagar

Bimanagar Housing Society, located at Ahmedabad is one of the well-known project by Shri B.V Doshi. He once said, "One of my most favourite housing projects is the one I designed for Life Insurance Corporation, at Ahmedabad. Here I knew that the houses would be occupied by several generations of the same family, that they would identify with it, that there will be a strong sense of belonging and that their needs will change, and they may modify parts of it.”

Teaching

Apart from his international fame as an architect, Doshi is equally known for having been an educator and institution builder. He was the founding director of the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad (1962–72), founding director of the School of Planning (1972–79), founding dean of the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (1972–81), founding member of the Visual Arts Centre, Ahmedabad, and founding director of the Kanoria Centre for Arts, Ahmedabad.

Doshi was instrumental in establishing the nationally- and internationally-known research institute Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design. The institute has performed pioneering work in low-cost housing and city planning.[13] He is noteworthy for his pioneering work on low-income housing, and for his designs that incorporate concepts of sustainability in innovative ways.[13]

Media

In 2008, Hundredhands director Premjit Ramachandran released a documentary interviewing Doshi. He appeared as himself in Mani Ratnam's O Kadhal Kanmani and Shaad Ali's Ok Jaanu.[11]

Style

Doshi said that he had been inspired by historic Indian monuments, as well as the work of European and American architects.[14]

Personal life and death

Doshi married Kamala Parikh in 1955. They had three daughters – Tejal, Radhika, and Maneesha.[15] Tejal Panthaki is a textile designer,[16] Radhika Kathpalia is an architect and fashion designer,[17] and Maneesha Akkitham is a painter.[18]

Doshi died in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 24 January 2023, at age 95.[19][20]

Recognition

Doshi was a fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and sat on the selection committee for the Pritzker Prize, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. He was also a fellow of the Indian Institute of Architects.

Doshi's work on the reunification of Indian and English heritages through his practice was awarded a Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2007, the award's first edition. The award recognized Doshi's significant step in the direction of an alternative development model.[21]

In March 2018, Doshi was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the Nobel equivalent for the field, thus becoming the first Indian to receive the honour. The Pritzker jury announced that Doshi "has always created an architecture that is serious, never flashy or a follower of trends", and noted his "deep sense of responsibility and a desire to contribute to his country and its people through high quality, authentic architecture".[5]

C. K. Mehta presenting the Dhirubhai Thakar Savyasachi Saraswat Award to Doshi on 27 June 2017

Buildings
Academic Block of IIM-Bangalore
Husain-Doshi Gufa, Ahmedabad

References
  1. Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi. Archived 23 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. ArchNet 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  2. Ashish Nangia (12 February 2006). "Balkrishna V Doshi: The Mythical and the Modern". Post-Colonial India and its Architecture – II. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012.
  3. "Balkrishna Doshi Named 2018 Pritzker Prize Laureate". ArchDaily. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  4. Pogrebin, Robin (7 March 2018). "Top Architecture Prize Goes to Low-Cost Housing Pioneer From India". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  5. Rajghatta, Chidanand (8 March 2018). "B V Doshi 1st Indian to win 'Nobel' for architecture". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  6. "Padma Awards" (PDF).
  7. "Royal Gold Medal 2022 recipient: Balkrishna Doshi". Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  8. Utpal Sharma (2018) [9 October 2015]. In Conversation: B.V. Doshi. Sahapedia. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  9. Balkrishna Doshi. Timeline of his life & works
  10. "Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi". Japan Architect. No. 5. 2001. Retrieved 24 January 2023 – via backnumber.japan-architect.co.jp.
  11. Shah, Devanshi (26 August 2017). "9 amazing facts you absolutely wouldn't have guessed about BV Doshi". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  12. "Every object around us is in symphony". BBC. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  13. Pogrebin, Robin (7 March 2018). "Top Architecture Prize Goes to Low-Cost Housing Pioneer From India". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  14. Saberin, Zeenat (8 March 2018). "Balkrishna Doshi: 'Architecture is a backdrop to life'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  15. Lee Morgan, Ann; Naylor, Colin, eds. (1987). Contemporary Architects. Internet Archive. St. James Press. pp. 234–237. ISBN 978-0-912289-26-7.
  16. "Tejal Design Studio". www.baroda.com. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  17. "VSC Vāstu Shilpā Consultants – Team". Indian-Architects. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  18. "Maneesha Doshi". Saffronart. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  19. "Celebrated architect Balkrishna Doshi passes away at 95". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  20. Bernstein, Fred A. (24 January 2023). "Balkrishna Doshi, Modernist Indian Architect, Is Dead at 95". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2023 – via NYTimes.com.
  21. Contal, Marie-Hélène; Revedin, Jana (June 2009). Sustainable Design: Towards a New Ethic in Architecture and Town Planning. Germany: Birkhäuser. ISBN 978-3-7643-9938-2.
  22. "Padma Awards 2023 announced". www.pib.gov.in. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  23. updated, Ellie Stathaki last (9 December 2021). "Balkrishna Doshi wins 2022 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  24. "K G Subramanyan awarded Savyasachi Award". The Times of India. 28 June 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  25. "Global Award for Sustainable Architecture". Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  26. "B V Doshi conferred France's highest honour for arts | Ahmedabad News – Times of India". The Times of India. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  27. "Institute of Indology". www.architectmagazine.com. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  28. Barberini, Elisa (12 November 2011). "Balkrishna Doshi – Towniship: Electronics Corporation of India, Ltd., Hyderabad, 1968–1971". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  29. "9 iconic buildings designed by BV Doshi". Architectural Digest India. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  30. "When Hauz Khas ruins, kund steps and gopuram gateways inspired BV Doshi to design NIFT Delhi". The Indian Express. 22 February 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  31. Shahane, Devayani (2 January 2003). "PM to inaugurate Sawai Gandharva Smarak". The Times of India. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  32. "Udayan ~ The Condoville". Ambuja Neotia. Retrieved 25 August 2022.

Further reading
  • Curtis, William J. R., Balikrishna Doshi: An Architecture for India, Rizzoli, New York 1988, ISBN 0-8478-0937-4
  • James Steel, The Complete Architecture of Balikrishna Doshi, Rethinking Modernism for the Developing World, Thames and Hudson, London 1998, ISBN 0-500-28082-7
  • Bruno Melotto ed., Balkrishna Doshi. Sangath. Indian architecture between tradition and modernity, Maggioli Editore, Santarcangelo di Romagna 2012, ISBN 88-387-6126-4
  • Bruno Melotto ed., Balkrishna Doshi. The Masters in India. Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn and the Indian Context, Maggioli Editore, Santarcangelo di Romagna 2014, ISBN 978-88-387-6295-6
  • Doshi, Balkrishna V; Kries, Mateo; Kugler, Jolanthe; Hoof, Kushnu Panthaki; Wolfschalg, Meike; Obrist, Hans Ulrich; Subramanian, Samanth; Thorne, Martha; Pallasmaa, Juhani (2019). Balkrishna Doshi: architecture for the people. ISBN 978-3-945852-31-6. OCLC 1089207649.
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