|
 Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi (born 26 August 1927) is an Indian architect.[1] He is considered to be an important figure of South Asian architecture and noted for his contributions to the evolution of architectural discourse in India.[2] His more noteworthy designs include the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and the Aranya Low Cost Housing development in Indore 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]
Early life
Doshi was born in Pune, India.[5] He studied at the J. J. School of Architecture, Mumbai.
Career
Early projects
Academic Block of IIM-Bangalore
Library Block of IIM-Bangalore
Husain-Doshi Gufa, Ahmedabad
After having worked for four years between 1951-54 with Le Corbusier in Paris, Doshi returned to Ahmedabad to supervise Le Corbusier’s projects. 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.
Teaching
Apart from his international fame as an architect, Dr. Doshi is equally known as an educator and institution builder. He has been the first founder Director of the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad (1962–72), first founder Director of the School of Planning (1972–79), first founder Dean of the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (1972–81), founder member of the Visual Arts Centre, Ahmedabad and first founder Director of the Kanoria Centre for Arts, Ahmedabad.
Dr. Doshi has been instrumental in establishing the nationally and internationally known research institute Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design. The institute has done pioneering work in low cost housing and city planning. His work is considered noteworthy for his pioneering work on low-income housing. he is also noted for designs which incorporate concepts of sustainability in innovative ways. [4]
Recognition
Doshi is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and has been on the selection committee for the Pritzker Prize, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. He is also a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Architects.
As an academician, Dr. Doshi has been visiting the USA and Europe since 1958.[citation needed]
Awards
In recognition of his distinguished contribution as a professional and as an academician, Dr. Doshi has received several international and national awards and honours.
Pritzker Architecture Prize, 2018 [4]
Padma Shri, Government of India,1976
Honorary doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.
France’s highest honour for arts the ‘Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters’, 2011.[6]
6th Aga Khan Award for Architecture for Aranya Community Housing, 1993-1995. [3]
Buildings
1969-71 ECIL Township, Hyderabad
1979-80 Sangath, BV Doshi’s office, Ahmedabad
1972 Centre for Environment and Planning Technology (CEPT), Ahmedabad
1962-74 Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
1989 National Institute of Fashion Technology,[7] Delhi
1990 Amdavad ni Gufa, Ahmedabad
Aranya Low Cost Housing, Indore
IFFCO township, Kalol
Sawai Gandharva, Pune
Premabhai Hall, Ahmedabad
Tagore Hall, Ahmedabad
Vidyadhar Nagar, Jaipur
Udayan the Condoville, Udita (HIG), Utsav (MIG) Utsarg (LIG) 2500 homes, Kolkata
Popular culture
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, playing himself.[8]
References
Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi. Archived 2011-08-23 at the Wayback Machine. ArchNet 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
Ashish Nangia: “Post Colonial India and its Architecture – II”, in Boloji, 12-02-2006
“Balkrishna Doshi Named 2018 Pritzker Prize Laureate”. ArchDaily. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
Top Architecture Prize Goes to Low-Cost Housing Pioneer From India, By Robin Pogrebin, New York Times, March 7, 2018.
Japan Architect, nr.05, 2001
B V Doshi conferred France’s highest honour for arts – Times Of India
http://www.nift.ac.in
Shah, Devanshi. “9 amazing facts you absolutely wouldn’t have guessed about BV Doshi”. Architectural Digest. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
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 8838761264
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
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balkrishna Doshi.
Vastu Shilpa Consultants and Vastu Shilpa Foundation
Texts, Interviews and Projects by B. V. Doshi on Architexturez South Asia
|