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Acclaimed Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi passes away at 95

2023-01-24T07:24:00-05:00

The acclaimed Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi has passed away at the age of 95. As reported by Architectural Digest India, Doshi died on Tuesday, January 24th in Ahmedabad, India.

Throughout his 70-year career, Doshi oversaw the construction of 100 built projects, influencing the direction of architecture in India and adjacent regions through both his practice and teaching. Accolades awarded to Doshi for his services to architecture include the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize and the 2022 RIBA Royal Gold Medal.

Atira Guest House, Ahmedabad, India. Photographer: Fabien Charuau (c) Vastushilpa Foundation

Born in 1927 in Pune, India, Doshi studied at the J J School of Architecture, Bombay, before working for four years with Le Corbusier as Senior Designer in Paris from 1951 to 1954. Along with a decade-long collaboration with Louis Kahn, Doshi founded his own practice, Vastushilpa, in 1956. He since became internationally known for his visionary urban planning and social housing pro...

Balkrishna Doshi receives RIBA Gold Medal in virtual ceremony

2022-06-15T16:40:00-04:00

Renowned Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi has been formally presented with the 2022 Royal Institute of Architects (RIBA) Royal Gold Medal in a virtual ceremony hosted by the organization and President Simon Allford.

Featuring video tributes from Frank Gehry, Álvaro Siza, and Benedetta Tagliabue, the ceremony honored the 7-decade body of work created by the 2018 Pritzker laureate in a presentation broadcast simultaneously from RIBA’s 66 Portland Place headquarters and the architect’s self-designed 41-year-old Sangath studio in Ahmedabad.

Previously on Archinect: Pritzker Prize laureate Balkrishna Doshi's plea for a Biological City

“What a great honour! The news of this award brought back memories of my time working with Le Corbusier in 1953 when he had just received the news of getting the Royal Gold Medal,” the architect said, speaking of his luminary early mentor. “I vividly recollect his excitement to receive this honour from Her Majesty. He said to me metaphorically, ‘I wonder ho...

Balkrishna Doshi on the road that led to his RIBA Royal Gold Medal

2022-02-23T13:37:00-05:00

India based Balkrishna Doshi will be awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in April. He gave Eleanor Young a rare insight into how Ahmedabad and his studio there taught him the importance of sound and silence to design, about flexibility and rejoicing, and putting people first

The recent RIBA Royal Gold medalist Balkrishna Doshi spoke about various episodes and challenges in his six-decade career, stating that in his view, client directives are the single-biggest obstacles he faces as a designer.

“As architects, we say ‘I have made a nice verandah, but somebody has encroached’ — we think encroaching or deviating is incorrect ethics. But when you are living and celebrating life, you forget the original purpose, and that is important.”

Previously on Archinect: Balkrishna Doshi awarded the Royal Gold Medal 2022 by the RIBA

Doshi also described his passion for working with young people and credited an early incident outside the Parisian offices of his mentor Le Corbusier as a formative event in his life and career.

“I clearly remember my first day at 35 Rue de Serves, when I entered Monsieur Corbusier’s office with a suitcase on my head. I had crossed the road without thinking about the traffic light, and suddenly there was a huge honking, everybody braked, an...

Balkrishna Doshi awarded the Royal Gold Medal 2022 by the RIBA

2021-12-09T15:32:00-05:00

Renowned Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi has been announced as the recipient of the Royal Gold Medal 2022 by the RIBA, one of the highest architectural honors in the world. By receiving the award, Doshi joins past winners including Sir David Adjaye (2021), Grafton Architects (2020), and Sir Nicholas Grimshaw (2019). Doshi is also the 2018 recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

RIBA President Simon Alford described Doshi as an individual who was “influenced generations of architects through his delightfully purposeful architecture.” The ninety-four-year-old architect has seen over 100 built projects throughout his 70-year career, influencing the direction of architecture in India and adjacent regions through both his practice and teaching.

Aranya Low-Cost Housing, Indore, India. Photographer: John Panicker (c) Vastushilpa Foundation

Born in 1927 in Pune, India, Doshi studied at the J J School of Architecture, Bombay, before working for four years with Le Corbusier as Seni...

MoMA's next exhibition will explore the role architecture played in shaping post-colonial South Asia

2021-11-11T16:53:00-05:00

MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design has announced a forthcoming new exhibition that will examine the way in which the modern architecture of former colonial enterprises helped shape the post-independence era of self-determination politics in latter South Asia.

Woman carrying cement at the Capitol Complex, Chandigarh, India, in front of the Secretariat (1951–58) designed by Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, 1887–1965). 1956. Photograph: Ernst Scheidegger.

Comprised of over 200 photos, architectural models, and other media taken from institutions in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, the exhibition highlights key projects from some of the region’s most prominent designers, including Mahendra Raj and 2018 Pritzker laureate Balkrishna Doshi.

Chittagong University, Chittagong, East Pakistan (Bangladesh). 1965–71. Vastukalabid (est. 1964). Muzharul Islam (1923–2021). Master plan. Ink and pencil on paper. Muzharul Islam Archives.

The exhibition was organized by MoMA...

Sir David Adjaye receives RIBA Gold Medal at illustrious virtual event

2021-05-28T17:14:00-04:00

Earlier this week, on May 26th, celebrated Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye formally received the 2021 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Royal Gold Medal in a virtual ceremony. Surprise luminaries from around the world, including former U.S. President Barack Obama and U2 singer Bono, participated to congratulate Adjaye on his historic accomplishment.

Calling in from Ghana, Adjaye received his award from the UK’s high commissioner to Ghana, Iain Walker, on behalf of the Queen.

Sir David Adjaye receives the RIBA 2021 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture, presented by the British High Commissioner Iain Walker. Image: RIBA/Francis Kokoroko 2021

“It’s incredibly humbling and a great honor to have my peers recognize the work I have developed with my team and its contribution to the field over the past 25 years,” Adjaye said upon hearing the news that he received the Royal Gold Medal. “Architecture, for me, has always been about the creation of beauty to edify all people...

Meejin Yoon, Walter Hood, and Kathryn Gustafson among newly elected members of the 2021 American Academy of Arts and Letters

2021-03-08T13:14:00-05:00

The American Academy of Arts and Letters awards three architects and three landscape architects as new Academy members. Founded in 1898, each selected cohort becomes a part of an honors society comprised of architects, artists, composers, and writers. Once elected, they become members for life

Twenty-nine new members have been inducted as honorary members for their work and contributions. The Academy's board shares they are "committed to creating a more inclusive membership that truly represents America, and believes that expanding the Academy's membership will allow the Academy to more readily achieve that goal. The increase also reflects the growth in population over the past century. The expansion will be realized incrementally over the next five years."

Meejin Yoon of Höweler + Yoon Architecture

Meejin Yoon. Photo by Andy Ryan.

Founder partner of Höweler + Yoon Architecture alongside Eric Höweler, Yoon is also the first female Dean at the College of Architecture, Art and Planning...

Pritzker Prize laureate Balkrishna Doshi's plea for a Biological City

2018-12-10T15:29:00-05:00

Unfortunately, we have since forgotten this soulful approach to architecture and design, following instead the prevailing planning model of big budgets, large-scale structures and isolated behaviors. Consequently, our habitations have become fragmented and we fail to see the city’s infrastructure and life in an integrated way.

Celebrated Indian architect and 2018 Pritzker Prize laureate, Balkrishna Doshi, pens a passionate NYT opinion piece in which he calls for a renewed harmony of human settlements with nature rather than pursuing more resource-consuming megastructures.

The Balkrishna Doshi-designed Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, 1977. Photo: Sanyam Bahga/Flickr

"In addition to such quietude, other aesthetic measures of settlements include grace, love, compassion and humility," Doshi writes. "To animate a settlement one must create humble and tender connections, which encourage humans to come together and to share and to feel themselves a part of a larger order, a part of Mother Earth."

Balkrishna Doshi's 2018 Pritzker Prize Laureate Lecture to be streamed live on May 16th

2018-05-02T18:14:00-04:00

Balkrishna Doshi, the 2018 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, will present his public lecture “Paths Uncharted” on May 16th at 6:30pm EST. Professor Doshi’s lecture will be recorded and streamed live on Facebook and Instagram via @UofTDaniels. Following the event, the recording will be made available on the Daniels Faculty’s YouTube channel.

The University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design will host this event in their new Daniels Building designed by NADAAA in collaboration with ERA Architects and Adamson & Associates. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Pritzker Prize, and the first time that the international award will be presented in Canada.

The public is invited to participate in this educational initiative, which aims to heighten discussion and debate around architecture, stimulate awareness of work in the field, and inspire greater creativity within the architectural profession.

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Balkrishna Doshi on Fortune Magazine 'World's 50 Greatest Leaders' list

2018-04-19T14:42:00-04:00

This year’s Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor, went to India’s Doshi, who has spent the bulk of his 70-year career championing accessible housing, earning the moniker “the architect for the poor.” [...] Underlying all his work is the ideal that all economic classes deserve good housing.

Fortune Magazine just released its annual list, The World's 50 Greatest Leaders, featuring the visionaries, thinkers, challengers, and influencers who see, understand, and act on today's challenges.

Besides the expected (philanthropists, CEOs, politicians) and a few deserving unexpected (student activists at Marjory Stoneman Douglas and other schools, the #MeToo Movement) selections, one architect represents the profession this year—not with flashy buildings but with a solid body of work and the repeated call for good design and dignified housing for all: Balkrishna Doshi, the 90-year-old Indian architect and recipient of the 2018 Pritzker Prize.

Also among the honorees is former architect and now mayor of the Indonesian city of Bandung, Ridwan Kamil. Since taking office in 2013, Kamil implemented an array of technology solutions to improve efficiency, reduce traffic congestion, and tackle the challenges of a growing city of 2.5 million.

Pritzker Prize winner Balkrishna Doshi: Education without doors

2018-03-26T13:55:00-04:00

The Pritzker is a great award. Unimaginable. It’s the first time in India—that’s another story. But it is also the recognition of saying that these kinds of buildings are really wonderful, they are globally recognizable buildings. The philosophy of creating something for the have-nots, I think is one of the unique things that can happen.

CityLab reporter Ashish Malhotra sits down with recent Pritzker Prize laureate Balkrishna Doshi to chat about winning the Pritzker, Ahmedabad, Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn as mentors, and open access to architectural education: "So I always wrote, in the [CEPT] campus, my whole idea was that an educational campus should be without doors. No boundaries. And that philosophy I continue."

Pritzker Prize laureate Balkrishna Doshi: architecture needs to invest in dignity of low-income housing

2018-03-12T13:35:00-04:00

Speaking to the Guardian after the announcement of his award, Doshi said that architects and urban planners involved in low-income housing projects – as well as architectural education – needed to move away from their focus on the designer as individual to being far more collaborative, compassionate and invested in the dignity of those they house.

Study up on the impressive body of work of freshly minted Pritzker Prize laureate, Balkrishna Doshi, here.

'My works are an extension of my life': Notable designs of 2018 Pritzker Prize laureate Balkrishna Doshi

2018-03-07T15:12:00-05:00

If you're not too familiar with the works of 2018 Pritzker Prize laureate Balkrishna Doshi, the 90-year-old architect, urban planner, and educator has been a major influence in shaping modern architecture and urban living in his native India. Throughout his 70-year career, he has built public administrations, educational and cultural institutions, private residences, and more.

Read on for a glimpse into some of Doshi's notable projects.

Balkrishna Doshi (photo courtesy of VSF)

“My works are an extension of my life, philosophy and dreams trying to create treasury of the architectural spirit. I owe this prestigious prize to my guru, Le Corbusier. His teachings led me to question identity and compelled me to discover new regionally adopted contemporary expression for a sustainable holistic habitat,” Doshi said on receiving the Pritzker Prize. “[W]ith all my humility and gratefulness I want to thank the Pritzker Jury for this deeply touching and rewarding recognition of my work. This rea...

Balkrishna Doshi wins 2018 Pritzker Prize

2018-03-07T10:07:00-05:00

That time of year is here again! Today, Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi was announced as the 2018 Pritzker Prize winner. Dubbed the “Nobel Prize” of architecture, the illustrious $100,000 prize also comes with a formal citation certificate and a bronze medallion based on the designs of iconic architect Louis Sullivan.

Balkrishna Doshi will join the Pritzker's honorary list of laureates, which includes RCR Arquitectes co-founders Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta (who collectively won the 2017 prize), Alejandro Aravena (2016), the late Frei Otto (2015), Shigeru Ban (2014), Toyo Ito (2013), Wang Shu (2012), Eduardo Souto de Moura (2011), SANAA (2010), Peter Zumthor (2009), and Paulo Mendes da Rocha (2006).