World

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Balkrishna Doshi dies at 95

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Balkrishna Doshi dies at 95
Written by admin

Written by Oscar Holland, CNN

Balkrishna Doshi, one of the most famous architects of the Indian subcontinent, has died at the age of 95.

According to a spokesperson for the Pritzker Prize, Doshi passed away on Tuesday. He was India’s first and to date the only winner of the award, the profession’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize.

Throughout his seventy-year career, Doshi, often using the initials BV, has advocated for public architecture and low-cost housing for India’s poor.

“Doshi has been instrumental in shaping architectural discourse across India and internationally since the 1950s,” said an emailed statement from the Pritzker Prize. “Influenced by 20th century masters Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, he explored the relationships between the basic needs of human life, the self and culture, and connection and social traditions. With his ethical and personal approach to the built environment, he touched humanity in every socio-economic class in his hometown.”

Courtesy of Amdavad Ni Gufa_ VSF

Amdavad ni Gufa is an underground museum with domed roofs that protrude playfully from the ground. Credit: Vastu Shilpa Consultants

His practice, Studio Sangath, also shared the news of his death on Instagram with a message signed by his family and business partners.

“There are few words to express the deep pain and sadness we feel at announcing the passing of our backbone, guru, friend, confidant, and mentor.” mail reader. “She was a light in this world, and now we must continue to shine her light in our own lives.”

“(In India) we’re talking housing, we’re talking slums, we’re talking villages, we’re talking towns – everybody’s talking but who’s really going to do something about it? The ‘other half’ – I would work for them and try to empower them.”

Balkrishna Doshi

Born in Pune in 1927, Doshi worked under Le Corbusier in Paris in the early 1950s and then returned to India to oversee projects by modernist masters in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. He settled on the latter, where he founded his practice Vastu Shilpa Consultants, and would later complete some of his best-known projects, including the Tagore Memorial Hall and Amdavad ni Gufa, an underground museum with a series of domed roofs topped by.

Courtesy of Aranya Low Cost Housing_VSF

Typical of Doshi’s pioneering residential complexes, the Aranya Low Cost Housing Project features an intricate network of interconnected gateways, courtyards and public spaces. Credit: Vastu Shilpa Consultants

But Doshi was prolific elsewhere, completing over 100 projects in cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Jaipur. Despite his international reputation, his work was almost entirely focused on his home country. Some of his other signature projects include the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore and the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board building in Jabalpur.

The Aranya Low Cost Housing development in the city of Indore perhaps best expressed his point of view. Boasting an intricate network of gateways, courtyards and public spaces, the city offers 6,500 affordable housing to over 80,000 people.

speaking to CNN About winning the Pritzker Prize in 2018, Doshi has expressed his dedication to using architecture as a force for the public good throughout his career.

“(In India) we’re talking about housing, we’re talking slums, we’re talking villages, we’re talking towns – everybody’s talking but who’s really going to do something about it?” He asked. “I made the decision to work for my ‘other half’ – I would work for them and try to empower them.”

Courtesy of PremabhaiHall_VSF

Premabhai Hall is an auditorium built in Doshi’s hometown of Ahmedabad. Credit: Vastu Shilpa Consultants

Describing her own encounters with “extreme poverty” as a child, Doshi went on to reaffirm her commitment to social housing in India.

“These people have nothing – no land, no place, no job,” he said. “But if the government gives them a small piece of land, they might get the feeling, ‘I’ll work hard and find a way to build my own house.’ If you bring them together as a community, there’s cooperation, there’s sharing, there’s understanding and all that religion, caste, tradition and There is a spread of professions.

“When I visited this place after nearly 30 years, we were given pedestals with a foot high faucet and toilet (I find people). Today they have two-story or three-story buildings. including — and they all live, talk, and communicate together.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among several high-profile figures who paid tribute to Doshi on Tuesday. Typing on Twitter, huh specification As the architect is “an outstanding founder”, he adds, “generations to come will marvel at his rich work in India and glimpse his greatness.”
Meanwhile, the chairman of the opposition Indian National Congress party Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted He described Doshi as “one of the most distinguished Indian minds in the architectural world” and said he was “deeply saddened” by the news.

This article has been updated with reactions to Doshi’s death.

About the author

admin

Leave a Comment