Tradition and modernity. For which Balkrishna Dosha received the Royal RIBA Gold Medal in 2022

This award once again confirmed the status of Balkrishna Dosha, who devoted 70 years of his life to the art of design. Known for his visionary urban planning and social housing projects and buildings that are "full of respect for India's architectural traditions, climate, local culture and crafts", he has received international recognition for his contribution, according to the RIBA 2022 Honors Committee.

Today, Balkrishna Dosha is called the true godfather of modern Indian architecture. His portfolio includes over a hundred completed projects. Dosha's architectural character is about a unique combination of features of international modernism, focused on functionality and straight lines, and Indian traditions, embodied in unpredictable forms.

"My works are a continuation of my life, philosophy and dreams, an attempt to create a treasury of the architectural spirit", - Balkrishna Doshi

Dosha's architectural career began in Europe. At the age of 24, he completed his professional studies in his native country and moved to Paris, where he worked under Le Corbusier. 

After returning to India, Balkrishna supervised architectural projects for Le Corbusier in Chandigarh and Ahmadabad, and later collaborated with Louis Kahn on the Indian Institute of Management project. While working with the world's leading architects, Doshi forms his philosophy of spaces, which combines the practical and the abstract into a single whole.

In 1956, the Indian architect opened his own studio, Vastushilpa Consultants, and in 1978, he founded the Vastushilpa Environmental Design Research Foundation. Its mission is to provide affordable and comfortable housing for all sections of the Indian population. 

Doshi builds from local materials, taking into account the peculiarities of the climate of the region. At the same time, cost minimization in his projects is not due to low-quality raw materials, but due to thoughtful planning.

Thus, in 1973, Doshi created the first variant of the Indian Life Insurance Corporation Housing duplexes, in which the volumes of the buildings were arranged in such a way as to save living space and avoid crowding. Such an effect was achieved thanks to the arrangement of rooms at different height levels according to the principles of constructivism.

Another affordable housing project, Aranya Low Cost Housing (1986), won the prestigious Aga Khan Architecture Award in 1996. It provided for the construction of a residential complex for 86 people on an area of ​​80 hectares.

Despite the critically small plot, Doshi managed not only to fulfill the main task - to settle a significant number of people in the residential complex, but also to make the residential buildings as functional as possible. In each of them, terraces were created, and for better ventilation in the premises - blocks with perforations. At the same time, buildings painted in bright colors refer to traditional Indian architecture combined with modernism.

At the same time, Balkrishna Dosha's projects are not only about practicality, thoughtfulness and sustainability, they carry a philosophy and a certain poetics, which is expressed by a game of contrasts. This is manifested in one of the most experimental works of the architect - Amdavad Ni Gufa gallery (1994).

In an art space located underground, Dosha creates an interior that resembles caves. In it, Dosha uses irregular columns that resemble mineral deposits. They divide the exhibition space into several separate zones. Instead, the exterior is absolutely polar. The facade of the building, which simultaneously functions as a roof, is formed from a series of monolithic domes covered with a mosaic of tiles. It was specially made understated to create a sense of public space not only inside, but also outside.

The project of Sangath's own arch studio is often called a reflection of all previous architectural incarnations created by Dosha. Based on the experience of thousands of years, he broadcasts the author's method and character in it. The chaotically arranged vaulted buildings, amphitheater, terraces and fountains flowing along the facades of the building fully reflect the diversity of its architecture.

Sangath represents the close connection of man with nature through the green landscape, which forms a single whole with the project.

Among other projects, which include mixed-use complexes, residential buildings, public spaces, galleries and private residences, the most notable are the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology in Ahmadabad (1972), now called CEPT University, the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (1977-1992 ), art center 079 Stories (2018), etc.

Now Balkrishna Dosha is 94 years old, and in order to characterize his achievements, it is enough to name only two facts: in 2011, Dosha became an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters of France, in 2018 - a laureate of the Pritzker Prize. These awards are considered the highest in the fields of art and architecture.

On hearing the news that he will also receive the 2022 Royal Gold Medal, Doshi said: “I am pleasantly surprised and grateful to have received the Royal Gold Medal. It is a great honor. The news of this award reminded me of the days when I worked with Le Corbusier in 1953. Then he also received the news that he had been awarded the Royal Gold Medal. I clearly remember his excitement. He told me metaphorically: "I wonder how big and heavy this medal will be." Today, six decades later, I feel truly overwhelmed to receive the same award as my mentor."

 

 

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