Balkrishna Doshi, 1927-2023 – Photo courtesy of VSF.

In Memoriam – There “are not houses, but homes where a happy community lives. That is what finally matters.” Balkrishna Doshi once said. India’s greatest architect – as Architectural Digest wrote – has passed away aged 95 in Ahmedabad. Architect, urban planner, and professor Doshi developed his own approach to building in his country, starting from collaborations with Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn. From here, he managed to interpret their work and tune it with Eastern culture but also to transform it to improve living standards in Indian society.

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Sangath Architects’ Studio – Photo courtesy of VSF.

Doshi was born in 1927 in Pune, India, into an extended Hindu family that had been involved in the furniture industry for two generations. After graduating in Mumbai, Balkrishna Doshi moved to Europe, where he started as an apprentice at Le Corbusier’s Paris office – to respond to the responsibility and opportunity of rebuilding his native country.

For work, he traveled back to Ahmedabad, where he eventually opened his studio and completed some of his most notable works – starting from the Ahmedabad School of Architecture, now CEPT University, which he founded and planned.

Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology @ Ahmedabad University – 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.”

Aranya Low-Cost Housing – Photo courtesy of VSF.

His studio, Sangath in Ahmedabad, 1980, is a clear example of his approach that merges Indian culture and Modernism. The building features communal spaces, a garden, and an outdoor amphitheater highlighting Doshi’s regard for collaboration and social responsibility. Vaulted roofs, porcelain mosaic tile coverings, grassy areas, and sunken spaces mitigate extreme heat.

Sangath Architects’ Studio – Photo courtesy of VSF.

Balkrishna Doshi’s most prominent project is the Aranya Low-Cost Housing in the village of Indore. The project accommodates over 80,000 individuals through a system of houses, courtyards, and a labyrinth of internal pathways. Over 6,500 residences range from modest one-room units to spacious homes, accommodating low and middle-income residents. Overlapping layers and transitional areas encourage fluid and adaptable living conditions, customary in Indian society.

Aranya Low-Cost Housing – Photo courtesy of VSF.

“[O]ne of my most favourite housing projects is the one I designed for Life Insurance Corporation in Ahmedabad… Here I knew that several generations of the same family would occupy the houses, 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.“

Life Insurance Corporation Housing – Photo courtesy of VSF.

The Institute of Indology was designed to house ancient manuscripts, a research center, and, eventually, a museum. “All the elements one finds in Indian buildings are present [here]. Before I designed, I had studied a Jain upashraya, a home for monks. I had also met several Jain saints in the city to understand the traditional architecture for this building type.” Here, the building’s two stories, high plinth, and full-length veranda are all components of traditional Indian buildings.

Institute of Indology – Photo courtesy of VSF.

In Ahmedabad, BV Doshi also completed Amdavad Ni Gufa, a cave-like, Ferro-cement art gallery positioned underground and featuring works of Maqbool Fida Husain. The mosaic tile detail is echoed in the tortoise-shell-inspired roof. Here, silhouettes of metal creatures seem to play hide and seek behind the columns.

Amdavad Ni Gufa – Photo courtesy of VSF.

The Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore was inspired by traditional maze-like Indian cities and temples and is organized as interlocking buildings, courts, and galleries. It also provides a variety of spaces protected from the hot climate and infuses greenery through semi-open corridors and gardens.

Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore – Photo courtesy of VSF.

All images: courtesy of the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Aranya Low-Cost Housing by Balkrishna Doshi – Photo courtesy of VSF.