Remembering Balkrishna Doshi through Five amazing works

School of Architecture, Cept. Source by sangath.org

Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, In 2022, won the RIBA gold medal award. Doshi was named by the jury as "helping to determine the direction of architecture in India and most of the surrounding region". In addition to earning the RIBA 2022 gold medal, in 2018, Doshi became the first Indian architect to win the Pritzker Architecture Award. With his portfolio of over 100 projects built, his career was widely praised for its influence on the Indian architectural direction.

According to Doshi, his architectural style is "natural," He summarizes his philosophy in four words: "True architecture is life. The design accommodates the lifestyle and blends in with it,". Doshi's design style is also influenced by Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn's design styles. Here are five designs of Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi.

Aranya Low-Cost Housing in Indore 1989

Aranya Low Cost Housing in Indore. Source by sangath.org

In 1995 Doshi was awarded the Aga Khan for Architecture for his work in Aranya Low-Cost Housing in Indore. It has a unique approach, design philosophy, and way it plays a role in users' lives. Aranya Affordable Housing, located in Indore was built by the Indore Development Authority to address the shortage of houses and housing for economically weak communities at that time. 

The approach Doshi uses for mixed-income communities is to bring them together with an understanding of the fundamental needs of humans and users as determinants of space formation and design. This idea also allows the home to grow subjectively, affecting human connectivity and the ability to adapt.

The concept worked out well, evolving in harmony with choice, freedom, and social development, as Doshi envisioned when designing this housing estate.

Sangath Studio, Ahmedabad 1981

Sangath Studio, Ahmedabad 1981. Source by sangath.org

Sangath studio is a building devoted to Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi personally. To the fullest, the studio is considered a doshi-self-depicting building, a summary of pre-made works ranging from interiors, structures, formations, and landscapes. In short, Sangath is a sustainable building where one learns, learns, and relearns.

This building has an emotional affinity with Doshi because this building will always develop in harmony with the new things that Doshi gets.

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore 1992

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore. Source by sangath.org

In designing the IIM Balkrishna campus, Vithaldas Doshi adapted traditional Indian architecture that is distinctive and easily adaptable to the surrounding environment and circumstances. Like South Indian temples being a second home for everyone and being a social and cultural center, Doshi designed the campus to adapt to the environment and always connect with those around it. The temples of South India became a second home for everyone and a social and cultural center. 

The 54,000-square-meter complex is located on a 100-acre campus west of Bangalore City. Designed by Doshi with interconnected courtyards with elevated corridors, interspersed with shrines and shrines provides respite for personal and social activities. The initial concept of an educational campus should be borderless and the door as if it were in a sacred place.

Gandhi Labour Institute, Ahmedabad 1982

Gandhi Labour Institute, Ahmedabad. Source by sangath.org

As the name suggests, the building was designed to express Gandhi's teachings through the shape and character of the building. With simplicity, and as if without any restrictions, in the hope that students can learn, discuss, and reflect anywhere.

Amdavad Ni Gufa, Ahmedabad 1994

Amdavad Ni Gufa, Ahmedabad. Source by sangath.org

A collaboration between artists and architects, this challenge gives birth to unexpected things in the process. The design of this building asks fundamental questions about the meaning of functions, the meaning of space, and the technical meaning of structures and forms.

But Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi manages to answer that question well. This design is successful as an example of beauty in the art will be realized with a form that can be functioned and be used as it should be.