March 2024
B.V. Doshi
Shristi Sainani speaks with Khushnu Panthaki Hoof about the life and practice of Modernist Indian Architect B.V. Doshi.
Born in 1927 in Pune, Balkrishna, B.V. Doshi studied architecture at the Sir J.J. School of Architecture in Mumbai. He was the first Indian architect to be awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 2018 and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Gold Medal for Architecture in 2022, along with the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan, the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Prime Minister’s National Award for Excellence in Urban Planning and Design, a Gold Medal from the Indian Institute of Architects, the Global Award for Lifetime Achievement for Sustainable Architecture, and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. He was a fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects as well as the Indian Institute of Architects and an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Doshi worked for four years with Le Corbusier as senior designer (1951–54) in Paris and four more years in India to supervise the latter’s projects in Ahmedabad. He also worked with Louis Kahn as an associate to build the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and they continued to collaborate for over a decade. He founded his own practice, Vastushilpa, in 1956 with two architects. Today, Vastushilpa has five partners spanning three generations and sixty employees. Together they have completed more than 100 projects since the firm’s inception. Some of his most famous constructions include IIM Bangalore, IIM Udaipur, the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, the Tagore Memorial Hall in Ahmedabad, the IFFCO Township of Kalol, Aranya Low-Cost Housing in Indore, and the famously renowned Amdavad di Gufa featuring the work of M.F. Husain, to name a few. Doshi also established the Vastu Shilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design to evolve indigenous design and planning standards for built environments appropriate to India’s socio-cultural and environmental milieu. Today, it serves as an effective link between academics and professional consultants. The institute has done pioneering work in low-cost housing, documentation, and city planning.
Together with his architectural work, his drawings and paintings have also been exhibited at various museums worldwide and are part of international collections. A retrospective of his works titled Celebrating Habitat: The Real, the Virtual and the Imaginary and Balkrishna Doshi: Architecture for the People was shown at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi (2014); the Power Station of Art Shanghai, China (2017); Vitra Design Museum, Weil Am Rhein (2019); Architekturmuseum at Pinakothek de Moderne, Munich (2019); Architekturzentrum, Museum Quartier, Vienna (2020); and Wrightwood659, Chicago (2020).
Doshi passed away in 2023 in Ahmedabad, India.
Was there a moment of epiphany where Architect Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi (B V Doshi) knew he had found his calling?
Growing up in Pune, Architect Doshi was one within a large joint family. Several generations lived together under one roof, which changed its size and shape as the family grew over the years. Unlike a fact that usually goes around, Doshi’s grandfather, Gokuldas Narayandas, was not a carpenter; rather, he was the owner of a carpentry workshop — The workshop was situated on the ground floor, and the family resided on the floors up top. It was second nature for Doshi to visit the workshop often and see the process of furniture making. Narayandas often asked him, “Is this table straight? How do the edges look?” This trained his eye in a sense.
So, we see that there was a series of events that led to the making of the architect we know today. He had a very interesting relationship with his grandfather and also with his father, who was very strict. Doshi’s father, Vithaldas Gokuldas, expected sheer excellence out of Doshi. An A grade without a plus was not enough. He was reprimanded for it. Gokuldas was adamant that someday, he should be known by the name of his son. This pushed Doshi to always work hard. It built this perseverance within him, which made him go back to his projects and re-look to refine, time after time. This ignited the spirit of constantly working hard and reinventing himself.
Besides, from the beginning, he was very good at drawing. He would often sketch out observations or maps with ease. Doshi’s art teacher, Venekatesh Patil, suggested that he study architecture at the Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy College of Architecture in Bombay. However, on enrolling, Doshi found Bombay starkly different from Pune amongst the elite groups who held fluent conversations in English. Feeling alien and isolated, he would keenly look forward to returning home on the weekend as a brief source of comfort. The climate of Bombay, too, turned out to be disagreeable. Doshi would often fall ill and eventually decide to pull out from college to follow his friend Hari Kanhere’s invitation to visit him in London and prepare for the exam at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
It was then, in the 1950s, before writing the RIBA exam at the 8th Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM), that Doshi was first introduced to Le Corbusier. Corbusier and his team were preparing to design the city of Chandigarh when Doshi asked if he could join the team. “You would not be paid for eight months. If you want to come, come,” reads the answer from Corbusier. Doshi, without hesitation, moved to Paris and began work for Le Corbusier.
This was how Doshi’s journey as an architect began. After working with Corbusier for four years, in 1954, due to ill health, Doshi had to move back to India. This was when Doshi supervised Corbusier's architectural projects. It was in 1956 that he hired two architects and found his own practice, Vastushilpa, here in Ahmedabad.
B.V Doshi working with Le Corbusier at Shodhan house site. Photographs by Studio Sangath
B.V. Doshi’s personal sketches. Courtesy of Vastu Shilpā Consultants - VSC
Over the course of Architect Doshi’s practice, have there been recurring references?
It is very hard to narrow down selected references or specific mentors that shaped Doshi’s life. He was very spiritual, meditating regularly. He would read publications by Sri Aurobindo. He always had the talisman of Gandhiji by his side — this was even till the very end. An essential bit of the text read, “Whenever you are in doubt, remember the face of the poorest of poor. For any action that you take, it is crucial to assess the impact on their life. It is only then you decide how to take a step forward.”
Doshi enjoyed meeting people from all walks of life, regardless of their age. Conversing with thinkers like Charles Eames and Buckminster Fuller brought him a different arena of knowledge compared to the discussions with the locals around him. Regardless, for Doshi, they were both sources of intelligence in their own right. He was the kind who drew energy from a crowd; it’s what kept him going. Whether it was a student or scholar, he would treat them the same. Finding grace in both, the innocence of a question from one and wisdom in the thoughts of another. Historical places and extensive travel were also reasons for the peculiar formation of his practice.
Tagore Memorial Hall, Ahmedabad, 1967. Image courtesy of Vastushilpa Foundation
Please tell us about the office we are currently sitting in, the architect’s own studio, Sangath.
Sangath was always the architect’s sanctuary, and for me, it has served as a moral compass of sorts. Its history has ingrained lessons and experiences that Architect Doshi, the team, and I have shared. It is a cohesive space that is not finite in nature; every building seamlessly extends to another, breaching boundaries of program, thought, and spirit. There is always a dialogue — spatial, circulatory, and intellectual- that is rudimentary to the institution.
In terms of its design, it is an amalgamation of different impressions. We all carry imprints of people we have met, places we have been to, features we have seen, and stories we have heard. And every person, even if they have experienced the same event as another, carries their own individual sentient. Similarly, the architect brought his own insights, including those from his childhood home. Unlike Contemporary built forms that are brightly lit, both naturally and artificially, Sangath has fenestrations strategically placed to let in typical gleams of light. This sits in contrast to the comfortable dimness of spaces. There is a theatricality, an old-school warmth, a psychical aura within the materiality and perceptual character.
Additionally, at Sangath, there is a staircase at the entrance that ascends without barriers. There are no railings or balustrades to anchor the floor to treads. This was another feature the architect drew from his childhood house, a feature he spent lots of time on, going back and forth from spaces of living to his grandfather’s carpentry workshop. Modifications have taken place at Sangath since its inception in 1980; the architect added extensions to Sangath. One of these was long studio spaces that challenged the normative conception of scale. He kept adaptability in mind, knowing that when he started, he hired two, eventually expanding to eight. Over time, the studio has grown exponentially, employing about 60 people today. As time changes, requirements change, and adaptability becomes a must. There is also the pond, which welcomes the visitors walking into the vicinity of Sangath. The pond is reminiscent of Doshi’s visit with his grandfather to the ancestral village, where they often went during the festival of Holi.
On that account, Sangath can also be looked at as an experiential journal of sorts. The architect records his beliefs, memories, and aesthetics in a language he knew best — architecture. Till the very end, he spoke about architecture. It is then one realizes the sheer love he had for the art form. It is unbelievable.
Exterior of Sangath. Image courtesy of Sangath ©Balkrishna Doshi Archives
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
“Till the very end, he spoke about architecture. It is then one realizes the sheer love he had for the art form. It is unbelievable.”
B.V. Doshi in his studio at Sangath, Ahmedabad. Image courtesy of the Vastu Shilpa Foundation
The architect has realized multiple townships, which are incredibly complex considering the varied user base that must be tended to and satisfied. The stakeholders range from the authorities in charge to facilitators of the project, human and non-human immediate environment, and finally, the residents themselves. Programmatically, they tend to be exceedingly demanding, considering countless needs and aspirations, let alone considering the architect’s vision for the project. Please tell us a little about some of architect Doshi’s township design projects. What were some challenges faced during its realization, and what would you deem as its biggest feat today?
Building a community, keeping in mind diversity and inclusivity, as well as considering unique contextual factors, can be quite a challenge. Every township then brings forward a distinctive set of opportunities and constraints.
Throughout Doshi’s career, he designed numerous townships. The first was the Gujarat State Fertilizers Corporation (GSFC) Township in 1964 in the city of Baroda. With a total area of 140 acres (56 hectares), the project had to adhere to the Indian government’s policies of decentralizing industries. Migration was an important criterion for the then-ruling party, and townships had to be built to house the migrants at subsidized rates. The architect’s blueprint was designed as a super-block, where all vehicular traffic came through the block’s interior from a single-circumferential road. Doshi planned for half of the allocated area to serve as open grounds for greenery, parks, and circulation. It was important to execute projects understanding the local hot climate that was prevalent in context. The site also accommodated several public facilities, including a dispensary and hospital, a kindergarten, a post office, a primary school, a middle school, a secondary school, and some sports facilities. A network of footpaths connected the civic and residential spaces to the heart of the site. At the core sat a water tank. Planners usually conceal features such as these. Doshi embraced its merit of using it as a space for social gatherings. The functional water tank became an activator for the community to congregate and celebrate. The elders would have sessions of yoga while the children playfully climbed on top to admire the horizon in sight. Around the tank, during the festive season of Navratri, the residents dance the ritualistic form of Garba—a dance that honors, worships, and celebrates the divine Goddess.
Every project served as a lesson for the next. Doshi would keep revisiting the site, as well as his thoughts and processes, to re-examine what could be improved and how one could go beyond. He would record his observations and insights in a journal to refine strategies. Social aspects of not just townships but any project at hand were of utmost importance. Architecture had to be for the people — not just the immediate users but also unnoticeable stakeholders, which the architect had to identify and cater to during the design process.
Another township by Doshi was the ECIL Township, built between 1969 and 1971, about 15 km from the center of Hyderabad. This was part of a planned expansion of the city’s electronics industry. Again, the design was in sync with the local weather for this project too. Weather charts were used to establish solar angles and wind direction, subsequently saving energy by utilizing natural resources. Rainwater harvesting was inculcated within the premises to ensure efficient use of water. The habits of people living in the vicinity were studied to predict the plan as well as the changes that may occur over time. Technicians and workers seemed to choose isolated townships like these to obtain a better quality of life, education, and a healthy environment. Hence, again, public amenities and spaces that encouraged physical, mental, and emotional well-being were kept into consideration. Service and master spaces moved in and out of garden spaces to form openings such as terraces and pergolas. People could then find an outlet in the stinging summer heat. The township also provides vocational guidance and small centers for the unemployed members of the family.
Doshi also designed the Life Insurance Corporation Housing facility in Ahmedabad in the year 1973. Accommodating 54 plots, 324 units, with an expanse of 10 acres (4 hectares), the aim of the project was to serve the fluctuating sociocultural needs of families. There were three socio-economical strata that were to live within the housing facility, and the architect loathed that people wanted to segregate their living spaces based on the financial condition of families. His vision for the project was to have a constant interaction — physical or visual, which diluted the boundaries that kept them apart. In consequence, Doshi reverses the typical order of a multi-residential building. The higher-income strata were assigned the largest residence on the bottom floors. Whereas the smallest units were planned on the top for the lower-income strata. There was a pyramidal structure, allowing the upper unit to enjoy a terrace and the lower units to have an opening to a garden. This approach erased the stringencies of social hierarchy. I must admit it was a challenge convincing the stakeholders to approve the plans, part of the vision. It took a couple of years. Finally, it was done and implemented to achieve maximum variety and economy of scale. Moreover, I am happy to say that most families that took up the residences in 1973 are happily still settled in their apartments. I see this as a big feat.
Life Insurance Corporation Township, Ahmedabad. Image courtesy of Vastu Shilpa Consultants
Aranya Community Housing in Indore. Image courtesy of Vastu Shilpa Foundation
Please tell us a little about the recent monograph launched at the Serpentine Pavilion. How has the Architect’s practice, covered as part of the monograph, evolved over time?
The monograph launched at the Serpentine Pavilion, titled The Art of Balkrishna Doshi in partnership with Vadehra Art Gallery and Hans Ulrich Obrist, primarily looks at the art practice of Architect Doshi. In the last decade, he reinvented himself as an artist, taking a surreal approach to architectural landscape, negating the limitations of reality. The nature of the paintings shifted towards abstraction of spatial studies, facilitating the temperaments of light and shadow through brilliant contrasting hues and tones.
It all started with the large retrospective, titled ‘Celebrating Habitat: The Real, The Virtual and The Imaginary, we put forth at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) at the Jaipur House in Delhi. This was in the year 2014, and Architect Doshi was looking back at his older work to examine the roots of his artwork. We realized that in the mid-1980s when he was invited to a university to present his work alongside other architects, there was the question of identity; therefore, introspection was needed to consider a way in which he would like to represent his work. This was when he took inspiration from Indian Miniature paintings of the 1700s, recognizing how beautifully a single, flat image could unfurl the totality of a narrative. The congregation of perspectives and forms, both living and non-living, rendered out a story (or sometimes, multiple stories) as an ensemble. That’s when Doshi’s art-making found its underpinning.
For each of his ideated projects, he would draw out miniature-style artworks in parallel. It encompassed movement, structure, hierarchy in built form, and inhabitants of space, with a light punch of humor and myth. For example, you could spot the Indian God Balakrishna in a corner or walking the road. He would make collages of previously made drawings or paintings to juxtapose, superimpose, and abstract, brawling with an intention. There was a joy of making, an ecstasy of creating within the technicalities of an architectural plan or section.
In his more recent works, the same elements remain. However, the visuals have transcended. The elements still reappear in his paintings, like the human figures part of his miniatures. But what we see is, with his experience and evolution of practice, the degree of abstraction has heightened. What’s more, in my eyes, his childhood tends to further seep into his work. The impressions of bright colors and a contrasting reminiscence of darkness within space are something I believe has revealed itself as an aspect Doshi encountered when he was a young boy.
Aranya Low Cost Housing Plan. Image courtesy of VSF/Pritzker Architecture Prize
What is Sangath looking towards next? Are there specific projects the studio is looking forward to realizing in the near future?
For Sangath, there are multiple projects in line, including a range of extensions for existing built forms, designs of university premises, retreats, and residential schemes.
Additionally, in 2019, I curated a show titled ‘Architecture for the People’ at the Vitra Design Museum (Germany) which is an expansive retrospective, the first ever outside of India, covering the practice of the architect. The exhibition covers Doshi’s pinnacles realized between 1958 and 2014. The scope of the presentation runs vast, ranging from the scale of entire cities to townships, from academic campuses to individual houses and institutions to interiors showcased via the architect’s archive and studio, including drawings and models, objects, artworks, sketches, films, and photography.
‘Architecture for the People’ is a traveling exhibition that has been shown at Architekturmuseum der TU München (Germany), Architekturzentrum Wien (Austria), Wrightwood 659 (USA), and C-mine (Belgium). On the 6th of October 2023, it opened to the public at Museo ICO, Madrid (Spain). It will run till next year, closing on the 14th of January 2024.
Khushnu Panthaki Hoof with her grandfather, B V Doshi.
Do you have a few last words you’d like to leave for our readers before we close the interview?
What I have learned from him is to always remain childlike in one’s thinking, keeping curiosity and playfulness at the center of practice. It is of great help to look at anything and everything as if it was the first time one set their eyes on it. This, alongside putting in the constant work. There is no replacement for honest hard work. These are two major ways in which one can reinvent themselves and the act they have at hand.
B.V. Doshi Archives
@bvdoshi_archives
Khushnu Panthaki Hoof
@khushnu.hoof
Studio Sangath
@studio_sangath
Sangath Collective
@sangath_collective
Vadehra Gallery
@vadehraartgallery
Shristi Sainani
@shristi_sainani
Khushnu Panthaki Hoof is an architect and designer living in Ahmedabad, India. Her research thesis at CEPT University examined the synesthetic experience of architecture with special reference to Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh, India. After graduating in 2003, Khushnu worked with Pritzker Laureate Balkrishna Doshi and continues to work on extensions of his earlier buildings. In 2014, she became the Director of the Vastushilpa Foundation for studies and research in Environmental Design. Khushnu Panthaki Hoof is Architect B V Doshi’s granddaughter.
Shristi Sainani is a curator, designer, researcher, and writer currently based in New Delhi, India, where she functions independently. Her interest lies in dismantling and assessing core concepts of exhibition making, specifically focusing on Contemporary Art churned through the diaspora of the Global South.
She also writes poetry, having published three books in the genre, and has contributed to several art and architectural forums. Her independent research focuses on collections and architecture of private art museums. Shristi’s paper on inclusivity in museum spaces won the INSC Researchers Award in 2021.
Shristi is a formally trained architect. She completed her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Sydney and her Master’s degree in Curatorial Studies from the University of Melbourne.