Architecture Time Space & People, BV Doshi Special Editon, Issue 3c

architecture
ISSUE NO. 03 | JANUARY 2023

time space & people
REMEMBERING
BALKRISHNA VITHALDAS DOSHI

Source: Vinay Panjwani
SPECIAL EDITION
Vidyadhar Nagar Bazaar
architecture
time space & people
Editor Habeeb Khan

President, Council of
Architecture, India
Publisher Raj K. Oberoi

Registrar, Council of
Architecture, India
A. Editor Pranati Satti

+ Designer
Cover Image Balkrishna Doshi at Sangath

Vinay Panjwani
OFFICE
Council of Architecture
India Habitat Centre, Core 6-A, 1st Floor, Lodhi Road,
New Delhi - 110003
Architecture Time Space & People , the bi-monthly magazine of the
Council of Architecture is published by Raj K. Oberoi and owned by the
Council of Architecture.
To subscribe: [email protected]
www.coa.gov.in
INSIDE
03 10
The Chance Disciple In Memoriam
Rajeev Kathpalia Jaimini Mehta
17
14 "Life is Intangible'' Remembering B. V.
Balkrishna Doshi: The Man The Idea Doshi
Christopher Charles Benninger Durganand Balsavar
19 22
Doshi: A Timeless Architect, Inspiring
Balakrishna Doshi: A Man of Many
Teacher, and Celebrated Human
Parts!
Being
Neelkanth Chaya
Parul Zaveri
26 28
Doshi, A Fine Blend of Teaching and Doshi I Discovered: Down Memory
Practice Lane - Six Decades
Utpal Sharma Kirtee Shah
34 37
My Master Architect B. V. Doshi - A Mystical
Girish Doshi Performer
Ajay Kulkarni
ARCHITECTURE, TIME, SPACE & PEOPLE

41
Remembering Doshi
Edgar Demello
44
Balkrishna Doshi's Architectural
Practice
Bimal Patel
47
Balkrishna Doshi: The Mystery of
Wonder
Prem Chandavarkar
50
On Doshi
Salil Ranadive
53
B. V. Doshi - Our Teacher
Sriram Ganapathi
FROM THE PRESIDENT
I met Doshi very late in life. My interactions with him started a few years before I assumed the
office of the President Council of Architecture. As a student in the early eighties, the
architectural scene was dominated by a few stalwarts like Doshi, Correa, Kanvinde, Raje, Baker
and many more. The new generation of modern masters had yet to make their mark on the scene.
I used to make it a point to visit as many of their works as and when it was possible.
Doshi's buildings were so sublime and subtle, that at first glance you almost dismissed them and
were disappointed. But as you moved inside and experienced them they slowly unfolded
themselves to you. The quality of spaces, the relationship of materials, the light and the play of it
and the all-pervading simplicity of everything was manipulated skilfully by the architect. It was
akin to falling in love with a person gradually. And in one of our meetings, we discussed this and
he said no one has told me this. That was classic Doshi at this best. He had the ability to make you
feel important and good while knowing fully that the person is in awe of him. He was a performer
and he knew it. A performer who didn't need any preparation whatsoever.
Neelkanth Chhaya had organised a workshop and Girish Doshi had brought in some students and
teachers for the same. Chhaya asked me if I could come over and have a poetry session on one of
the evenings. I was pleasantly surprised to know that it was going to be in Sangath. On the day I
walked windingly across the front lawn into the office and the vaults and the minimalist office,
hoping to catch a glimpse of “The Man”. I was disappointed. Before the start of the session, in
walks Doshi in his trademark greenish bluish grey half kurta and the omnipresent glint in his eyes.
He said he will sit for half an hour and leave. To my utter surprise, he sat for the entire two hours,
at the ripe age of 90, asking questions trying to learn new Urdu words and commenting on my
poetry. He gave me a feeling that he was a student and I his master. His habit of imploring you to
explore your mind through questions was remarkable. The questions were simple and put across
as a genuine quest. But that was the plot. Doshi was gauging you and trying to understand and
measure you through his innocent questions. He knew the answers already. And he had the
ability to surprise you and when he saw this he used to answer himself with a depth that you
never had thought of. A devilish grin on his face but a devil whom you would love and would want
to learn from.
After the session, he asked me what kind of work I do as he had not seen any of mine. I offered to
show a few on my handset to which he said I'm sure a person who writes poetry can never do bad
work. Send me a printed version of them he said. I made it a point to send the same, which he
analysed much later in one of our interactions.
After I assumed charge of President he called me and instead of congratulating me, he said he
was very happy to know. And not because you are heading the council but because a poet is. And
went on asking me Isn’t this what the council should do? Should we not be doing this and so on
and on. He felt it necessary to put his point across without being overbearing.
During one of the online conversations on COA Social, I was chairing and he along with Rajiv
Kathpalia and Durganand Balsavar were in conversation, Doshi used the same ploy and kept
asking me questions and imploring me to answer them. He knew by that time that my answers
would be what he wanted to say.
I met him a couple of times after that whenever I was in Ahmedabad as he took a promise from
me that I should not go without him. I kept my word. I kept on wondering why there is so much
love and affection. But realised that he was like that. If he took a liking for someone it was
unconditional and a sublime effort to enrich that person.
I met him the last time two weeks before he passed away. He was recovering from an illness and
was frail and weak needing little help to climb a step or two. But his voice was the same. The glint
in the eye was still there and the same child-like enthusiasm about architecture. Whenever he
talked about it his eyes and voice changed as if some divine power has come within him. I now
realise it was divinity itself. He talked about how architects should live in a dignified way and gave
many examples one of them of his visit to Italy, wherein in a small town an architects association
had invited him and after the program treated him to a lavish seven-course dinner in an elegant
Renaissance mansion. Until we architects learn to live in a dignified manner how can we improve
the quality of our fellow human beings, he said.
We talked about improving the quality of education, changing pedagogy with changing times, and
augmenting teachers' knowledge systems and reminded his commitment to do so through
various methods that we have been discussing often. Alas, that was not to be and we all are now
bereft of the immense benefit our fraternity could have derived from his vast and in-depth
knowledge. We discussed about how architects should engage in dialogue amongst themselves
to discuss the environment, and urban interventions and bridge the gap between education and
profession. He was sad about the fact that architects are not doing this anymore. We sat in the
backyard of his home, with birds chirping in the background and a peacock sitting on the wall for
a long time. Me not knowing this will be my last meeting with him and he knew it will be. While
parting he said ‘ab mile na milein, wo karna jo tumko bola hai....’’ He knew his time was over and
that he was very soon taking the samadhi.
My greatest appreciator and admirer of my work as President, my strongest critic in private, and
my informal teacher who taught me what is to be done without saying so in as many words is no
more. Doshi, I will miss the glint in your eyes, your voice booming across, the muffled laugh and
more importantly your insights into my mind which you so effortlessly penetrated. One of the
biggest fortunes in my professional life was to have met you and bigger than that was the
appreciation you had for me. Don’t rest in peace. You have a bigger job in heaven......Now that you
are there and seeing it first hand, tell us what more is to be done to make our earth more like
heaven....a task which you loved so much and implored us to do at all levels.
Habeeb Khan
Dear Khan,
Let us celebrate life through
dignified living.
-Doshi
REMEMBERING DOSHI: A LEGACY IN ARCHITECTURE
A rchitect and visionary educator,

Dr. Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi
leaves behind an indelible legacy of
France’s highest civilian honour-Ordre
des Arts et des Lettres, and honorary
doctorate from the University of
principles, shaped a rare trajectory,
spanning over seventy years, that
deeply influenced architecture of the
architecture projects, and writings. Pennsylvania. Indian subcontinent, alongwith the
Doshi has been a recipient of first generation of pioneering
prestigious international and national Born in Pune in August 1927, Doshi’s architects like Achyut Kanvinde,
awards: Padma Shri and Padma formative years with Le Corbusier and Charles Correa, Raj Rewal, Laurie
Bhushan, the Pritzker Prize in 2018, Louis Kahn, synergised with his deep- Baker and several others.
the RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2022), rooted understandings of vernacular In his role as educator, Doshi
ARCHITECTURE, TIME, SPACE & PEOPLE 01

collaborated and founded several institutions, inspired by Rabindranath
Tagore’s Shantiniketan; Centre for Environmental Planning and
Technology-Ahmedabad, etc. The design and research-based practice,
Vastu-Shilpa, is globally recognised for ecological city planning,
educational and cultural institutions, affordable housing and research
into sustainable materials and technologies. He co-founded the Council
of Architecture, India and was instrumental along with Architect Bhalla.
Doshi’s poetic and pragmatic projects continue to inspire several

generations of architects and students: Indian Institute of Management-
Bengaluru, CEPT campus, Amdavadni Gufa, Tagore Hall, Institute of
Indology, Aranya low-cost housing. Travels across India and different
regions of the world, provided Doshi, with more profound insights into
architecture as a living organism: from the labyrinthine streets of Jaipur
and Jaisalmer, Sarkhej and Fatehpur Sikri, Ajanta-Ellora and
Mahabalipuram, Tanjore-Madurai, to the cities of Venice and Rome.
Immersed in a rare mythical and narrative approach, the projects,
endeavoured to break conventional boundaries and question dogmas
echoed in his writings.
Doshi believed that educational institutions and design studios needed a

free spirit with programs that had a synergy of inter-disciplinary liberal
arts, anthropology, dance, music, theatre, and history, to understand the
nuances of construction, economy, structure, light and space.
Constantly searching for dignified, affordable housing, he responded to

the challenges of Indian cities, with the design of Vidhyadhar Nagar-
Jaipur and Khargar node-Navi Mumbai envisioning contemporary
sustainable cities, embodying sustainable principles derived from
indigenous settlements, responding to climate, culture, and materials.
The low-cost, housing project, Aranya at Indore is a paradigm, receiving
several international and national awards for incremental, community-
Source: ArchDaily © Vastushilpa Foundation
based housing.
Words can barely describe the legendary architect, with a free spirit of
rigour and humour. Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi’s legacy lives on through
his philosophy and projects.
Our prayers to family, friends and well-wishers.
Council of Architecture
India
remembering doshi: special edition | 02

Source: Author
THE CHANCE DISCIPLE

Rajeev Kathpalia
31 January 2023
T hus it is said that a master chooses

you - when you are ripe,
you will fall into the lap of your guru.
wasn’t allowed to sleep very much that
night and the next day they had to
book their return from Italy where the
Because, it allowed him to talk about
siting of a building, the journey and the
unfolding of a variety of experiences to
Doshis were on that memorable night. reach it. He recollected what he had
It didn’t quite happen that way, I think discovered for himself at Sangath his
my guru did not have much choice in Within days of their return my first studio.
the matter. Before he knew what was meeting with him happened. He came
happening, I was introduced as his to meet me in Delhi. One of the first Then he wanted to see my
future son-in-law in the middle of the things he asked me was if I would take sketchbooks from my architectural
night over a phone call from his him to see buildings I admired in Delhi. pilgrimage in Europe that he had heard
daughter Radhika. Doshi only asked I thought about it for a while, and about from his daughter. Having
his daughter whether she was happy? presuming that he was probably more perused through them he said, you
On being answered in the affirmative, familiar than I, with most have raised many questions to yourself
he put the phone down and went back contemporary architecture, I took him in these, but you know, you have also
to sleep. When asked by his wife to see Jamali Kamali’s tomb and answered them and then he showed
Kamu what was the call about, he mosque in Mehrauli. Which he had me things that I had written, but never
related the news about their never seen or heard of. He was, I dare connected in the manner he did. I
daughter’s decision. He claims that he say, pleasantly surprised at my choice. think, at the end of the day, I passed his

“tests”. I realized that he had two
incredible talents. He could make
anybody of any age seem like the most
important person to him. His way of
looking at the world was unique, he
would discover the most unusual
relationships and juxtapositions and
share them with you with immense
enthusiasm, and you would look at the
world once again with childlike
wonder.
Having entered Doshi’s world, my re-

education began by being presented
books of all kinds, and not necessarily
about architecture. He never taught
me formally but discussions on the
books would happen casually and
conversations would flow. I learn’t by
osmosis and observation. He told me
stories about Le Corbusier and Louis
Khan, both of whom he had worked
with and revered them as his gurus.
Though I had spent five years in
Chandigarh and then travelled through
Europe visiting Corb’s famous
creations, Corb really came alive for
me as a person and the architect
through Doshi’s stories of him.
He was friends with many of the

legendary musicians of his time. Pandit
Bhimsen Joshi would always stay with
him when in Ahmedabad. Doshi
observed that all the Hindustani
classical musicians are known by their
“gharana” or lineage. Their each
performance is an offering to their
guru. He felt that contemporary
architects have lost this idea of lineage
and are obsessed with their individual
talent. He would say, “the reverence
for a guru makes your mind open and
you look at what you are doing
through their eyes and you add to a
legacy.”
Doshi often said with disarming

candor, “I am a pilgrim flowing in the
river of life. Why did I take up
architecture? I don’t know! Why did I
have the opportunity to be with both
Corbusier and Kahn! Why did the
visionary industrialist Sheth
Kasturbhai become my mentor or why
did the scientist Vikram Sarabhai
befriend me – it was again entirely by
chance!” The fact that his guides,
philosophers and mentors came in

rapid, overlapping succession if you don’t like it here, you can always to me to reply. When I asked him why,
throughout his life speaks about his return to Delhi. 33 years have past and he claimed that my English was better
faith in his destiny but also says I am still in Ahmedabad. He was very than his. He would then often correct
volumes about his open mindedness to conscious that our identities should the nuance of the letter that I had
leave space to be inhabited by his not be subsumed with his and was drafted. I soon realized that he was
gurus. He was never shy of calling particularly careful that we would grooming me to respond to situations
himself a disciple. grow at our own pace. in practice. I learnt about professional
conduct and responsibilities, ethics
For the first two years, our (Radhika On moving to Ahmedabad, every and building relationships. He once
and mine) practice in Delhi, like many morning for almost 3 months, we told me about Kanvinde and how at
fledgling practices had hardly any would walk together through a every visit of his to Ahmedabad he
architectural work and survived on different part of Ahmedabad. It was his would make it a point to meet his
photography, some exhibition work in way of sharing his city and spending former clients or at the least call them
Moscow for the Festival of India and time with me as I was yet to make new up. A habit Doshi admired and
my teaching at SPA. At the end of friends. Teaching at CEPT was another inculcated.
those two years we participated in shared experience. He taught me how
three competitions and won all of to look at things, measure things - to Though we dealt with projects
them. We now had an independent see. Slowly a cocoon of shared independently in the office, we would
identity as architects, with work experiences and time together share, discuss and visit each others
everywhere but not in Delhi. This and engulfed me. He became not only my projects. I learnt about vision, faith,
the fact that Radhika was to be father-in-law, but friend, mentor, tenacity and perseverance. He once
confined to her parent’s home in partner, guru and guide. told me the story of Louis Kahn’s
Ahmedabad as she was expecting our reaction when Corbusier passed away.
first child led to Doshi convincing me After eight years of our independent Doshi had gone to Philadelphia after
to shift to Ahmedabad for a short practice, in 1995 we became partners. attending a service for Corb in Paris.
period. He said try it for a few months, Soon he started sending all his letters When he met Kahn, Lou with tears in

his eyes asked “who shall I work for months and seasons passed through
now?” This was not only the reverence good times and bad. Over time,
Lou had for Corbusier but his work changes in lifestyles, changes or breaks
was an offering to Architecture. I in the social, economic, and cultural
understood it as creating something structure within the household became
not for the client, program or function a living part of each of us.
but something beyond time and Such continuous evolutions and
posterity. The story liberated me - I ask transformation have become part and
myself whilst doing every project, will parcel of my perceptions of life as well
Doshi approve. as my aesthetic experience.
I once asked him during the turbulent I now sense the how and why of this
days of the BDB project, when things continuing acceptance of life. It is
were not going too well, how do you actually the experience of constant
face such situations? He said “I was sharing. Sharing multiplied the effects
born into an extended family. Several of joyous events and diminished those
generations lived together; some of sad ones. It added new dimensions
members were 80 years old and some to our understanding of life as a
just a few days old. Birth, life and death constantly turning wheel or a broken
were recurring and natural events. So circle, whether we performed the
were the celebrations of festivals, birth planned or the unexpected religious or
ceremonies and extended rituals social ceremonies. Living together
during and after death, and trips helped us understand the uncertainties
together to temples or places of in life, the successes and failures. These
pilgrimage. Everyone accepted and increased our tolerance and changed
shared these inevitable events. Days, the perception of life

from material to spiritual values. The
conception of life after death and
reincarnation brought about hope. An
unending chain of construction and
destruction, where "present", is only a
phase in transition. These experiences
made me realize that life is full of
surprise and paradoxes. Everything
that occurred in the past can happen
again in another time, place, and form.
Once past, events become memories,
or visions. Such endless fluctuation of
experience between the self and
others, of the immediate world and
beyond, of good and bad, and then and
now, are simply God revealing and
concealing his game, his Lila or divine
dance”. This understanding of life helps
me pass through difficult times he said.
In many ways, though never said, Doshi

was steeped in Hindu traditions. He
was driven by the goal of dharma or
spiritual good through the following of
the right law and duty in harmony with
the order of the universe.
Doshi claimed that it was only once as a

teenager that he attended one of
Mahatma Gandhi’s discourses in Pune.
He did not recollect much about the
actual content of the discourse but that
he was inspired and moved.
prosperity would ensure taxes to fill developers and go back to their shanty
Unwittingly perhaps, he imbibed much.
his treasury so that it may be used for towns”, the commissioner said most
In his office above his table there lies
the common good of the city. This unenthusiastically.
pinned up a photo of the Mahatma with
a quote “I will give you a talisman. covenant of community benefits linked
Whenever you are in doubt…. Recall to individual growth has been the Doshi has supposed to have
the face of the poorest and the axiom that underpins Doshi’s actions. promptly said, “That’s my
weakest man whom you may have There is a legend of how the
commissioner of Indore was driving project”. This 80-hectare site
seen, and ask yourself, if the step you
contemplate is going to be of ant use to Doshi through the city of Indore. He went on to become one of the
him….”. asked him to choose a project of his most challenging yet most
liking as the city was going through a revolutionary projects in post
His concerns have always been about renaissance in the early eighties. As
the story goes, Doshi was expected to independence India.
people and not just about architecture.
In his view society can’t function pick one of the plum large public
without its beneficiaries contributing institutions, as was eventually done by Though he claimed that it was on a
back to its sustenance. He was fond of other architects. whim (he also often said that he
explaining about the visionary wanted competition) that he founded
Maharajah Jai Singh the founder of the Doshi, upon passing a large open plot the School of Architecture at
city of Jaipur. Jai Singh while planning asked what was designated there? Ahmedabad, which fifty years later is a
Jaipur, invited the best artisans, craft “Nothing much of importance for full-fledged university (Center for
persons and business people to be part architects”, retorted the Environmental Planning and
of his city. He ensured for their safety, commissioner. “It is a sites and services Technology or CEPT) with several
security, education and future growth project. It is only a layout for efficiently integrated disciplines. I suspect it was
that they and their progeny might distributing land to the very poor. In his conviction of giving back to society
prosper. He reasoned that their most cases they sell it to builders and that nurtured him which triggered the

leap into this endeavor. For over decades the Foundation has been been going on for over seventy years,
twenty-five years Doshi gave more involved with solutions for slums and complimentary to the needs of a
than half his day to the School and in squatter settlements, recycling waste changing society governed by the early
the remaining part successfully as building materials, and in years of independence, the socialist
managed a burgeoning practice. His documenting India’s rich heritage. In era and now extended into the
family of course challenges this; they the recent past, the Foundation has globalized India. His search had been
claim that the students were adopted been exhibiting and publishing Doshi’s constantly to set up examples for
and became part of his extended oeuvre of work directed and curated Indian society not only as an architect,
family. This extended family now exists by his grand daughter Khushnu but teacher, researcher and social
all over the world and consists of Panthaki Hoof. member by personal example
students not only from India but also underpinned by ethics, morality and a
from the US, Europe and Japan and has Doshi’s oeuvre of work has extended strong sense of history with true
been instrumental of setting up future from city plans to housing for squatters compassion for his fellow humans. He
generations of architects. and slum dwellers. Some of the most was truly a renaissance being.
prestigious national institutions like
As he seeded other disciplines such as the Institute of Management at I often joked with Doshi that it was
Planning at CEPT and grappled with Bangalore and the CEPT University at because of his name Balkrishna that
larger scale projects he saw gaps Ahmedabad have been designed by unlike us mortals, he remained ageless,
between practice, education and the him. He donned the mantle of forever a child, curious, compassionate
reality of nation building. To bridge this institution builder, a responsible and full of play. I’m sure in the heavens
gap and bring in research and its participant and a citizen in the true he is still smiling and exhorting us to
dissemination he founded the Vastu sense in all that he has done. His search play
Shilpa Foundation a not for profit for the real purpose of architecture, it’s
organization for studies and research expanding complexities and effects on
in environmental design. Over four life has

Source: Author
IN MEMORIAM
Jaimini Mehta
27 January 2023
T he passing of Balkrishna Doshi at

the ripe age of 95 may not be
called sudden or untimely, but nothing
large void difficult to fill. For those who
have worked closely with him and
known him intimately, and there have
program in any university in India or
the west; he did not even finish his
undergraduate course at the Sir J.J.
prepares you for the moment when it been many, I can only paraphrase College of Architecture in Bombay
arrives. Plans for an upcoming meeting Homer to say that we are fortunate to before taking up an apprenticeship
next week had to be thrown away. have lived in the era of Doshi. with Le Corbusier in Paris and later
More ambitious ideas for how we are associated with Louis Kahn for his
going to celebrate his 100th birthday The era of Doshi coincides with India’s project in Ahmedabad. His
five years from now must be emergence as an independent nation understanding of architecture came
forgotten. But then, didn’t his zest for with high aspirations to be in the not from academic pedagogy but from
life make anything other than this community of modern independent his intuitive grasp of the great
unimaginable? And now he is gone. As nations. Architecture was the vehicle architecture of the world which he saw
peacefully as he lived his life. Step through which this modernity was to and extensively sketched while
aside Vishvakarma. Make room. Doshi be projected. Doshi was one of the travelling. His numerous sketchbooks
is coming. handful of talented architects who and notebooks are a window to his
took up the task. But unlike his other mind; they tell us about what attracted
For the architectural community – contemporaries, Doshi was not him, and what he found significant
both Indian and global – he has left a formally trained through a structured enough to record. They show not only

great historic architecture but also examples of the congruence of Today, the campus is bursting with life
humble habitats which most people traditions and modernity. with hundreds of young future
throughout the world make without architects benefiting from this
the help of an architect. One of his earliest buildings, the staff inspiring architecture.
quarters for ATIRA in Ahmedabad, was
Thus, unencumbered by any academic a humble but elegant solution in Probably, the finest gift Doshi has
‘isms’ such as Bauhaus modernism, response to the acute scarcity of given the architectural community in
functionalism, regionalism, post- resources and materials in the early India is this school of architecture, now
modernism, etc. he was able to learn days of independence. His was an a full-fledged CEPT University with
from, while not being influenced by, imagination of habitation putting total many diverse design disciplines. It was
two of the greatest architects of the faith in the humble brick, prioritizing a unique experiment in architectural
twentieth century, Le Corbusier and good living spaces inside with quality of education. The fact that Doshi himself
Louis Kahn. Both had a very strong and light and climate control and scaled did not have much formal and
unique formal vocabulary. Though he clustering outside that can give rise to structured pedagogical instruction
worked closely with both he was able healthy communities. What was a may have something to do with several
to develop his own architectural response to the scarcity at ATIRA innovations that set the school aside
language rooted in his equally intuitive housing, was elevated as a forceful from the then-prevalent conventional
understanding of his community’s assertion in the design of the School of European Beaux-Arts pedagogy mixed
traditions of building and of occupying Architecture also in Ahmedabad. Here with a bit of Bauhaus modernism. The
spaces. He did give those traditions we can see the evolution of a language doors of the school were open, both
new forms in light of our aspirations to and vocabulary of labour-intensive physically and metaphorically, to let
be modern, and at the same time, brick masonry, celebrating the new ideas come in. Students were
interrogated the new ideas against craftsmanship of our local skilled hungry to know what is going on in the
those traditions which are alive and masons. He also challenged himself to world outside. They were encouraged
are the repositories of our collective overcome the limitations of brick to question everything, sparing not
memories. His own house, ‘Kamala construction and was able to achieve even their teachers. Studios were sites
House’ and his atelier ‘Sangath’ as well large and generous open spaces full of for the explorations of the new
as his design for the Indian Institute of natural light by skilfully fusing brick directions architecture was pursuing in
Management in Banglore, are construction with concrete technology. the 1970s and 80s. Structuralism?

During many of his visits to Incidentally, he also had a few do things, be at places, and encounter
Philadelphia, where I was working, he distracters, mainly on ideological people that may constitute the
would often come to my house and grounds. A few young architects, ‘uncharted paths’. But it is how we deal
persuade me to come back to India and trained in the West and enamoured by with these events and encounters that
join the school, which I did in 1976. the Western ideas of modernism of constitute our initiatives and which not
Once he brought his eldest daughter glass and concrete, termed his only shape our lives but also reshape
Tejal, then seventeen and shy, with architecture romantic and sentimental. the world in however a minuscule way.
him. To entertain Tejal, I took them It was when recognitions came pouring These unique initiatives define each
both to see a dance performance by a in from the West, first the French Gold one of us and make us the authors of
group of African American dancers led Medal, then the Pritzker Prize and that part of our life. He only smiled like
by the talented Alwin Ailey. They lastly the Royal Gold Medal from a wise Rishi and in his peculiar way
performed an interpretation of the Britain, not to mention many accolades responded “na, na, but you see, there is
medieval love song Carmina Burana at home, that left no doubt about the always a higher force that guides us.
brilliantly composed by Carl Orff. After direction that came naturally to Doshi. We can only marvel at this and take full
the performance, over dinner, we enjoyment in what we do”. This
discussed dance and architecture. I do Unassuming humility was the hallmark enjoyment in whatever he did was
not remember what caused it but I did of Doshi. He addressed his juniors and highly infectious.
say that if dance is motion in space, even students with a respectful
architecture is space in motion. A long honorific. This humility was abundantly In 1978, when I decided to marry, my
discussion followed which ended only evident in his architectural wife-to-be was a student at the School
when both food and wine were autobiography “Paths Uncharted”. of Architecture whom Doshi knew only
exhausted. Doshi left with one piece of Looking back at the events and as one of his many students. But when I
advice; keep the thought, and develop encounters in his life, he, with utmost told him, both he and Kamuben
the idea. It has interesting possibilities. humility, ascribed his achievements to welcomed her with a warm heart and
destiny. I had an opportunity to argue have since then treated her as one of
He was a multifaceted man difficult to with him on this point. I maintained their daughters. In 2008, I was
be straitjacketed in a singular identity that when born, we inherit the world in hospitalized with a serious heart
only as an architect. He meant which we have made no contributions condition and had to undergo open-
different things to different people. yet. But as we live through our life, we heart surgery. The hospital was not far
from Doshi’s studio. The operation
lasted more than seven hours and
Doshi came and sat with my wife giving
her hope and comfort. His many visits
to my home in Baroda were always
occasions of hearty laughter, good
food, and also architecture.
I have lost an irreplaceable friend and a

mentor. And the world has lost a man
whose passion for architecture will
continue to touch countless
inhabitants of his buildings.
Dear Kamuben and all your extended
family of four generations, I will not
pretend to know or understand the
magnitude of your loss: he was the
centre of your universe. That centre
may now feel like a black hole. But as
the wise lady Hannah Arendt has said,
it is in our speech and actions that we
leave behind a lasting remembrance,
which is eternal and immortal. While
we mourn his passing we must
celebrate this lasting remembrance
Doshi has endowed the world for
eternity and which has given him
immortality.

Vidhyadhar Nagar Masterplan (drawing courtesy of VSF)
BALKRISHNA DOSHI: THE MAN THE IDEA
Christopher Charles Benninger
24 January 2023
T his morning Balkrishna Doshi left

his body and continued on his
journey, leaving us both memories of a
glances and passing smiles that larger
concerns were demanded from us,
which transcended over the petty
essence of Doshi lies.
What are these contradictions?
man and an IDEA. concerns of the moment. Rather than Doshi was both simple and
two people talking, Doshi was dealing sophisticated?
I believe very special people are with the collective concerns of Doshi told his stories, and he was a
implanted in our memories at birth. So humanity and thinking how this little great story teller, in such simple words
even before the first time we meet problem is but a sliver, or a sign, of the that his innocence obscured a great
them it is a kind of recollection from greater human condition. There was sophistication. Each building he
our memories! This is true only with a always a sense of vision, of the future described, and each question he
few unique people on this earth, and it and an excitement that we are not answered, was usually analysed
was so when I first met Doshi in dealing with something small or through the analogy to a folk narrative,
Ahmedabad in 1968. mundane, but that we are unraveling a riddle of life, or was explained
the essence of the universe. The more through a passage from the epics.
When one met Doshi, even over a one came to know Doshi, the more His range and grasp of tales belied an
small matter, there was a glint in his apparent contradictions seem to fall underlying encyclopaedic knowledge.
eye, that hinted of something into an order and a unity. It is within
inevitable. It seemed through mere these seeming contradictions, that the Doshi was both a traditional Indian

and a global man? created human relations, which mature I came to India fifty-five
He lived very simply within the great over decades of devotion. Doshi was
Indian tradition. Seeing his home one free in his mind, yet a slave to his
years ago in search of a
felt that he could be in a relaxed village devotions! guru; in search of truth,
house lost in some rural place. Yet it and in search of a
was his great understanding of things Lastly, Doshi was a MASTER OF THE believable myth. I was
which made matters appear simple. He SMALL, yet ponderer of the infinite! If
brought the reality of things down to he drew a small bird, it would be in
so fortunate to find all of
their basics making them fundamental flight; it would be all birds flying in one these in one living being,
yet truly universal and global. image; we too were watching it; we felt who’s spirit still lives amongst
in flight; and we experienced the us all here today: my guru, our guru,
Doshi was a wise sage yet he thought transcendental beauty of flight, and the
like a child? unimaginable! Doshi delt with the tiny
Balkrishna Doshi
Even at age ninety-five there was a seeds of things, yet in them lay the
child within Doshi’s face; in the way he essence of all things! meaningless and insignificant. It seems
talked, and in the way he sketched. But so amazing that anything can exist or
behind that child-likeness, that There is only one form of good luck in develop! Yet Doshi’s life was an epic
playfulness, was the ageless wisdom of life and that is to have good teachers! journey:
an ancient sage. His truth always Good teachers inspire us! All of us who
presented itself in the simplicity of a knew Doshi share the smile of good His boyhood in Pune in the old city;
child. luck. Doshi made us aware of the His student days at J.J. College of
GOOD IN OURSELVES, and we always Architecture in Mumbai;
Doshi seemed as free as a bird, yet had felt very good about that realization! A brief period in London with the
the self-discipline to achieve? Doshi He catalyzed some deep understanding good fortune to meet his guru, Le
always appeared relaxed, free and of our essential Corbusier;
unfettered, and was not bound to any possibility about who we could be! His years in Paris with Le Corbusier;
ideology, or to any “ism”! He seemed That is what is known as inspiring. His early days in Ahmedabad
almost bindas, or like a free bird, or like moving about in the heat on a
a traveler without any destination; It is that good, our feeling GOOD, and bicycle to supervise Le Corbusier’s
knowing only the joy of moving and our knowledge of ourselves that makes buildings’
exploring. Yet, the contradiction: he us want to celebrate Doshi’s life. His marriage to Kamlaben;
has labored to start institutions which Founding his studio Vastu Shilpa;
live on discipline; created buildings The life of any person is a dubious Starting the School of Architecture
that only hard work can bear; and experiment. Life can be fleeting, at Ahmedabad;

Work with Louis Kahn on the clad mountains awaking our inner the unconscious seeks outward
Indian Institute of Management; spirit and making us question who we manifestation, and Doshi’s personality
Wonderful friendships; are. When we were standing next to also desired to evolve out of its
Growing a single School of Doshi we felt there were two beings unconscious condition and to
Architecture into the Centre for next to us: One was concerned with experience itself as a whole. Let us not
Environmental Planning the day-to-day matters of life; the employ the language of science, or the
Technology, and then into a other drifting off transcending material words of measure to trace Doshi’s
university; being. It was this second personality, growth, his contribution and his GIFT.
Making great buildings; prizes and this “other persona,” which formed a Let us celebrate the myth, which we
awards; classic myth that carries within it the all own; that is part of our being;
Surrounded by a loving family; eternal spirit, which lights up one’s which now passes as folklore and
International recognition! imagination; one’s inspiration; one’s sets boundaries to all of our
desire to be! imaginations and possibilities.
Doshi’s life was a psychic process that
has only partly been revealed and will Thus, on this day of Doshi’s leaving us, It is the story of Doshi that
continue unfolding. we must consider Doshi’s personal allows us to set our own
myth, which will live forever; it will be a parameters; which has
Doshi was two beings inhabiting the source of continuous celebration and forced us to dream, which
same body. One being was the simple inspiration. We must celebrate it asks us to search and to
man, the friend, the husband, the without trying to understand it. We seek again and again, that
father, and the architect. Yet there was can only tell stories and recall we can never forget.
another Doshi beyond the memories of incidents. Whether the stories are true
encounters. There was the Doshi who has no bearing, and is of no I came to India fifty-five
was the AVATAR of imagination; there significance! The only importance is years ago in search of a
was the Doshi who was the whether we can grasp Doshi’s story, guru; in search of truth,
manifestation of our dreams; it was like and Doshi’s TRUTH. The test of a man and in search of a
two beings always walking together; is in the message of his myth; only his believable myth. I was
inhabiting the same space; knowing us inner vision, which projects out across so fortunate to find all of
as a friend, but playing on our spirits the vast universe, and is etched into these in one living being,
like a phantom! On one level Doshi was history, can have any meaning! who’s spirit still lives amongst
an object, like a tree, a stone or a us all here today:
mountain or a human being; on another Every life is the story of the self- my guru, our guru,
level he remains, even after death, like realisation of the unconscious. Here Balkrishna Doshi
a morning sunrise bursting over snow Doshi’s life was unique. Everything in

“LIFE IS INTANGIBLE”
REMEMBERING B V DOSHI
Durganand Balsavar
04 February 2023
R ecognised as an inspiring
educationist, institution builder,
urbanist, versatile artist, and humane
Raj Rewal - to name a few.
Born in Pune (1927), in a home where

and architecture education and
practice, inspired his imaginations of
the future.
architect, Doshi leaves an immense several generations lived together, the
oeuvre that ranges from writings, circumstances of communities, were A testimony of this trajectory, the
sketches, drawings, paintings, and marked by cycles of celebrations, and research and design foundation
projects: dwellings, affordable festivals. Architect Rajeev Kathpalia ‘Vastu-Shilpa’, has evolved incredible
housing, educational institutions, to attributes Doshi’s immense imaginations of IIM-Bangalore, the
cities and regional plans. understanding of cities, institutions, CEPT campus, NIFT Delhi and the
Doshi’s formative years were and housing, to formative years at urban plans of Kharghar Navi Mumbai
immersed, working closely with two Pune, inspired by vernacular and Vidhyadhar Nagar, Jaipur and
masters, Le Corbusier, and Louis Kahn, architecture. several townships and educational
on seminal projects in the Indian institutions. “I believe that education
subcontinent, that shaped its Over the last three years, participating should have no boundaries,” Doshi
trajectory, alongside the pioneering in online dialogues with students and would say. “It should have freedom and
projects of the first generation of architects, Doshi was reflective, and yet be rooted. CEPT has no boundaries
Indian architects like Charles Correa, often enjoyed paradoxical questions: and no doors, inspired by
Achyut Kanvinde, Laurie Baker, Stein, challenges of cities, ecology, energy Rabindranath Tagore’s vision of

Shantiniketan.” Much more needs to be from chance happenings.” Doshi would “I met Sampers in London,
explored on the many inspired often reminisce. The visionary who introduced me to Le
architects and academicians, artists patronage of the Ahmedabad
and thinkers that collaborated on this Education Society in supporting the Corbusier, in Paris.
journey at CEPT. institutions and giving a free rein to I did not know
Doshi and his many collaborators, was French, so
At the UN Symposium in Michigan a significant element of this journey. Le Corbusier
(1970), Doshi outlined three basic
precepts of his teaching practice: Each of Doshi’s collaborators, friends, would speak to me
involvement, demonstration, and an students, and family have very with hand gestures
underlying framework. It was a different experiences that reveal the and draw large sections,
revolutionary concept for the Indian diversity of the phenomena. Doshi, with charcoal, that would
context, at that time in the 1960’s: to would often recall the learnings from
inherently question the program, his father-in-law Rasikbhai Parikh, who float over the paper.”
immerse in the social context, and introduced him to the wisdom of Indian
evolve a design process in response to culture.
the climate and topography of the
region. Discovery and a sense of Through experiences from travels and
freedom became the raison d ‘etre of sketches, the quint-essential
education at CEPT, with an immense renaissance-Doshi would
sense of flexibility. philosophically reflect - “Buildings are
living organisms that grow. Buildings
Doshi was exuberant, with the are not inert forms. Architecture is a
retrospective of his oeuvre, curated by celebration and a background for life
Khushnu Hoof. It records Doshi’s itself... the Madurai temple, or
spontaneous, playful, intuitive, and yet Fatehpur Sikri, with terraces, pavilions,
rigorous search. The exhibition plinths and jalis, the chaotic streets of
conveys ideas on nature, life in India, Indian cities. However, underlying this
about elements and experiences, about apparent chaos is a deeper order. This
memories and myths, and about art, order, in constant flux, is my source,
music, painting and much more. In our which I try to rediscover in my work,
times, when architects are often making me aware of the subtle nuances
relegated to technicians or aesthetic between the tangible and intangible. I
considerations, Doshi’s process realise that life is intangible”
invoked a larger cultural, philosophic
milieu, mediating contradictions of a
paradoxical simultaneity of the
ostensibly opposites: of modernity and
tradition, of rural and classical, of
balance and disorder, of discipline and
freedom, that embodied a search for
‘heterogenous-homogeneity.’ It
enabled Doshi to evolve an
architectural universe, from his
observations and experiences of both,
the Indian context as well as European
Modernism.
Discussions with Doshi would

invariably lead to inquiries on
education, travel, urban life, or new
learning experiences in the design
studio, constantly questioning the
status quo. To the many who knew the
nonagenarian architect, he was a
mentor, a seeker, a friend, and a
devoted family man. “Kamuben [wife]
and my family are my pillars of
strength. This journey is unplanned and

Source: Author
BALKRISHNA DOSHI: A MAN OF MANY PARTS!

Neelkanth Chaya
30 January 2023
All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
Shakespeare, As You Like It
Balkrishna Vitthaldas Doshi revelled in who worked with him or built a his immense contribution as a teacher
every circumstance that his long life friendship with him. and institution-builder, his constant
presented to him. Never one to be and insatiable curiosity and his love of
defeated by any adversity, full of His early years, his period of life – all these were woven into his
humour, disciplined yet truly free, a studentship, his apprenticeship with Le persona and continuously contributed
person with convictions yet open to Corbusier and his relationship with to his ever-growing world of thought
other views – this was the Doshi Kahn, his experiences of many cultures, and feeling.
whose life was an exemplar for all his practice as an architect,

The player (and truly he was an It would appear that in imagining ability to sit with the student and
adventurous and bold player) has now institutional forms, Doshi wanted to demonstrate, through sketches, the
exited, having displayed the “seven avoid known formats. The very strengths and potentials of the
ages of man”! This was the player who objectives in building institutions were student's approach. Doshi's teaching
took his role with utmost seriousness conceived afresh. Thus the emphasis gave each student a sense of self-
while believing in his heart that he was changes - from teaching, testing and worth that was far more important
only a player playing a role! That belief issuing certificates of qualification, to than what the grades indicated.
freed him yet precisely structured his creating places of intense inquiry and One sees that for these areas of
thought and action. dialogue to build new forms of societal thought and action, Doshi's
arrangement. Deeply influenced by contribution was to value freshness
I would like to remember him as one Gandhi, Tagore and Aurobindo – and over mere competence, suppleness
who joyfully enjoyed the lila of life, superbly complimented by various over clear rule-based governance, and
never weighed down by adversity, talented collaborators (who often a deep concern for the value of each
never allowing success to affect his challenged his outlook) – institution- individual.
humility. At the time when he is no building truly became a exhibition of a
more with us, I would like to remember culture shaping itself through dialogic An Active Citizen
the many facets of his being. collaboration, rather than a act of Individuals who are thoughtful,
merely personal vision. concerned and talented should ideally
contribute to their society, their
Architect and Artist Thus every institution-building culture and their environment. They
Undoubtedly his work as an architect exercise that Doshi participated in and are more equipped to offer wise and
will stand the test of time. Whether it led was a continuous cooperation and thought-out views on changes that
be small houses, or large groups of contestation between many strong occur. Doshi certainly fulfilled this
houses or institutional buildings – his thinkers – always with the aim of ideal.
work displayed definite distinct and dissolving tired forms ridden with
unique interpretations of what Kahn bureaucratic strictures and striving to His concerns expressed themselves
called “The Institutions of Man”. They shape supple and agile modes of first in relation to Ahmedabad.
expressed with poetic power the organising. This went to an extent that Throughout his long career, Doshi
complex and often ambiguous the “recipients” of the institution's continually prodded both authorities
relationships between humans, knowledge were equal and vocal and public opinion to squarely face the
between the human and the greater participants in such collaborations. challenges that the city faced –
existence and of course the human Hierarchies were avoided, radical whether it be in terms of urban
ability to sympathetically work with creative ways to explore reality were policies, or concern for Ahmedabad's
and shape material reality. continually exploding in the heritage, or concern for public facilities
institution's thought-world and and spaces for all citizens – Doshi
An unmatched mastery over spatial disciplinary boundaries were not spoke out, volunteered designs and
configurations, a sensuous feel for allowed to narrow down the scope of ideas and generally kept pushing for
material and an acute interest in the thought. We have to remember that better public action.
effect of natural phenomena are seen these ideas were being hammered out
in his work. Natural light in its many in the 1960's by Doshi and his But this citizenship did not confine
moods, massive stability and fragile colleagues, at a time when only radical itself to Ahmedabad. Doshi was an
lightness, along with the tactility of thinkers like Illich or the Eames eager participant in national and
surfaces make his works memorable discussed them. This was a truly international forums too, and in fact
experiences. original and pioneering contribution. countless deliberations and decisions
integrated his suggestions.
He of course used to sketch all the Doshi's teaching style was one that
time, but in recent years developed a often seemed whimsical or lacking A Rasika of the Good Life
personal style in painting. His drawings clear ideas of what the student needed Doshi loved films, music, literature,
and paintings display the same to learn. This was of course far from theatre, the culinary arts and all other
surprising juxtapositions of visual the case. Every project that he set forms of creative activity. The School
values that are seen in his architecture. systematically challenged received of Architecture thus became a hub for
These works are of great value and notions of appropriate grouping, creative persons of all kinds, whether
show Doshi to be an adept artist. creating a challenging milieu in which they were part of the teaching group
the student could not apply habitual or not. Certainly he kept reminding us
Teacher and Institution Builder interpretations and had to evolve a that no human expression occurs in
Doshi's contribution to world culture new understanding of whatever was isolation, and any creative person
as an institution-builder as well as being thought about. This was of needed to connect with all the
teacher are no less important than his course supplemented by Doshi's multifarious expression, whether
architectural works. humorous and supportive presence, his from India or from any other

culture. Yet the Good Life needs to be a face of great inequality – all these are
life that attends to all forms of the background music of this player's
Not only did he encourage circumstance in a stance of equanimity role.
enjoyment of the arts, he and balance. Compassion and concern
demonstrated it in his own for larger reality are its basis. And The role was played with great finesse
intense pleasure when he saw these qualities Doshi demonstrated in and acute wisdom, great energy and
or heard these forms. A the many challenging times that he unswerving patience, ingenious
rasika, in his view, relates faced. propositions and gay laughter! Lessons
to the world fully, and for the players that still remain on
education therefore needs The Scene and the Player stage!
to develop the ability to partake This player whom we call Doshi,
of expressions that brought playing his part in the lila that unfolded
across rasas. all over the world in the 20th and 21st
Centuries, has now exited.
We may briefly recall the play itself.

The struggle for independence and the
reassertion of indigenous cultures, the
bright beacons of the great heroes of
that time who the player set up as his
absent guides, the World War, the
emergence and gradual shaping of
new nations, the dirty and
unprincipled era of the Cold War,
the world-wide student uprisings
and the flowering of liberal
thought, the power games of the
new nation, the ongoing travails
of languages, religions,
philosophies and economic forms
(sometimes violent), the
revaluation of human worth in the

Source: Author, Photography: Dinesh Mehta
DOSHI: A TIMELESS ARCHITECT, INSPIRING TEACHER, AND

CELEBRATED HUMAN BEING
Parul Zaveri
31 January 2023
Late Nimish Patel
A fter my parents and grandparents

if any individual had
a role to play in my life it’s Doshi”
to find that person in the night. So
there’s no surprise that we all felt like
we were his children, so that he never
contribution in both these other fields
is so enormous and which will never be
judged other than by people like us
“Every single student of this school in differentiated. His family was much who would revere him, he is on a
first 8 or 10 years had a bond with larger than his family. pedestal for us as a teacher and as a
Doshi that I have not seen in between human being.”
student teacher relationship. I would I think if we have to really look at Doshi
not be totally wrong if I would say that and I look at Doshi and everybody talks “I have seen his house for last 42 years
in the first five to six years he knew about him as an architect and assess change, adapt, re-adapt, alter, and
every student and his father’s name him as an architect and his there are some constants in that house
and what his father was doing and architectural work, I find that that have a quality of timelessness that
those parents would call him at 12 at architecture from my eyes were part of you can’t really find in most projects,
night saying their child has not him but not as significant part as what not just his but most projects of
returned and Doshi would go to Doshi as a whole is. That as a human Contemporary Indian Architecture”
school and find them or if he’s not in being and as a teacher both are to me
the school, he would send somebody as important as his architecture and his

Parul Zaveri
Doshi was a learner throughout his life

and all that he learnt, he shared. “From
the peons to students and others he
came across, he believed in sharing his
knowledge. There was positivity,
warmth and a connection that he
could establish with everyone he met,
even for a few minutes. Whether a
person was in grief or was celebrating,
he always had something to
contribute. It could be praying, holding
hands or sitting in dhyaan with them.
He touched the nerve of people he
met and worked with. His repertoire
of different subjects was very large
and hence he was able to strike a
chord with various people on subjects
they would be interested in.”
“I have studied here as well as abroad

but haven’t found a better teacher, he
was an amazing educationist. He
would find positives even in a
negative situation. It is his outlook to
life that made him what he is. I
remember him sharing stories from his
life while he worked in Paris. He had
lived on bread, cheese and olives, sold
sketches to support himself, but never
complained. He regaled every
experience and looked ahead and saw
life as a celebration on earth”
“Doshi for anything that we wanted to
experiment, he would say “why not,
go ahead”. This taught us in life to fly
without fear and experiment many a
times without worrying about the
consequences.”
“In 2015, we were revamping Darpana

Dance Academy Amphitheatre and its
auxiliary functions and in which they
also needed to increase the seating
capacity for which we had to demolish
one of the classrooms designed by
Institute of Indology (rendering courtesy of VSF)
Doshi. We had tried all the options

but it was inevitable so Nimish took
the designs and went to him for his
approval. Doshi gave us his full
support saying that change is
inevitable and this building has served
its purpose for more than 45 years so
go ahead and do what you need to
do.”

Source: Author
DOSHI, A FINE BLEND OF TEACHING AND PRACTICE!

Utpal Sharma
31 January 2023
I have known Prof. Balkrishna Doshi

for over 40 years. First as a
Master’s student in Urban & Regional
learning for me as there was frequent
discussions on various projects. I got
an advice to spend few hours everyday
I needed to keep a balance between
research and consultancy while
teaching. I had a chance to work with
Planning, CEPT University, where he besides regular teaching at CEPT and him as co-faculty on many design
was our Studio Teacher. I was was felt that this additional work only studios. He was at ease with projects
fortunate to start working with him on will give me identify and recognition , of any scale from urban planning to
research project and large housing, this I follow throughout my career. construction details at micro scale.
urban design and urban planning I had a chance to work on various
projects at Sangath. As part of Besides being a professional, research projects at Sangath namely
collaboration with Mc. Gill University, Prof. Doshi was one of the finest Residential Open Spaces, a book on
I was selected for a post graduate teacher in the field of Architecture and Aranya to name a few.
course in Minimum Cost Housing, Planning.
where, our Aranya project at Indore I was advised to develop simple He helped me to build the Research
was the main case study. After 10 concepts and avoid flowery language. and Consultancy Division at CEPT,
years of full time work at Sangath, I He could almost read students mind which became really large with many
joined CEPT as a Faculty member and and could explain anybody’s design in prestigious projects over time.
still continued to work with Prof. his own way which kept the students
Doshi. Working at Sangath was great motivated.

Prof. Doshi helped me to start a new
Faculty of Architecture & Planning at
Nirma University. His advice and
guidance was critical and gave
confidence to continue with my work.
He was very concerned about the
decline in the quality of living
environment and always highlighted
the need to learn from historic cities
and apply the learning on
contemporary architecture and
planning projects. He was very
enthusiastic on discussing urban issues
till a month ago. He had infinite energy
to get involved particularly for the
betterment of the city of Ahmedabad.

Source: Author
DOSHI I DISCOVERED:
DOWN MEMORY LANE - SIX DECADES
A Tribute to the Celebrated Architect Balkrishhna Doshi by One of his Old Students
Kirtee Shah
10 February 2023
S ome of the old students of School

of Architecture,
Ahmedabad (now famous CEPT
who created that unique institution
with an uncluttered vision of education
that unburdened, practiced philosophy
carried no baggage of any kind.
I was one of his students in the first

University), especially from the earlier of open mind to create and fly, was batch at the School of Architecture.
batches (SA started in 1962), run a easily accessible and unassuming to a Was fortunate enough to enjoy a
celebratory program called “Doshi We fault, despite his many achievements personal rapport over the years. Could
Know”. Under its banner the admiring and high national and international talk to him openly and frankly, even
and grateful group of alumni meet reputation. Many of them believe critically. He was a father figure and I
occasionally, interact with ‘Doshi Doshi made a lasting contribution not called him Guruji.
Saheb’ when possible, felicitate him on only to their becoming good He passed away last week, in good
special occasions, feel proud of this professionals but to their overall health at 95, after living a full life and a
bond, the informal nature association, persona as well. He was charismatic, long distinguished career as an
with him and run a fellowship. At the largely because of his humane architect and educationist.
heart of it is genuine love, affection, qualities, effortless ease and warmth
admiration and gratitude for the man with which he related to each one and Whereas my colleagues call it “Doshi

We Know” in my tribute to Doshi workers who gave real life to his It is that he had
Saheb I would prefer to call it “Doshi I creations, his buildings. They gave the openness
Discovered” as I recall three different concrete shape to abstract ideas. Had
encounters with him over a long period he ever thought about them? Had he to admit,
of 60 years. The stories I narrate will ever thought about doing something wanting to learn,
tell why. about their conditions? Is the working to think afresh,
and living conditions of the to re-sensitize
The first one is quite recent. About construction workers a concern for the
four weeks before his passing away. architect? Is the construction worker a himself at 95!
Nearby to his residence for some work, part of their universe? Are they a
on an impulse, I landed up in his house stakeholder in his professional
unannounced. He was sitting in the practice as an architect? I also added:
lawn, in bright sunshine with his should a millowner care about their
daughter, Radhika. As we started employees, workers? Is their welfare
talking, came the usual question: What the millowners’ responsibility in some School of Architecture. There was no
are you doing these days? way? campus, not even a building. The
school was running in a classroom
The first one is quite recent. About His eyes popped up. The famous borrowed from the local commerce
four weeks before his passing away. mischievous glint in admiration and college. I was one of the 28 students in
Nearby to his residence for some work, even silent approval. He was candid. the first batch.
on an impulse, I landed up in his house Truthful. His immediate response was
unannounced. He was sitting in the that he had never thought about it. Almost 6 months after the schools
lawn, in bright sunshine with his started I went to meet him to suggest
daughter, Radhika. As we started While on the subject, he suddenly that I was thinking of leaving the
talking, came the usual question: What excused himself to visit the washroom, school, dropping out, as I could not
are you doing these days? and asked me to wait to continue the afford the expenses that the class
talk. He did not return for a while. work required: one day buying colours,
I told him about the work INHAF, Radhika told me little later that he was second day, buying papers, third day,
Habitat Forum, with which I am tired and had slept. buying model making material! I told
associated for a long time, is doing with him that I was poor, a widow mother
the women construction workers. Told To my surprise he called the next day. from the village was supporting me,
him that in nearly 50 years of Saying he wanted to continue talking and that it was almost impossible for
architecture practice, while doing about the woman construction worker. me to continue.
small or big, rural or urban, public or And when I suggested that we could
private projects I had never seen a continue talking over dinner at my He advised me not to quit and
woman carpenter or a woman mason place, he promised to come, as he was promised to look after the expenses.
or a woman plumber or a woman site keen on talking over the matter He suggested that I work in his office
supervisor or even a woman petty further. to earn the required money. I politely
contractor. I told him that INHAF was refused saying I neither had the skill
trying to understand this phenomenon, It did not happen. He died. and the competence nor did I want to
as in India out of 50 million be influenced early in my career. He
construction workers some 35% are I had not known that Doshi - open, was not offended with an upstart’s
women. But they are only in unskilled, frank, reflective, socially aware, willing attitude, who was refusing an offer by
drudgery jobs. They start as to at least think about something he a master architect to work with him. In
construction labour, as majdoor, and had not done all his long professional fact, he told me that was okay and
retire as one. They get exploited, do life. To be honest, I did not think he had offered that I give his three daughters
not get a chance to work on skilled it in him, that he was too much of an tuition at home in return for him giving
jobs, do not earn decent income and do ‘architect’ to bother about the woman me some money to pull on. I do not
not climb the social ladder. I told him construction worker, about the supply remember how long the arrangement
that it was patently wrong, unjust and chain and the role of a non-visible, non- lasted. But Tejal, Radhika, Manisha, his
that something should be done about directly-related small role player. I was daughters, and Kamuben, his wife,
it. wrong. It is not that I thought he would often remember and talk about it.
make a new start. It is that he had the
I told him that he was a celebrated openness to admit, wanting to learn, to That was my first discovery of Doshi.
architect, a big name, a thinking and think afresh , to re-sensitize himself at Not the famous architect. Not the
influential individual and a caring and 95! founder and director of the school I
responsible professional. Also, while was a student at. But a kind, caring,
he designed his buildings on paper or a The second story is almost 60 years sensitive, giving and considerate
computer, it is these construction before that. It was the first year at the human being. Over the years his first

inquiry, whenever we met, was about having done so much of ‘architecture’, and inclusive. And the way we
my mother. And that was the charm of having earned so much of reputation, it produce, grow, transact, move and
this place called School of was time for him to devote his time, develop, if we want our cites to be
Architecture, Ahmedabad. The school energy and skill to ‘sensitizing the sustainable. And anyone who knows
as a family and the teachers as caring, society’. To that his clear and prompt the gravity of the situation knows that
helping guardians. “Doshi we know” is answer was ‘no’. He said he could not the palliatives will not work and
an acknowledgement, a reflection of do it, that he was not a sadhu or a tinkering with the system here and
that spirit, that relationship, that bond, reformer, that he was an architect and there is not the answer. As Wally
that culture. I had 35 years of deeply wanted to remain one. Endow, the Secretary General of
rewarding working relationship with Habitat 2 said, “Urbanization holds out
another founder, teacher and a long That was also my discovery of the man. both the bright promise of an
time director of Cept, Dr. Rasvihari An honest person. A professional unequalled future and the grave threat
Vakil. He was a Rishi. We worked as knowing his boundaries and wanting to of unparalleled disaster. And which it
equals. And we did not work on work within them. No illusions about will be depends on what we do today.
buildings. But on homelessness, changing things - people or behavior or Unless a revolution in urban problem
poverty, slums, affordable housing, context. solving takes place we are headed for
policy advocacy, neglected villages, an uncertain future. If the city’s
and what would constitute good With Doshi’s going, undoubtedly, an development impulse defies ‘Sanskriti’
professional education for the country era has ended. Not many know or and ‘Prakriti’, culture and nature, it is
and the society’s challenges!. would want to admit that he had hard to imagine where will it lead and
internally and emotionally distanced what it will be. Because the city is not
The third story relates to our meeting and disassociated himself from CEPT, only a place, also people.
in a flight from Ahmedabad to Delhi, ‘Doshi school’ as many called it, for
some 15 to 20 years ago. He spotted some time. Not necessarily with the ‘Revolution’ in urban problem solving
me seated, requested my neighbor to philosophy of professional education is the need of the hour and, in my view,
exchange his seat, and we chatted for or the way he saw the architect, a good definition of India’s urban
about 60 minutes. The meandering architecture profession and practice challenge. It is time we responded with
conversation brought me to remind and architecture education. In a vision, conviction and creativity. And a
him of a challenge Mr. Romesh Thapar, manner of speaking “Doshi-ism”, both place, and an institution called CEPT
an early public intellectual, had posed in architecture and education, because of its history, its status, its
to the designer and the professional remained despite his physical absence, unique environment, it special people,
educationist community. While and I mean it in its positive and its uncommon genes must be the
delivering the keynote address at the connotation. first to respond, by changing itself, if
National Institute of Design’s (NID’s) necessary. The question that needs to
international conference on “Design But it is time those who are there, who be asked as Doshi Saheb departs is:
for Development” he said that the will continue doing and deciding things how do we go about it? And as I am an
waves of vulgarity were invading at CEPT, use the occasion for alumni of CEPT and always had high
Indian cities (in an apparent reference reflection, stock taking and new expectations and hopes from it, feel
to deteriorating landscape of the cities departure. The reality is such that we strongly that Cept should lead the way.
with unplanned growth, vulgar display do not need a Romesh Thapar to tell us That is its karma, fate. CEPT’s status as
of growing inequality, destroyed that the waves of vulgarity are one of the leading institutions of
rivers, polluted environment, a large invading our cities and settlements, professional education in human
and expanding number of people and that we do not need the Covid 19 settlements makes it obligatory to play
without adequate shelter and basic to realize that the India’s human the lead role. And that is because some
services, and visible erosion of human settlements – cities, towns and villages 60 years ago Doshi brought in a new, a
values) and the choice before a - are not in good health, and especially fresh, a more open, a more informal, a
sensitive designer/architect was either our urban systems are faltering. In more non structured way of teaching,
to design one sensitive building among many respects: be that environment or educating, training young
the 99 ugly or to work to sensitize the water or sanitation or governance or professionals and approaching
society to prevent or reduce those 99 finance or institutions or slums or problem solving. Recognizing the need
ugly buildings coming up! In the early sustainability or mobility. It is a to see architecture in its broader and
years of India’s independence Mr. seemingly endless list depending on wider dimensions and contextual
Thapar was articulating the public where one starts and what the vantage framework he also initiated the
versus the private debate, the product point is. planning school. But as everything
and the process argument, and the around us tells us the context has
individual and society choice for the Correctives are needed. Almost changed and that demands a different
designer community. Quite transformative changes in the way we response.
mischievously, I must admit, I see, govern, manage and live in our
suggested to Doshi Saheb that he cities, if we want them to be livable Humanitarian architecture - what is it?

It demands putting people before the need to change and why would i expect That was my first discovery of
place, forum (fragrance) before the that thought process to start from Doshi. Not the famous
form, and the contents before the CEPT. In a keynote address at the
container. People’s or user’s welfare is launch of the Laurie Baker Centenary architect.
its domain. If the country, in its desire Celebrations at Trivandrum a few Not the founder
to correct the past anomalies and years ago, while reflecting on the and director of the school
make it a little more equal society for architecture profession, the I was a student at.
its disadvantaged citizens, is building professionals and the professional
12 million houses in the cities and 30 education this Is what I had said , “[...] But a kind, caring,
million in the villages (the second 30 And I believe that Architecture as a sensitive, giving
million after the first 30 million under subject, as an art form, as a science, as and considerate
IAY) under Pradhan Mantri Awas a shashtra, is too big and ancient to be human being.
Yojana and now pledges INR 74,000 treated with anything but respect and
core for the purpose in the recent pride. But the architecture profession,
national budget, by intent, almost as perceived and practiced now,
automatically, calls for the designer’s certainly needs a rethink, a paradigm
role. As making good houses, live-able shift. The multiple crisis that includes
houses, comfortable houses and good energy, water, space, resources,
looking buildings in which those ecology, governance, values, etc., and
houses are staked requires, besides the new technologies, changing social
the money, also good and sensitive equations and emerging realities in the
design. An affordable house is a globalizing cities make it imperative
greater design challenge as the area is that the architects re-educate and re-
small, money is limited, land is equip themselves. Both de-learning
constrained, space is cramped, and re-learning is called for. Moreover,
wastage is unaffordable and options a degree of de-professionalization of
are few. Also, Romesh Thapar’s waves the conventional professional in terms
of vulgarity invading our cities also of attitudinal shift, client choices and
include those ugly buildings, called priorities.“
affordable housing, coming up in our
cities. A well designed affordable “Architecture is a noble profession. In
house - comfortable, healthy, the hands of its conscientious meaningfully to this emerging society.
functionally appropriate, letting the practitioners, it is a medium to serve It stems from an understanding that
old live without guilt and the young the people and also the environment. given an orientational shift and
with dreams - is humanitarian “Service” is the word. It combines both attitudinal change, they could be
architecture too, as it would help a art and science. Culture and leaders in making our cities and
large family live better for something technology are its pillars. It is a vehicle settlements better places to live, work,
like coming 20/ 30 years, a period that to translate ideas and dreams into grow, develop and prosper. This view
would shape a new born baby into a reality. It embraces both: reality and does not negate the need for
citizen contributing to nation building. vision, creativity and practicality. It has monumental architecture and the
These projects and programs, their been there from the dawn of the architects pursuing it. It only says that
design quality at least, needs to civilization and will always be there. if 80 are chasing the monumental
become a moral, ethical responsibility However, the way it is perceived and dream let us have just 20 who are
of CEPT and 400 odd other schools practiced, it needs to move from the concerned about the common people
and college of architecture and monuments to people; from magazine and their building needs.
planning in the country. The younger pages to practical lives; from the elite
generation of the designers and the to the common people and from top to It is not only the architecture and the
planners need to see, understand, and bottom”. That would take nothing buildings. Also the cities. Interestingly
internalise this challenge. And a little away from its hallow, its mystique and it was Romesh Thapar then, a public
that I see tells me that they are ready. I its nobility. It will only be richer. intellectual and not a planner or an
am not sure if the institutions training architect who talked about the waves
them are. It is difficult to conceded “This is not an outsider’s view based on of vulgarity invading our cities. Today,
that caring for the masons and the ignorance, prejudice or ideological many decades later, it is a politician,
carpenters is also a part of baggage. It is an ‘insider’s view, based Varun Gandhi, and not an architect or
humanitarian architecture and a step on experience and borne out of a belief an urban planner, who in his book “ the
in making our cities inclusive. that the architects, as a community, as Indian Metropolis” is talking about
professionals, as privileged citizens, Urban India’s ‘lack of humanity’. He
Let me end by quoting myself - sorry could do much more, serve many more asks and I quote. “Why are our cities so
for the indulgence - as to why is there a and contribute so much more hard to live? Why do they lack

in the most basic of facilities, such as But also remember, that is not either
pedestrian friendly areas? Why are or.
India’s cities so bereft of beauty and a
sense of aesthetics? Why is the ground
water and the air so polluted years
after identifying the problem? Why do
our policy makers remain apathetic in
solving such issues?”
Yes, our cities must change too.
I am not sure if Doshi would approve of

this demand for change for the
institution he started. But a thing on
which one would have little doubt is
that he would, even if reluctantly,
agree that the context has changed.
This is new India that needs to
quantum jump in its quest to make it
not only prosperous but also equal and
just. Doshi is not there to comment or
respond. It is the next 30 years that we
must think about. 2050. And it is for
that relatively smaller trajectory that
we need to prepare for and change.
After we have created a level playing
field we may seek and demand more
creative freedoms.

Source: Vastu Shilpa Foundation, Vinay Panjwani

Source: Author
MY MASTER
Girish Doshi
31 January 2023
I t was in 1980; when after

completing my architecture from
Pune, I set out to Ahmedabad in hope
regions of the world interned with
Doshi. Many well-known artists,
singers, musicians, painters, sculptors,
large scaled models with detail and
precision. Over the period of time, he
had developed a very efficient
of working at ‘Sangath’, Doshi’s office. architects from all over the world dialogue with Doshi. Purushottambhai
Though I was rejected at first, my visited Sangath and often stayed with lived in a beautiful Bungalow in
consistent efforts eventually resulted Doshi. His kind and calm personality, Ahmedabad. It became a yearly
in me becoming a part of the 'Sangath soft-spoken attitude and his eternal tradition that he will take a leave for a
team'. In other words, I became one of love for art, allowed him to weave and day and then Doshi would humour,
the "Sangath's Sangathi". For the next sustain these interesting relations saying that it’s time to give him an
seven years, all that I learnt, observed which were cherished by all. increment. He would then visit his
and experienced while working with house for a family lunch or dinner
Doshi, made me able enough to build One of such treasured relation of his restoring their dynamic.
a career of my own on strong base of was with Purushottambhai Bakaraniya. Purushottambhai passed away
his beliefs and teachings. He was a model maker in the workshop recently on 5th January 2023. His
at Sangath and the senior-most whole life he worked only for Doshi.
'Sangath' was always alive with the collaborator in the studio. He could
cheerful environment it catered to. perceive Doshi's ideas with ease and Our day in Sangath would start at 8 in
Students from various countries and would transfer the same into the morning and it never ended

without completing the work. contemporary and modern education Though I was rejected
Sometimes we worked throughout the of architecture, available in India. We at first, my consistent
night, till the satisfactory level of work can see the result of his actions in form
was achieved. Every morning at of Center for Environment Planning efforts eventually
Sangath, Doshi would converse with and Technology (CEPT) in Ahmedabad, resulted in me
each of us while explaining the work to a world approved organization. It was becoming a
be done, through his spontaneous yet only through Doshi's idea and efforts part of
simple sketches drawn from different that the dream of CEPT could be
perspectives. The web of sketches realized. He did not stop there. Along the 'Sangath team'.
would portray the exact idea which he with teaching, he has written a number
had in mind. The exercise enabled us to of books regarding different aspects of
visualize his thoughts and the expected architecture which continue to inspire
work with clarity. It was always a and guide the young generation of
challenge to produce accurate students as well as professionals.
architectural drawings which could do
justice to his sketches. We used to In 1987, I returned to Pune and started
work hard to reach the precision ‘Navkar Architects’; my own
required and even Doshi would work architectural practice. Before leaving, break the promise.
with us. The only difference was that Doshi asked me for a promise that, on
his speed and capacity to work was 25 his every visit to Pune, I will be there at He was a fatherly figure to me who was
times more than that of us. the airport to receive him. He said, “if also my teacher and my friend. After
some day you are not there to receive my father, my mother and Doshi were
Doshi’s love and sympathy for me; then I will understand it that Girish the idols I believed in.
architectural education formed an is not producing the work which is
integral part of his personality. He expected of him and is thus avoiding Few years back, my mother passed
worked endlessly to make the me.” In last 43 years, not once, did I away and now even Doshi has set to

the journey beyond. Memories and
blessings which I received from these
individuals, is the real treasure which I
will cherish throughout my life.
I have never come across a master

other than him, who could play with
light, space, scale, proportions and the
other elements to realize his ideas. He
could solve the most difficult and
tiresome issues in architecture in no
time. He had clarity in his thoughts,
physical fitness apt for the profession
and above all he had an enthusiastic
mind. He could perceive and
understand the core of the subject
immediately. It was an ability of his
which he developed and sharpened
with consistent study and analysis.
Everybody called him ‘Yogi’; and he
was one.
His thoughts, beliefs and his presence

always served as an inspiration to me
and will never cease to do so. Doshi
was, is and always will be with me.

Source: Author
ARCHITECT B. V. DOSHI - A MYSTICAL PERFORMER

Ajay Kulkarni
1 February 2023
M ay I describe Doshi as a protean

and a performer who existed
equally comfortable with everyone
that his stories ran parallel and
independent on drawing board, during
the making of a building and even on
“To Ajay. You will discover every
moment great wonders of
and everywhere not restricting to completion of a building. While he Architecture- in this photo taken
architecture or architectural education talked about his own buildings, he by you- Best Wishes”
continuously transforming. Many who would narrate the similar story and
worked and knew him might agree though anticipated it was extremely Doshi
that every small or prolonged engaging and a new version no less
interaction with Doshi was in several than the severally heard great epics 28.12.2008
ways analogous to a memorable one would get unknowingly, deeply
performance. His normal interactions involved. He was mystical, enigmatic
would leave an impression of his performer indeed. I remember I had
spontaneous analogies, voice sent him images of cave 33 and 34 of
modulations, his facial expressions his Ellora after his visit. He transformed
childlike curiosity with a glint in eyes. those images on returning back to
His voice quality engaging and was Sangath (Doshi’s office) and sent me a
very often were like he was narrating completely modified collage using
a story. Most amazing I discovered those images with this note:

This incidence is very illustrative of
how Doshi looked at the world around
and I am sure many may agree with
me in various incidences. He would
very subtly, spontaneously transform
and gift you with that unique “other
point of view”. May be that’s the
reason he was extremely successful in
reinterpreting masterly teaching of the
acrobat Le Corbusier and Kahn the
yogi. Like the collage I mentioned his
architecture had an anticipated
syntactics - set of linguistic elements.
His poetry was deceptively common,
simple but deeper than it appeared. It
needed reading and rereading to
decipher several layers. No wonder
those who know Doshi as a passionate
teacher know of a completely
different person than a practicing
architect in action mode on sites. I was
fortunate to assist him in both
capacities. I used to assist him in an
elective studio called “Image of a City”
at CEPT and also represented him for
long on MIDA (now known as
YASHADA) at Pune. He was not the
same person in studio, at site and at
school. Especially post-independence
India needed a true “Indian “ image in
its cities, modern architecture, and
Doshi along with Ar Kanvinde and
Correa fine-tuned the pure yet
reinterpreted classical notes the
frozen music which will be heard for
centuries to come. In several ways I
saw Doshi like Pandit Kumar
Gandharv or Pt. Mallikarjun Mansoor
who too were curious of life beyond
their field of expertise and had extended and hour was elongated his interaction was not a point in black
mastered the art of interweaving India while you were in the Sangath. He and white but offered several
and Indian ethos in their creative work used to get amazed and intrigued by connotations.
effortlessly. the smallest thing. One could almost “Don’t overdo things, master and learn
see he is instantly connected to a where to stop, Architecture is to know
As a fresh post graduate of IDC IIT B I much larger world. where to stop” was the message
went straight to Sangath for an Doshi gave me.
interview. Ahmedabad, Corbusier, Like Doshi as a person, his
Loius Kahn on one hand and Doshi, architecture was deceptively simple. Walking through his buildings was an
CEPT, Sabarmati Ashram and Adalaj Outwardly he wore a simple look like experience of all those images of
on the other always haunted me. I had Kumar Gandharva, Mallikarjun montage I mentioned. You could
to be there anyhow. It was 1989 Mansoor or Lata Mangeshkar. When almost sense him subconsciously
August I joined Sangath and stayed for he spoke on his architecture it used to walking along and narrating those
a few years.The perception of time in be a montage of several images, his spaces. His buildings were a
terms of number of years months days body language, his face expression continuous experience of unfolding
was not the same. The time got and certain peculiar set of phrases or stories, a seamless whole. At the same
stretched, elongated and was virtually words. Whenever Doshi interacted time his forms and buildings were not
many more years than actually spent. formally or informally he chose to obviously picturesque or loud. They
With Doshi the measurement of time begin with a narrative or an analogy needed the same series of optimal
lost its significance. The days were and end with one. The core essence of interaction exchange of few narratives

and engagements. His buildings and powerful and at times invading the inquisitive and wanted to associate
spaces had a deep sense of cognitive spirituality of the onlooker. This is everything around living or non-living
engagement along with the real quite the same experience as Louis with architecture. For him architecture
physical form. Like a fine piece of Kahn simple and overwhelming wasn’t restricted to buildings but to
poem, it was intentionally created to spaces. Doshi defined new Indian-ness everything else around the building.
be open ended for the readers in architecture not restricting to one His methods of problem solving were
perceptions and reflexes. His buildings typology but several. very unusual and mysterious. I feel
like him as a person appeared simple, people who knew Doshi closely and
subtle yet they were extremely Doshi was a curious person. He was have worked with him in some way or
the other have a unique and
customized bond with him. Especially
recalling my days at Sangath, Doshi
was 60 years old, with great energy.
Sangath was a place of happening in
several ways such as Friday talks, yoga
sessions, visitors like M F Hussain,
Charles Jenks. While he used to be in
the office the office had unique
vibrations. He was the epicenter of
dynamic seismic energy moving all
over the office, and his presence could
be sensed from any corner of the huge
office.
He was like an endless source of
creative energy apparently quiet yogi
yet highly agitated striving for an
endless creative state of mind. He was
a great teacher, inspirer. Sangath is
one of his finest creations, in fact
Sangath and its precinct was under
the magnetic or charismatic field with
Gandhi Labor Institute, his house
‘Kamala’, CEPT, Amdavad Ni Gufa,
Institute of Indology. All master pieces
concentrated in and around university
area.
He visited Aurangabad and I had the

privilege of showing him around
Ajanta, Ellora and Paithan. It was a
memorable satsang (spiritual
association) with a yogi at 82 with
childlike energy to climb down
thousand steps from Ajanta view point
followed by patiently watching each
cave. God was with him always. He
visited my office and inquisitively saw
my work, photography and
calligraphy. He was extremely curious
and inquisitive about my calligraphic
messages. On receiving my
calligraphic messages, he chose not to
just respond over WhatsApp but to
call, discuss and appreciate. I am
blessed in several ways to have known
a yogi who touched my life.
I always felt Doshi knew he is eternal; he

knew he is divine!

IIM Bangalore, Courtesy VSP Foundation
REMEMBERING DOSHI
Edgar Demello
26 January 2023
M y work is the story of my life,

continuously evolving,
changing and searching… searching to
Functionality, material form, the
ephemeral nature of light and shade
were, for him, a given. Deep down his
Pico Iyer, in an essay titled Stillness,
refers to how our infatuation only with
the intellect has left a sort of void at
take away the role of architecture, and intuitive engagement was always with the core of our being. Intellect without
look only at life.” – B.V.Doshi the metaphysical nature of the heart. And this shows not only in our
building, it’s soul. And deeper down, it personal, but in our collective life as
The architect, educator, visionary, was about people and about life. For well. It has carried over into our
Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi has ceased him the nobility of our discipline was discipline where the desires and
to be amongst us. He has passed expressed in the act of inhabiting. That dreams of people are sometimes at the
through the great vault of the sky to crossing of a threshold which, in a bottom of the heap. But for Doshi the
become one with the infinite cosmic sense, gives life meaning; a third ‘skin’, heart mattered, people mattered.
order he so often spoke about. An so to speak, between the tangible one Whether it be the occupants of his
order that he had spent a lifetime we are born with and that grand numerous social housing projects, or
transcribing into his work; through his abstract one, of the universe. his many institutions of learning or
mind as well as his heart. His was a Metaphorically that was the breadth of those of commerce or culture, he saw
relentless decoding of the very his engagement and of his vision – both humane ways to express an idea. Ideas
meaning of life each and every time he personal and universal. that centred around people, giving
addressed another project. them tangible and intangible spaces to

express their hopes and aspirations.
His architecture always adding
another dimension to their lives; of
the individual, the family and that of
the community.
A small group of us in Bangalore had

come to know him intimately during
the 1980s when the construction
of his magnum opus, the Indian
Institute of Management, was
underway. He came often enough
for us to absorb the trajectory of this
project. From its conception inspired,
he said, by the complex imprint and
spatial geometry of the Meenakshi
Temple in Madurai. He abstracted
these ideas to create an architecture
for formal learning as well as, to
paraphrase the Dutch architect
Herman Hertzberger, an architecture
for the unexpected. When the first
phase was over we marvelled at how
that early inspiration receded into a
pale watermark vis-a-vis the robust
modernity that eventually came into
being – an Institution for Learning.
Learning that happens within and
outside the classroom through chance
encounters in the vast and voluminous
corridors of the building. He had
honed his ideas sometwenty years
earlier in the design of the CEPT
School in Ahmedabad even though the
two buildings were different both in
program and in scale. On the many
trips we made with him, undertaken
both in the day as well as on moonlit
nights, his childlike enthusiasm always
came to the fore. But in his
spontaneous sharing he was also
reflecting and questioning what he
had done, and encouraging us to be
part of the conversation. Each of us
felt being part of that timeless guru-
shishya experience.
He was the most fêted of our

architects, both nationally and
internationally. Numerous awards
came his way eventually culminating
in the architecture Nobel, the Pritzker
Prize in 2018. It was in recognition,
the jury observed (in part), … ‘of his
exceptional architecture, his
commitment and his dedication to his
country and the communities he has
served, his influence as a teacher, and
the outstanding example he has set

for professionals and students around storm – everything is in a symphony, three hundred; people all over the
the world throughout his long career’. he said. And this symphony is what aisles, window sills and stage front.
architecture is all about. My work is What’s more there were an equal
His acceptance speech (in part) was the story of my life, continuously number outside listening on an audio
thought provoking and intriguing as evolving, changing and searching… system. It was, as someone said, like
well. ‘Every object around us, and searching to take away the role of attending an architectural rock
nature itself – light, sky, water and architecture, and look only at life.’ It is concert!
the second part of that sentence I
found intriguing. But it brought to That was his draw, through his
mind that eternal dilemma of the charisma, his informality and his
human condition, expressed so wisdom. We have lost a man who was
succinctly in those magical words of larger than life. One that mortality will
TS Eliot: find impossible to erase from the
minds – and hearts – of future
Where is the wisdom we have lost in generations of architects.
knowledge?
Doshi was always modest about his
Where is the knowledge we have lost antecedents. He did not stop calling
in information himself the disciple of two Masters, Le
Corbusier and Kahn, referring to them
Where is the Life we have lost in as his inheritance. Not only did he
living. spend many years at 35 rue de Sèvres
at the Corb Atelier in Paris, but he
And like the sages of old, and in his continued to work for him on his
own unique way as well, he comes to return to Ahmedabad. The Mill
address the notion of maya that is Owners’ Building is the result of
somehow implicit in that verse. Having Doshi’s very deep engagement with
attained knowledge and wisdom that the project, the same way Iannis
perhaps transcends our discipline, he Xenakis’s was with the La Tourette
returns to embracing the ‘fullness’ of Monastery in France. With Corb’s vast
life. international oeuvre, he needed
architects who were in sync with his
Many years ago, as a co-curator of thinking and his worldview. But since
CoLab Art & Architecture, we had then he has found his own path, and
invited Doshi to deliver a lecture at for over six decades, Doshi’s legacy
the NGMA in Bangalore. Coming a has been nothing short of prodigious;
few minutes before the start he both in the practice of the discipline as
nevertheless sat with me and asked well as in academia. He was not just a
what he should speak about. I was great teacher but an institution
tongue-tied to respond to this builder. His setting up of CEPT in
obviously rhetorical question! Then Ahmedabad in the 60’s and nurturing
taking a minuscule piece of paper – it for half a century and more was
perhaps twice the size of a postage indicative of his deep passion for our
stamp – he scribbled some illegible (at discipline. And he was willing to share
least to me) notes. After an this passion with literally everyone. In
introduction, in which I had referred recent times, Doshi’s legacy has been
to him as the conscience keeper of our shared in museums worldwide.
discipline, he went on to give a NGMA, Art Basel, Vitra,
momentous talk titled Rur-urban Architekturzentrum Wien, München …
Galaxies. A talk that still resonates to be part of a larger exhibition at the
with the rhythm of poetry and of MOMA.
music and is talked about almost ten
years after the event. Needless to say, The legacy of a Master Architect
he never looked at that piece of paper.
Source: Vogue Images
He was a natural story teller, creating A natural and an inspiring Teacher

a narrative that included the everyday
as well as the sublime. Folk as well as A Universal Man.
fantasy. The hall, to seat a little under
two hundred, had perhaps

BALKRISHNA DOSHI’S ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE
Bimal Patel
06 February 2023
B alkrishna Doshi was a great Indian

architect.
He contributed immensely to Indian
with Le Corbusier and then returned to
India to represent him for his projects
in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. In
to the rational and professional
approach epitomized by architects
such as Antonin Raymond, Baburao
architecture through his prodigious 1958, Doshi set up his practice called Mhatre, Achyut Kanvinde, and Joseph
practice and by co-founding a school Vastu Shilp in Ahmedabad. Later he Stein. As with others from his end of
of architecture in Ahmedabad in the formed a partnership called SDB the architectural spectrum, Doshi
early sixties that continues to be a Consultants in Delhi with Joseph Stein preferred an artistic approach to
center of pedagogic innovation. In and J R Bhalla. Doshi made architecture, over a problem-solving
addition to this, Doshi did much to Ahmedabad his home and lived in the approach. Emotion, for him, was more
inspire architects and to keep the city till his death on the 24th of important than reason, the sensuous
profession’s flag flying high through January 2023. more interesting than the intellectual,
his inspirational talks, interviews, and the creation of an experiential
writings, and public engagements. In the modern architecture of impact more important than the
twentieth century India, Doshi’s solving of functional or practical
Doshi was born in 1927 and grew up practice epitomized the artistic or problems. When designing buildings he
in Pune. He studied architecture at the romantic approach to architecture. It preferred to be led by instinct rather
Sir J J School of Art in Mumbai. was highly influenced by his mentor Le than by reasoning. He had the great
Starting in 1951, he worked in Paris Corbusier and provided a counterpoint ability to explain his designs in mystical

yet engaging terms to his clients, who that India would ever escape poverty
had deep faith in his creative prowess. and modernize. In a remarkable volte-
face, many Indian intellectuals reacted
Given Doshi’s view of what to this dismal state of affairs by turning
architecture was all about, his office against modernization and declaring
was personalized and centered around modernity – like sour grapes – to be
him as the master architect. He was at not worth striving for. They decried
his best when designing institutional Western scientism and materialism
buildings where resources or and praised India’s spiritualism and
functional complexities did not pose frugality. They found new interest in
major constraints. Projects that religion, ancient traditions and the
demanded consideration of efficiency, crafts. During this period, Doshi, along
commercial viability or technical with a host of other like-minded
proficiency were not his forte.The low- architects also rejected modernity and
cost housing projects that he worked
on, of which there were many, were all
publicly funded and ones where the
cost of land could entirely be ignored.
Doshi’s practice spanned the latter half

of the twentieth century. He started in
the decade after India became
independent. At that time, the country
was brimming with confidence and was
infused with hope. There was a strong
belief that, freed from exploitative
colonial rule, India would be able to
generate wealth, lift itself out of
poverty, and modernize itself.
Ahmedabad, where Doshi chose to

practice, was full of great modernizers
like Vikram Sarabhai, Kasturbhai
Lalbhai and Gautam Sarabhai. Many
new institutions such as the Indian
Institute of Management, the National
Institute of Design, and the Space
Applications Center were coming up in
the city. Doshi’s architecture, during
this period, was infused with the
infectious optimistic spirit of the times.
It embraced modernity, radical
innovation, and internationalism. His
architectural language, exemplified by
the School of Architecture, the
Institute of Indology, and the Tagore
Hall, was abstract and shorn of any
reference to traditional Indian
architecture. He, like many others
during that period, was busy creating a
new, forward looking architecture for
India.
Over the years, however, India

increasingly came under the yoke of
bureaucratic socialism and autarky. Its
economy stagnated, and India was cut
off from the world. By the mid-
seventies, it no longer seemed feasible

embraced counter-enlightenment Doshi was conferred a vast array of
values. awards, during the period he was
practicing and well thereafter. The
In this second phase of his practice, most important ones were: the Padma
Doshi sought to create an architectural Shri (1976), IIA’s Babu Rao Mhatre
idiom that was rooted in traditional Gold Medal (1988), Honorary
Indian architecture and was justified Doctorate from the University of
by ancient architectural beliefs. He Pennsylvania (1990), Aga Khan Award
advocated for the use of indigenous for Architecture (1995), The Global
technologies and traditional crafts. He Award for Sustainable Architecture
even developed a representational (2007), Officer of the Order of Arts
technique that was based on and Letters (2011), Dhirubhai Thakar
traditional miniature paintings and Savyasachi Saraswat Award (2017),
increasingly resorted to speaking in the Pritzker Prize (2018), the Padma
mystical terms. Exemplary projects Bhushan (2020), RIBA’s Royal Gold
from the latter half of his practice Medal (2022) the Padma Vibhushan
include Sangath, his own office, and his (2023 – posthumous). He also received
plan for Vidhyadharnagar township, much devotion and love from those
which was based on the concept of a who were captivated by his mesmeric
mandala. Doshi’s explanation for charm and charismatic personality.
Bharat Diamond Bourse’s form, ‘The Doshi’s work and influence are,
Legend of the Living Rock’ is a fine however, far too important to only be
example of how mystical his accorded accolades and fawning
explanations had become by the early adulation. I hope that they receive the
nineties. serious, critical, and analytical
assessment that they genuinely
Doshi contributed to architectural deserve.
education by co-founding the School of
Architecture in Ahmedabad in 1962
and leading it for a decade. This school
drew in many practicing architects to
teach. Doshi’s inspiring influence, as
well as incongruity with alternative
architectural and pedagogic visions
held by other stalwarts at the school
such as Bernard Kohn, Rasu Vakil,
Hasmukh Patel and Anant Raje
ensured that over the years, the school
evolved to become a vibrant center of
architectural education and thinking. Emotion,
In the early seventies, Doshi for him, was
collaborated with Christopher
more important
Benninger to establish the School of
Planning. This school also became an than reason, the
important center for planning sensuous more
education in India. Sixty years later, interesting than the
both schools are now part of CEPT
intellectual, and the
University and continue to be beacons
of architectural and planning creation of an experiential
education in the country. impact more important than
the solving of functional or
practical problems.

When designing buildings

he preferred to be led by
instinct rather than by
reasoning.

Photo © Sam Panthaky
BALKRISHNA DOSHI: THE MASTERY OF WONDER

Prem Chandavarkar
25 January 2023
M y world was shaken on the

morning of 24th January 2023
on hearing of the passing of Balkrishna
knew he had begun his own practice in
Ahmedabad in the mid-1950’s, and we
entered the lecture hall that day as
Ahmedabad, Corbusier trusted him to
oversee the execution of four projects
there. We knew Doshi as more than a
Doshi, Indian master architect, members of a generation of Indian pioneering architect, being an
Pritzker Laureate, and someone who architects who would follow in the educator and institution builder,
has influenced me greatly, first from a footsteps of his generation, having established the Centre for
distance, and then through knowing acknowledging him as one of the Environmental Planning and
him personally as a mentor and friend trailblazers shaping the architecture Technology (CEPT) in Ahmedabad as
over the last four decades. that would define India’s an internationally recognised site of
independence and modernity. We excellence for innovative education
The first time I encountered him in the knew his professional career had and thought on architecture and urban
flesh was in the mid-1970’s when I begun with an adventurous move to planning.
was an undergraduate student of Paris in 1951 to work in the atelier of
architecture at School of Planning and Le Corbusier, that master of 20th In the lecture that day, which I still
Architecture in New Delhi and century modern architecture, knowing remember vividly, he presented two
attended a lecture he delivered there. nobody in that city while being a housing projects he had recently
His reputation had preceded him. We vegetarian who spoke no French. Yet completed, both for public sector
he flourished, so when he returned to townships, as well as the first building

of the CEPT campus. I was struck by and spatial framework by which people own practice but meeting frequently
the idealism and skill with which he could adapt their homes over time so to discuss architecture, share
deployed architecture to offer that the housing could reflect the lives photographs of travel, travel together,
possibility and promise to its culture of and aspirations being lived within it. I and learn from each other. The group
inhabitation, while simultaneously never had the opportunity to ask Doshi came to identify itself by the acronym
seeking integrity with site and climate. if he had read the philosophy of Martin ‘BASE,’ and I became a member of this
Before that lecture, the only projects Heidegger, but his architectural group on returning to Bangalore in
of Doshi I had known were the odyssey epitomised Heidegger’s 1986. Doshi would visit the city
Institute of Indology and Tagore definition of authentic dwelling as that frequently in those days as
Memorial Hall, both projects in a which gathers the fourfold of earth, construction was ongoing at the IIMB
Corbusian idiom of exposed concrete sky, mortals, and divinities. site. He would reach out on every visit,
and expressive form. Corbusier’s and at least one evening of his stay
Capitol Complex in Chandigarh, built in Admiration for Doshi’s architecture would be spent with the BASE group
the late 50’s and early 60’s, had been a took on a different dimension once I talking, sharing, collectively thinking.
major influence on Indian architecture had the opportunity to know Doshi the We felt privileged to receive attention
of the time, whose torchbearers had person. My first close encounter was in from this great architect, only to find
adopted it as the idiom of Indian the early 1980’s when he visited that his enthusiasm for discovery
modernism, a phase that continued Philadelphia to lecture at the would often leave us in the shade. One
until the mid to late 1970’s, and I had University of Pennsylvania. My wife late night after dinner, we were
imagined Doshi to be in the same had recently graduated from that escorting him to where he was staying
league. That day, I realised that university and I, after graduating from and passed by the construction site of
although Doshi had a personal another university, had recently joined a corporate office building, a striking
equation with Corbusier far closer her there. We invited Doshi to our modernist building with an enveloping
than any of his peers, he was one of the home for dinner, and he readily screen wall of bush-hammered
first to change course after an early accepted the invitation despite him concrete, a material expression being
adoption of that idiom to adopt an being an internationally acknowledged seen for the first time in India. Doshi
architecture that emphasised space master and my wife and I being was curious to see it and asked that the
over form, focused on inhabitation fledgling architects. It was the second car be stopped so he could get down
over expression, seeking to be timeless time he was doing this as on a visit a for a closer look. We accompanied him,
rather than symbolising the spirit of a year earlier, before I arrived in peeping politely over the compound
time. Philadelphia, he had accepted an wall, only to find that Doshi, far senior
invitation from my wife. When he was to most of us, had climbed on top of a
In the late 1970’s, this approach in our home, he was spontaneously and section of the wall for his curiosity to
evolved to reach one of its most iconic disarmingly indifferent to differences learn demanded he get the best view
expressions in the Academic Complex in age or magnitude of achievement for possible.
of Indian Institute of Management he came with a sole agenda, one he
Bangalore (IIMB), an architecture lived every moment of his life, to enjoy This energetic zest for life continued
inspired by precedents from history himself. We laughed together, he throughout his life. In 2011, when he
such as Fatehpur Sikri, an architecture shared his thoughts and experiences, was in his mid-80’s, he came to
meant to dissolve into its landscape, he quizzed us on our beliefs and lives, Bangalore for a launch of his book
where interior experience took and a good time was had by all. “Paths Uncharted.” We had the
precedence over external appraisal privilege of hosting him for that visit in
offering a rich weave of light, scale, Over the years, as I got to know him our home in North Bangalore. The day
vista, and texture. Spatial emphasis better, I learned this was his mode of after the book launch was a packed
evolved in later work in a discovery: to seize the day with open- one. He started the day with a visit to a
transcendental quest to dematerialise eyed wonder, enthusiasm, and building in Central Bangalore designed
the physicality of architecture through affection, soaking in all he saw as by a former student. From there, he
strategies of burial, seen in projects fodder for consequent reflection and went on to catch up on developments
such as Sangath (where Doshi’s creativity. He never went anywhere at IIMB in South Bangalore, wandering
practice was based), Amdavad ni Gufa without a small spiral-bound notebook around the expansive campus, and
(an underground juxtaposition of the in his pocket in which he frequently climbing the stairs to the top of the 30-
architecture of Doshi and the art of documented thoughts and sketches. metre-tall water tank tower to get an
M.F. Hussain), and the academic Whenever he attended a lecture, overview. From there, he visited Ranga
building for the National Institute of whether it was being given by a young Shankara, a vibrant space for theatre
Fashion Technology. Aranya, a social architect or another master, he would and theatre lovers that had opened a
housing project for the urban poor in listen attentively, taking copious notes. few years earlier, exploring the whole
Indore, broke away from the norm of facility, including climbing onto the
an architect specifying and delivering a In the 1980’s, a group of architects had catwalk above the stage. He ended the
completed product to offer a material formed in Bangalore, each having their day at a dinner in East Bangalore

hosted in his honour. Returning home being alive; feeling that rapture when about offering pearls of wisdom for it
at close to midnight, he finally we learn to discern in the world around depends more on how successfully you
admitted to feeling “a little tired.” Of us echoes of our innermost being. infect others with your passion, values,
considerable significance is the fact Doshi was a living embodiment of and commitment. He lived the
that Kamala Doshi, his wife since 1955, Campbell’s assertion. He taught me to aphorism of the Isha Upanishad, “Let
kept pace with him through the day, escape the prison of esoteric theory go and rejoice!” His life manifested
and he was transparent on how her and to eschew the temptations of that the adult is not differentiated
companionship was crucial to his being. temporal fashion. He showed us that if from the child by worldly
architecture is to have any value it sophistication but by the degree of
Perhaps, it is an incident in the mid- must echo the inner being of its rigour acquired in exploring how to be
1980’s that reveals the essence of the inhabitants, and that to get to know a good human being, a rigour that leads
person Doshi was. My mother was a this one must look within. He to the mastery of wonder.
member of a trust that had started a demonstrated that teaching is not
new school, Doshi dropped by to meet This article was first published in
her and see the school, and she 'The Wire' on 25 January 2023
escorted him around it. Being a new
school, it only had students from
kindergarten to Standard 6. Describing
his visit, my mother said she had taken
many adults on tours of the school, but
Doshi was the only one who
considered it necessary to know the
place from the child’s perspective. He
visited every room, and in each room,
he sat in a chair meant for little
children and inhaled the aura of the
room. This reveals two facets of his
core. First, in every experience, you
must discard convention and
expectation to spontaneously seek
empathy with its intrinsic authenticity.
Second, the child you once were must
never go away for if you lose that child,
you lose the capacity for wonder.
Doshi was one of those rare individuals

who retained the innocence of
childhood, and one must not equate
this innocence with naivete. Rather, it
is the absence of preconditions so that
you revel in your experiences in the
world in the pure essence of their
being, opening yourself to the wonder
of what they offer you. He did not fall
into the trap that captures so many of
us, where we cross a threshold into
adulthood by allowing expectation and
desire to shape us into a shield of
artifice, where we define learning and
accomplishment by how others certify
our sophistication rather than
measuring it by the joy of wonder we
experience.
Joseph Campbell, the famous scholar

of myth, said that we make a mistake
thinking we seek the meaning of life for
what we truly seek is the rapture of
Source: Author
ON DOSHI
Salil Ranadive
30 January 2023
Doshi kaka
What a glorious life !
Work that touched the senses

And Teaching that ignited scores of minds
To the Joy of Life. And of Architecture.
Blessed to have lived during his time,

And to have been able to
Engage with him through the decades.
The first time I saw him was in 1981 - candidates were pruned- down in that was ! It was akin to getting a seat
during the course of the Entrance halves at every stage, culminating in at an IIT of one’s pick, for a subject or
Exam at the School of Architecture personal interviews of about 70, of program of one’s singular desire. For
Ahmedabad. which a final 35 were granted an ardent Bombay-ite, educated at its
At the time various Tests were held admission. ‘fancy’ schools and colleges, and with
over 2-3 days, and original 1000-odd What an ego-boost for an 18-year-old secured seats at

both of Bombay’s premier geographies, across demographies, individual lives and surroundings that
architectural colleges, this change of across income-groups, these are we would otherwise take for granted.
heart was unexpected. vibrant young minds from all manner He would listen, and laugh, and
of backgrounds, means, languages, famously tell his ‘stories’ - like a great
But during just my short stay during interpersonal skills. But what bound us sage of yore, sitting under the great
the Entrance Exam - I was already all was the inherent urge to explore neem (Bodhi ?!) tree. Imparting
mesmerised by the CEPT Campus. space and time - each, unknowingly, in nuggets of insights and suggestions
‘Raw’ brick & concrete buildings (I was their own individualistic way, to that suddenly switched on some light
yet to learn the proper term : exposed question, to create, to explore, to find deep inside, and kept one charged for
brick!), truly ‘open’ spaces, where new ways to upset the known and set weeks - in vigorous pursuit of refining
studios were connected by free-wall- new paradigms, to rebel, to think that a design that one had been working on.
less passages, overlooked one- nothing is impossible, to think big and
another, light streaming from quasi- to scale, to focus on to detail. To build, The subject of their tales were varied,
industrial glare-free North-Lights, to set-up, to execute. and emerged from Doshi’s own quests
rolling lawns connected through an in seeking. Embedded in local Indian
open basement and shallow stretched But the first lesson I learnt, when vernacular, they ranged from his joy
steps, monumental darwazas that thrown into a class-full, nay, a school- for music: Indian classical and jazz,
pivoted closed to become walls, clean full of such energies was to stay dance: their symbology, mudras,
open balconies, no gates, no bells to humble. Not to under-estimate rhythm, narratives, grace, fluidity;
mark the beginning or the end of class, anybody. To be constantly open to Architectural and Design Heritage.
freedom to arrange and re-arrange learn. Because one never knew where A favourite was about the grace,
desks, the inescapable rhythm of the the next big idea, or the next epiphany beauty and versatility of unstitched
monumental brick walls with the would emerge from - and one never fabric and how it is the crux of Indian
freedom to create and re-interpret wanted to ever not be ready to receive clothes: sari, dhoti, turban, shawl, even
spaces within and around them. that! as a cradle for infants. Another
Classes on the lawns, or under an observed the difference in the way
experimental geodesic dome, a full- ‘Manthan’ could be a term I’d use if i Indian food is served and eaten off a
fledged Workshop, a dhaba-like open had to say how all the learning thali or the tenets of rhythm-based
canteen under a great Neem tree - a emerged. It was a churning, a Indian Classical music - and the
school of Architecture, along with a reflection, an assimilation, diversity, choices and configurations of
school of Planning, a Center for Arts, a introspection, an internalisation, an experience that they simultaneously
Science Center - all open and with full osmosis. It was a process of ‘slow offer.
access across 24x7x365 - this was learning’. None of that boxed-
‘Junnat”, an Ashram, a Gurukul, a Jyan- education that is packaged and
bharthi, all-in-one. churned out for students to swing
around the turnstiles in the shortest
Then there was this array of highly- possible time. One was allowed, almost
charged minds under whom one expected, to Grow here. To mature.
studied : Doshi, Raje, Leo Perriera, Age was not a barrier to when one
Rabin Vasavada, Hasmukh Patel, KB graduated, especially when there was
Jain, Karula Varkey, Meena Jain, Miki a visible and sincere pursuit of
Desai, Ravi Hazra, Piraji Sagara, MC knowledge and learning.
Gujjar, Meena Jain, Dinesh Mehta,
Meera Mehta, CB Shah, RJ Shah, Doshi, and all the teachers were
Pannubhai Bhat, Neelkanth Chayya always accessible. Then in his mid-50s,
and a constant stream of stalwarts having just completed the building of
visiting or passing-through: Sen his magnificent studios Sangath, he
Kapadia, Shankho Chatterji, Badal was at the peak of his practice. Yet he
Sarkar, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Kamal was regularly at the campus, in the
Mangaldas, Uttam Jain, Kamu Iyer, studios, at juries, at the canteen, ever
Ketan Mehta, Bernard Kohn, Frei Otto, so often with a venerable guest - to
Walter Nietche, William Curtis. engage and interact with students. He
wouldn’t hesitate to pullout a 6B
And of course there was this virtually Shorty and call for rough tracings to
hand-picked selection of the best-of- sketch multiple overlays upon
the best group of a mere 150-odd student’s drawings to demonstrate
students across the 10-semester and discuss possibilities that perhaps
program. They were representative of we never recognised, and recollect
a slice of the true India. From across memories and impressions from our

After I graduated, and eventually set
up practise in Bombay the frequency
of our interactions reduced to times
when I visited Ahmedabad, or when we
were at the same venue during a
seminar, festival, or jury.
He was always interested in the work
and projects I was engaged in, why I
wasn’t teaching more, my learnings,
yoga and meditation, my
‘grihasthashram’, my joys and
happiness. And even if our meetings
were infrequent, and spread over
months or even years apart, the
conversation continued from where
we left off the previous time. He
remembered, and he cared !
Our last conversation was after he

turned a spritely 90, and soon after he
had been conferred the Pritzker. Some
of us who were part of the Alumni
Association of the School of
Architecture dropped by his
magnificent house to congratulate him.
The short visit for a cup of tea turned
into a long conversation for almost two
hours.
When we asked him what sees us
needing to do for the school, he said, …
“go forth, go beyond Ahmedabad.
There are just a few of us here, but we
must reach out across the length and
breadth of India. There are now over
400 schools of architecture, and
thousands of students. Interact with
them, and their teachers. Strengthen
them. Infuse them with the joy for
Architecture.
Engage with the places you live in, the
cities, towns, villages. Seek to better
lives through their environments and
habitats. Don’t rest !”
Ever the teacher, the educationist, the

institution builder.
Architect par excellence.
Ever the seeker.
I pay him my deepest respects

And pray
for the eternal Peace of his
enlightened soul.
Amen.

B V DOSHI - OUR TEACHER! would emerge would seem distant
Sriram Ganapathi
from the design at hand but somehow
02 February 2023
at the end of the interaction things
would all tie-up together and make
sense. He would speak with the same
I did my undergraduate study in

Architecture in the mid 1980’s
from University of Roorkee (now
sketch which framed the trees better.
Only when I went into the office did I
realise that he was Doshi! (Doshi Sir
ease and manner with a student intern
as he would with his senior colleagues.
He inspired a deep love of history and
known as IIT Roorkee). I had never for me but I would refer to him as instilled pride in our ‘Indian-ness’. He
met or seen Doshi but all I wanted to Doshi here) always spoke of simplicity in design but
do was to work with him. As soon as I I always marvelled at how bold he was
finished my Thesis, I caught the next Doshi has been a huge inspiration to in his design thinking. The varied
available train to Ahmedabad armed generations of architects. The sheer canvas of his works is simply awe-
with my sheets of drawings. It was joy and enthusiasm he would bring into inspiring - the sheer sculptural beauty
love-at-first-sight when I saw his design was infectious. It was and fantastic detailing of the Institute
‘Sangath’ - It was the most beautiful amazing how he would seamlessly of Indology, the magical spaces in
building I had ever seen! I reached weave a story in his work and infuse CEPT where the outdoors and the
early and was sitting and sketching on life into the narrative. His design indoors are seamlessly interwoven,
the amphitheatre when a kurta-clad discussions would be most engrossing ‘Sangath’ with its beautiful gardens,
man with longish hair walked along – and we would throng the desk he play of light, levels, volumes, surfaces
the path. He saw me and came up to would be sitting on and try and absorb and textures and so much more!
me and saw what I was doing and every word he spoke. The analogies he We are truly honoured to have shared
suggested a different angle for the would bring up, the little stories that a lifetime with B V Doshi.

Architecture Time Space & People, BV Doshi Special Editon, Issue 3c

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Architecture Time Space & People, BV Doshi Special Editon, Issue 3c

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architecture

ISSUE NO. 03 | JANUARY 2023

BALKRISHNA VITHALDAS DOSHI

Editor Habeeb Khan

Publisher Raj K. Oberoi

A. Editor Pranati Satti

Cover Image Balkrishna Doshi at Sangath

ARCHITECTURE, TIME, SPACE & PEOPLE

A rchitect and visionary educator,

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Doshi’s poetic and pragmatic projects continue to inspire several

Doshi believed that educational institutions and design studios needed a

Constantly searching for dignified, affordable housing, he responded to

Our prayers to family, friends and well-wishers.

remembering doshi: special edition | 02

THE CHANCE DISCIPLE

T hus it is said that a master chooses

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Having entered Doshi’s world, my re-

He was friends with many of the

Doshi often said with disarming

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In many ways, though never said, Doshi

Doshi claimed that it was only once as a

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T he passing of Balkrishna Doshi at

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I have lost an irreplaceable friend and a

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T his morning Balkrishna Doshi left

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Born in Pune (1927), in a home where

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Discussions with Doshi would

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BALKRISHNA DOSHI: A MAN OF MANY PARTS!

All the world's a stage,

Shakespeare, As You Like It

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We may briefly recall the play itself.

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DOSHI: A TIMELESS ARCHITECT, INSPIRING TEACHER, AND

Late Nimish Patel

A fter my parents and grandparents

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Doshi was a learner throughout his life

“I have studied here as well as abroad

“In 2015, we were revamping Darpana

Doshi. We had tried all the options

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DOSHI, A FINE BLEND OF TEACHING AND PRACTICE!

I have known Prof. Balkrishna Doshi

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