At 90, Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi is remarkably agile; his energy and enthusiasm belie the stereotypes associated with his age, say associates.
Business News India : Noted architect Balkrishna V Doshi, now 90, has been awarded the annual Pritzker Prize, also referred to as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for this profession. He is the first Indian to win this award, instituted in 1979 by an American entrepreneurial family. Apart from the global recognition, the award comes with a cash award of $100,000. The ceremony will be in May, at Toronto.
“Balkrishna Doshi has always created an architecture that is serious, never flashy or a follower of trends,” said the Pritzker jury.
Also, that Doshi “constantly demonstrates all good architecture and urban planning must not only unite purpose and structure but must take into account climate, site, technique, and craft, along with a deep understanding and appreciation of the context in the broadest sense”.
Over a career spanning six decades, the Ahmedabad-based Doshi has been considered one of the highly influential architects of post-1947 India, fusing international modernist principles with local traditions.
Doshi studied in Mumbai, before travelling to Paris in the 1950s to work for Franco-Swiss pioneer and iconic 20th century modernist architect Corbusier, who designed the city of Chandigarh.
His wide-ranging work includes designs for noted academic institutions, mixed-use complexes, housing projects, public spaces, galleries and also private homes.
At 90, Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi is remarkably agile; his energy and enthusiasm belie the stereotypes associated with his age, say associates.
In an earlier interview, he had said, “For me, it is a search for the unknown… in that process, I grow and my work grows.”
Pavan Bakeri, managing director of Bakeri Group, a renowned builder in Gujarat and next-door neighbour of Doshi, said: “He has an uncanny ability to visualise spaces; he does not think in terms of boundaries. His visualisations are rarely linear but fluid spaces and he has managed to create functional, simple and breezy living spaces, as a result.”
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