B.V. Doshi, in memoriam

Balkrishna “B.V.” Doshi, 2018 Pritzker Prize winner, died last month at the age of 95.

I was extremely fortunate to spend time at Sangath, Doshi’s design and urban studies sanctuary, as part of a year-long travel fellowship during graduate school. Doshi was abroad at the time, but I got a good dose of his son-in-law, Rajeev Kathpalia, pacing up and down the studio like a cheery shipmaster, juggling project teams and barking encouragement. Radhika Kathpalia was quieter than her husband but no less inspiring. Everyone in the studio was a devout believer in architecture’s agency and social potential. A snippet from my travel journal:

Sangath, Balkrishna Doshi’s office, is an elegantly modest complex that houses urban planning, architectural design, research, a student internship program, and visiting international studios. Ahmedabad’s low water table allows the studio space to be sunk just below grade, balancing natural light with a consistently cool temperature. We have tea inside at ten thirty and tea outside at four.

The City of Ahmedabad is one of the richest urban and architectural environments I’ve ever encountered. Ancient and traditional wonders (my favorite were the stepwells) co-exist with masterpieces of the modern canon. Doshi had plenty to do with the latter.

Doshi’s work grows from Le Corbusier (‘the acrobat’) and Louis Kahn (‘the yogi’), his two primary mentors. B.V. spent his early career in Corbusier’s atelier and later invited Kahn to spearhead the Indian Institute of Management campus. When I visited, Rajeev Kathapalia invited me to help (a vast overstatement, mind you) with the FLAME campus design, another ground-breaking academic design that I’d love to visit now that it’s complete.

Doshi’s hand was adept, his interests wide-ranging, and his heart focused on low-income and sustainable housing. He contributed mightily to the design world as an architect, urbanist, and educator.