RIBA
BALKRISHNA DOSHI TO RECEIVE 2022 ROYAL GOLD MEDAL FOR ARCHITECTURE
ACCLAIMED INDIAN ARCHITECT SELECTED FOR HIS SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO ARCHITECTURE
The Royal Institute of British Architects ( RIBA ) is pleased to announce that Balkrishna Doshi will receive the Royal Gold Medal 2022 , one of the world ’ s highest honours for architecture .
Given in recognition of a lifetime ’ s work , the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence on the advancement of architecture . It has been awarded since 1848 and will be presented to Balkrishna Doshi at a special ceremony in 2022 .
With a 70 year career and over 100 built projects , Balkrishna Doshi has influenced the direction of architecture in India and its adjacent regions through both his practice and his teaching . His buildings combine pioneering modernism with vernacular , informed by a deep appreciation of the traditions of India ’ s architecture , climate , local culture and craft . His projects include administrative and cultural facilities , housing developments and residential buildings . He has become internationally known for his visionary urban planning and social housing projects , as well as his work in education , both in India and as a visiting professor at universities around the world .
Born in 1927 in Pune , India , to an extended family of furniture makers , Balkrishna Doshi
studied at the J J School of Architecture , Bombay , before working for four years with Le Corbusier as Senior Designer ( 1951-54 ) in Paris and four more years in India to supervise projects in Ahmedabad . He worked with Louis Kahn as an associate to build the Indian Institute of Management , Ahmedabad , and they continued to collaborate for over a decade . He founded his own practice , Vastushilpa in 1956 with two architects . Today Vastushilpa is a multi-disciplinary practice with five partners spanning three generations and has sixty employees . The practice invites dialogue and its philosophy of pro-active participation even applies to their office space – which has an open door , inviting passers-by to drop in .
Doshi ’ s key projects include : Shreyas Comprehensive School Campus ( 1958-63 ), Ahmedabad , India ; Atira Guest House ( 1958 ), Ahmedabad , low cost housing ; the Institute of Indology ( 1962 ), Ahmedabad , a building to house rare documents ; Ahmedabad School of Architecture ( 1966 , with additions until 2012 ) - renamed CEPT University in 2002 - which focused on creating spaces that promoted collaborative learning ; Tagore Hall & Memorial Theatre ( 1967 ), a 700 seat Brutalist auditorium in Ahmedabad ; Premabhai
Photo : Pratik Gajjar
Hall ( 1976 ), Ahmedabad , India , former theatre and auditorium ; Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore ( 1977 – 1992 ), a business school ; Sangath ( 1981 ), the studio for his architecture practice , Vastu Shilpa ; Kanoria Centre for Arts ( 1984 ), an arts and creative hub ; Aranya Low Cost Housing ( 1989 ), Indore , India , which won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1995 and Amdavad ni Gufa ( 1994 ), a cave-like art gallery that exhibits the work of artist Maqbool Fida Husain .
On hearing the news that he will receive the Royal Gold Medal in 2022 , Balkrishna Doshi said :
“ I am pleasantly surprised and deeply humbled to receive the Royal Gold Medal from the Queen of England . What a great honour ! The news of this award brought back memories of my time working with Le Corbusier in 1953 when he had just received the news of getting the Royal Gold Medal . I vividly recollect his excitement to receive this honour from Her Majesty . He said to me metaphorically , ‘ I wonder how big and heavy this medal will be .’ Today , six decades later I feel truly overwhelmed to be bestowed with the same award as my guru , Le Corbusier - honouring my six decades of practice . I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my wife , my daughters and most importantly my team and collaborators at Sangath my studio .”
RIBA President Simon Allford said :
“ It was an honour and a pleasure to chair the committee in selecting Balkrishna Doshi as the 2022 Royal Gold Medallist .
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