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University
I am pleasantly surprised and deeply humbled to receive the Royal Gold Medal from the Queen of England .
At ninety-four years old he has influenced generations of architects through his delightfully purposeful architecture . Influenced by his time spent in the office of Le Corbusier his work nevertheless is that of an original and independent thinker – able to undo , redo and evolve . In the twentieth century , when technology facilitated many architects to build independently of local climate and tradition , Balkrishna remained closely connected with his hinterland : it ’ s climate , technologies new and old and crafts .
Balkrishna Doshi ’ s outstanding contribution to the art of architecture , the craft of construction and the practice of urban design establish him as a most deserving recipient of this award and I greatly look forward to him being presented with the medal next year .”
In recognition of his distinguished contribution as a professional and as an academician , Balkrishna Doshi was made a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2021 . He is the recipient of the Padma Bhushan , Government of India ( 2020 ); The Pritzker Architecture Prize ( 2018 ); the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres ( 2011 ); Global Award for Lifetime Achievement for Sustainable Architecture , Institut Francais d ’ Architecture , Paris ( 2007 ); Prime Minister ’ s National Award for Excellence in Urban Planning and Design , India ( 2000 ); Aga Khan Award for Architecture ( 1993-1995 ) and the Gold Medal , Academy of Architecture of France ( 1988 ).
The 2022 Royal Gold Medal selection committee , chaired by architect and RIBA President Simon Allford , comprised : Sir David Adjaye OBE , architect and recipient of the 2021 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture ; Alison Brooks , Principle and Creative Director of Alison Brooks Architects ; Kate Cheyne , architect and Head of Leicester School of Art , Design and Architecture at De Montfort
RIBA
and Dr Gus Casely-Hayford OBE , Professor of Practice at SOAS ( School of Oriental and African Studies in London and founding Director of V & A East ).
Citation on Balkrishna Doshi by the 2022 RIBA Honours Committee : Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi has been practising architecture and designing and delivering outstanding buildings and places for over seventy years . Trained in Mumbai he began practice in Europe working closely with Le Corbusier . He returned to India in his late twenties to help supervise Corbusier ’ s projects in Ahmedabad before setting up his own studio to work collaboratively with Louis Kahn on the Indian Institute of Management campus , also in Ahmedabad .
His personal influence as a practitioner and educator has grown from there . Through his teaching and his practice he has helped define the direction of architecture in India and much of the adjacent regions . But even more importantly his development of and advocacy for an architectural language of material economy and elegance and delight - is ever more relevant to all architects working in today ’ s challenging times . Doshi is a visionary constructor of ideas who works with form and light . He is also a constructor of an appropriate vernacular for and of the places in which he works . His many wonderful buildings celebrate the local technologies and crafts as well as the natural habitat to create environments that are legible , hard-working backdrops joyfully accommodating the theatre of everyday life . Once visited and studied it is soon apparent that they are also wonderful essays in the careful interplay of formal themes and technologies . Importantly building and nature are always intertwined to create a brave , confident and on occasion challenging architecture of purpose and delight . Architecture as background and foreground .
Doshi , now in his nineties , works every day and remains as prolific as he is inspirational . A living testament to the potential of an architectural history of ideas , passed through practice and education from one generation to the next . An architecture that is always evolving to help define a better future .
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Photos : Vinay Panjwani PAGE 65 - ARCHETECH