In 2018, Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi became the Pritzker Prize laureate. The jury awarded the 90-year-old Doshi for "significant contributions as an architect, urban planner, teacher" and for "loyalty to his principles."
Balkrishna Doshi was born in the large Indian city of Pune. He began his architectural education in 1947, the year of the proclamation of Indian independence, as a student at the Mumbai College of Architecture named after
Jamsetji Jijiboy, one of the oldest and most advanced universities in the country. After completing his education there, Doshi went to Europe, where he met Le Corbusier. He managed to work with the master, first in Paris, and then continue cooperation upon his return to his homeland in 1954. Doshi supervised the construction of Le Corbusier's structures in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. Starting in 1962 and for over ten years, Doshi worked with another great architect of the 20th century, Louis Kahn. So, Balkrishna Doshi happened to participate in the creation of the project of the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad. The Pritzker Prize jury recognizes the significant influence of these Western architects on Doshi's work - this can be seen in his early work. However, Doshi has developed as a professional and has greatly expanded his creative range, combining industrial construction methods with Indian traditional handicrafts.
In 1956, Doshi founded his own bureau, Sangath Architect Studio; for half a century, he managed to implement more than 100 projects, among them - administrative buildings, buildings of educational and cultural institutions, public spaces and private houses. Back in the 1950s, an Indian architect took up the problem of social housing; he built houses for the poor in Indore in the central part of the country, a cooperative house for the middle-income population in Ahmedabad, and other similar structures.
Balkrishna Doshi is a visiting professor at many US universities (including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the University of Hong Kong, etc.
