The sublime work of BV Doshi

The work of acclaimed architect, thinker, institution builder, and India's first Pritzker laureate Prof. Balakrishna Doshi who passed away recently, will remain with us. Among other prestigious honours, he was a recipient of the Padma Bhushan and the Royal Gold Medal awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for his precious work and contribution to the field of architecture. For those of us who were fortunate to live in his architectural productions, they will be within us as lasting, delightful, profound and inspiring memories.

- P. VENUGOPAL

Prof. Doshi's work occupies a seminal position in the iconic works of modern architecture. Though he worked with Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, both towering and influential architects of the modern movement in architecture, his work has an inventive quality that does not conform to any particular style and strikes a deep personal connect with the people inhabiting them and their culture. În a young independent India, he strived to blend modern ideas with our traditions in his works and set meaningful directions for architectural practice and Indian urbanism.

One of his delightful and inspiring works is the prestigious Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) campus, founded and designed by Prof. Doshi in its early phase. I had the good fortune of walking into its portals a little more than three decades ago to pursue postgraduate studies in architecture. It was a precinct where elegant modern buildings in exposed brick and concrete, the ground below, landscape, people, light and shade all seemed to come together in a timeless unitary rhythm that lingers as an inspiring and delightful memory.