BALKRISHNA DOSHI. Architecture for the People - a podcast by CastYourArt.com

BALKRISHNA DOSHI. Architecture for the People
In his seven decade-long career, the Indian architect and urbanist Balkrishna Doshi (*1927 in Puna) especially cared about affordable housing, community spirit and natural construction.

In 2018, he was the first Indian architect to receive the prestigious Pritzker prize for architecture. Until receiving this award, the revolutionary vanguardist architect Doshi had not enjoyed the recognition in the western world that he deserved - even though he had worked with Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn and Kenzo Tage early in his career.

According to Architekturzentrum Wien director Angelika Fitz, « his work is extremely relevant, from affordable housing to environmentally friendly solutions like natural ventilation. He cares about how to construct community. In the multiple crises we go through at the moment, Doshi gives relevant and vaid answers. He demonstrated that architecture is a part of life. »

His ideas about architecture for the people are now on view in the exhibition dedicated to him in the Architekturzentrum Wien. Originally this exhibition should have started on March 26, but due to the Covid pandemic it will stay in Vienna for only one month before moving on to Chicago.

Curated by Doshi‘s granddaughter Khushnu Panthaki Hoof and Jolanthe Kugler, the exhibition is a project of the Vitra Design Museum and the Wüstenrot foundation in cooperation with the Vastushilpa foundation. Vastushilpa („shaping the environment“) is the name of the architecture office Doshi founded in 1956. The exhibition in the AzW has four main chapters: Educational buildings (like the architectural college he founded), institutional projects, affordable housing and urbanism.

The variety of building plans, projects, sketches, videos and photographs and small and large models ensure a comprehensive overview of Balkrishna Doshi’s career. There is a replica of parts of his own house, named after his wife Kamala, on a 1:1 scale, the organic domed building of the GUFA gallery (1990) is reproduced on a 1 :2 scale and accessible in the AzW as well.

His buildings often function with natural ventilation making use of traditional methods of low-tech cooling, like in his office building Sangath (« Acting together »), built in 1980. In the vaults of the building he introduced ceramic tubes that are filled with rainwater, constituting a sustainable cooling system.

On display there is also a model of a housing project in Aranya in Central India from 1989, facilitating affordable housing by empowerment of the residents. 30 sqm buildings were distributed to low-income families by means of a state lottery. The basic module including sanitary facilities and connection to canalization and electricity were provided to the inhabitants. After moving in it was possible to adapt the building according to every family’s own needs by a modular system. There was a catalogue with 60 kinds of modules and model houses for selection. The photographs taken during the following years demonstrate that Doshi has succeeded to create the conditions for the organic and homogenous growth of an urban environment.

For the architect who lives in Ahmedabad in Western India, life is in constant evolution. Growing up in a very large family he observed numerous changes in life’s circumstances. Therefore architecture for people should be something organic, flexible and close to nature and not static and top-down imposed.
It is a multifaceted low-tech architecture that appeals to all senses, making possible well-being and community in a profoundly emancipatory style. (Written by Cem Angeli)

The exhibition is on view in the AzW until June 29, Tue – Sun 11 am – 7 pm

Architekturzentrum Wien | www.azw.at
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