Edited by Mateo Kries, Jolanthe Kugler, Khushnu Hoof. Text by Balkrishna Doshi, Khushnu Hoof, Kenneth Frampton, Kazi Ashraf, Martha Thorne, Samanth Subramanian, Juhani Pallasmaa, Rajeev Kathpalia, Jolanthe Kugler.
Balkrishna Doshi constantly demonstrates that all good architecture and urban planning must not only unite purpose and structure but must take into account climate, site, technique and craft. –Pritzker Prize 2018 jurors
The 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Balkrishna Doshi is one of India's most influential architects, renowned for his harmonious designs that merge the formal language of classical modernism with Indian building traditions and local craft skills. Always designed with a sensitivity to the social, environmental and economic conditions of a given commission or site, Doshi’s architecture honors the past while at the same time accommodating the rapidly changing conditions and needs of modern India. Doshi has designed more than 100 buildings—educational and cultural institutions, public buildings, private residences and low-income housing projects among them—and has taught scores of students over the course of his 60-year career, a career distinguished by a sense of responsibility and dedication to the country and communities he has served.
Balkrishna Doshi: Architecture for the People presents the first comprehensive survey of this groundbreaking architect’s oeuvre in over 20 years. With a complete overview of all of Doshi’s projects, it provides insights into the inspiration behind his work and the background to his projects through essays written by outstanding experts in the field. The richly illustrated book is further supplemented by an interview with the architect, an illustrated biography and new photographs that document the impressive timeliness of the Indian master's buildings.
Balkrishna Doshi (born 1927) began his architecture studies in 1947 before working with Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. He founded his own practice, Vastu Shilpa Consultants, in 1956, combining the lessons he learned from this earlier generation of architects with an understanding of Indian architectural traditions. In 2018, Doshi became the first-ever Indian winner of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Balkrishna Doshi: Architecture for the People.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Midwest Book Review
Offering a wealth of expertly organized and presented information, commentary, and images, "Balkrishna Doshi: Architecture for the People" is impressively organized and presented.
A Daily Dose of Architecture Books
A companion to the exhibition of the same name the large-format book presents nearly thirty selected projects spanning six decades, nine essays, an interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist, four visual portfolios, and a thorough archive with timeline, catalog of complete works, and bibliography.
New York Times
Jason Farago
Mr.Doshi...rethought western Modernism for Indian climates and communities, and his buildings’ expanses of brick and concrete privilege public encounters and humane growth. This book offers both authoritative history and gorgeous visuals.
Public Art Review
Jen Dolen
A comprehensive monograph on Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Balkrishna V. Doshi, this book covers a selection of the architect’s top projects over a 60-year career. Doshi’s legacy includes socially engaged residential projects across India, urban planning, and a commitment to education. With essays, drawings, floor plans, master plans, and engaging color photographs
These 2018 Iwan Baan photographs of Amdavad Ni Gufa exhibition space, built for renowned Indian artist Maqbool Fida Husain in 1994 in Ahmedabad, are reproduced from Balkrishna Doshi: Architecture for the People, the most comprehensive monograph ever published on Doshi, winner of the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize. It accompanies the newly opened exhibition of Doshi's work at the Chicago architecture exhibition space, Wrightwood 659. Exquisitely designed, this 400-page clothbound hardcover from Vitra Design Museum features 450 color and black-and-white images printed on two different uncoated papers. Newly commissioned photo essays are mixed in with copious, well-edited archival materials, while an assortment of scholarly essays and an interview of the architect by Hans Ulrich Obrist are framed by an illustrated biography and writings by Doshi himself. In a text about Amdavad Ni Gufa, Doshi describes an event that took place when the building was consecrated. "The tribals who had worked to construct it were so deeply affected by the technique of construction, the forms of the building, and the way changes could be made naturally, that they felt they were living their own ancient ritual of Pithora Bava (a form of ritual painting). So what they did was to perform a dance following a puja (prayer ritual) and the sprinkling of sacred colors. These nocturnal rituals lasted for nine days. But on the first day, after hearing the chant of Sheshanaga (the thousand-headed cobra that is Lord Vishnu's resting place), Husain suddenly stood up and, holding a long brush, climbed up on the domes, where he feverishly painted a cobra connecting the two large rotundas. He then asked me to get this cobra glazed in black mosaic. On the ninth day, the tribals declared that prana, the breath of life from Pithora Bava, had now entered the Gufa. The Gufa has now become a place celebrating the first ever collaborative acts of painting and architecture." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9.5 x 12 in. / 400 pgs / 450 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $85.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $119 ISBN: 9783945852316 PUBLISHER: Vitra Design Museum AVAILABLE: 5/21/2019 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA
Published by Vitra Design Museum. Edited by Mateo Kries, Jolanthe Kugler, Khushnu Hoof. Text by Balkrishna Doshi, Khushnu Hoof, Kenneth Frampton, Kazi Ashraf, Martha Thorne, Samanth Subramanian, Juhani Pallasmaa, Rajeev Kathpalia, Jolanthe Kugler.
Balkrishna Doshi constantly demonstrates that all good architecture and urban planning must not only unite purpose and structure but must take into account climate, site, technique and craft. –Pritzker Prize 2018 jurors
The 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Balkrishna Doshi is one of India's most influential architects, renowned for his harmonious designs that merge the formal language of classical modernism with Indian building traditions and local craft skills. Always designed with a sensitivity to the social, environmental and economic conditions of a given commission or site, Doshi’s architecture honors the past while at the same time accommodating the rapidly changing conditions and needs of modern India. Doshi has designed more than 100 buildings—educational and cultural institutions, public buildings, private residences and low-income housing projects among them—and has taught scores of students over the course of his 60-year career, a career distinguished by a sense of responsibility and dedication to the country and communities he has served.
Balkrishna Doshi: Architecture for the People presents the first comprehensive survey of this groundbreaking architect’s oeuvre in over 20 years. With a complete overview of all of Doshi’s projects, it provides insights into the inspiration behind his work and the background to his projects through essays written by outstanding experts in the field. The richly illustrated book is further supplemented by an interview with the architect, an illustrated biography and new photographs that document the impressive timeliness of the Indian master's buildings.
Balkrishna Doshi (born 1927) began his architecture studies in 1947 before working with Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. He founded his own practice, Vastu Shilpa Consultants, in 1956, combining the lessons he learned from this earlier generation of architects with an understanding of Indian architectural traditions. In 2018, Doshi became the first-ever Indian winner of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize.
