Named the 2018 laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, Ar B V Doshi is one of the most celebrated modern architects of the century. Doshi was born in Pune, India in 1927 and started his architectural education in a mere age of 20 in the newly independent India. Afterwards, in 1950, Balkrishna Doshi flew to London for an advanced architectural education. There he met Le Corbusier and worked in his Paris studio from 1951 to 1955 as an architectural apprentice in his Paris atelier.
Doshi returned back to India in 1955 in order to oversee a number a projects that were being designed by Le Corbusier in Chandigarh, India. Settling in Ahmadabad, Doshi established his own office, Vastu Shilpa in Sangath. Although his early independent projects reflect a distinct influence of Corbusier, Doshi successfully crafted his own style by combining modern forms and materials with regional influences.
Doshi’s office, Vastu Shilpa, created a list of “must-see” architecture sites in the city of Ahmedabad. The iconic roofscape of office of B V Doshi is easily recognisable featuring a series of sunken vaults sheathed in China mosaic, a small terraced amphitheatre with intricate water details. His relationship with Le Corbusier, his master is such close that till today, at the entrance of his cabin, Doshi keeps a portrait of the Swiss architect next to representations of Goddess Durga and Lord Ganesha.