Today, the Royal Institute of British Architects named Balkrishna Doshi, Hon. FAIA, as the winner of its 2022 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture. Citing a body of work that combines "pioneering modernism with vernacular, informed by a deep appreciation of the traditions of India’s architecture, climate, local culture, and craft," RIBA will present the 94-year-old Indian architect with the honor at a ceremony next year. Doshi has received numerous awards, including the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize, throughout his career, which spans more than 70 years.
“It was an honour and a pleasure to chair the committee in selecting Balkrishna Doshi as the 2022 Royal Gold Medallist," said RIBA president Simon Allford in the same release from the organization. "In the 20th century, when technology facilitated many architects to build independently of local climate and tradition, Balkrishna remained closely connected with his hinterland: its climate, technologies new and old, and crafts."
Born in 1927, Doshi grew up in Prune, India. He studied at the Sir J.J. College of Architecture in Mumbai, India, before relocating to Paris where he worked with Le Corbusier as a senior designer from 1951 to 1954. Doshi then moved back to India, spending four more years supervising projects in Ahmedabad and working with Louis Kahn on the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. In 1956, Doshi founded Vastushilpa with two other architects, growing the practice into a 60-person firm recognized around the world.
After his Pritzker win in 2018, Doshi spoke to ARCHITECT about his work, shedding light on his approach to projects. "The first thing I always ask: Is it a sustainable thing?" Doshi said in the interview. "We work with local techniques, with local crafts, and uncertainties of finance. I try to pull them together and create something else. These uncertainties become great opportunities. Experimentations became my habit. Every time there is a circumstance that is changing—and uncertainties happen—how do you deal with them and create something?"
In addition to the Indian Institute of Land Management, some of Doshi's works include the Institute of Indology (1963); Life Insurance Corp. Housing (1973); Premabhai Hall (1976); Amdavad Ni Gufa (1994); and the Centre for Environmental Planning & Technology (2012), all in Ahmedabad.
RIBA reported that when Doshi was informed of the honor, he expressed surprise, saying: “I am pleasantly surprised and deeply humbled to receive the Royal Gold Medal from the Queen of England. What a great honor! The news of this award brought back memories of my time working with Le Corbusier in 1953 when he had just received the news of getting the Royal Gold Medal. I vividly recollect his excitement to receive this honor from Her Majesty. He said to me metaphorically, ‘I wonder how big and heavy this medal will be.’"
