Balkrishna Doshi Age, Wife, Affairs, Family, Children, Biography, Facts & More

 

Bio
Full Name	Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi
Profession	Architect
Famous For	His contributions in transforming the architecture of India
Physical Stats & More
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Salt and Pepper
Personal Life
Date of Birth	26 August 1927
Age (as in 2017)	90 Years
Birthplace	Pune, India
Zodiac sign/Sun sign	Virgo
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Ahmedabad, India
School	Not Known
College/University	Fergusson College, Pune J. J. School of Architecture, Mumbai Polytechnic of North London
Educational Qualification	Degree in Architect from J. J. School of Architecture, Mumbai
Religion	Not Known
Major Awards/Honours	1976: Honoured with Padma Shri by the Government of India 1996: Awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for Aranya Community Housing 2011: Received the "Officer of the Order of Arts", France's highest honour 2018: Honoured with Pritzker Architecture Prize
Girls, Affairs and More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Not Known
Family
Wife/Spouse	Kamala
Children	3 (Names Not Known)
Parents	Names Not Known
Siblings	Not Known
Money Factor
Net Worth	Not Known

Some Lesser Known Facts About Balkrishna Doshi

• Does Balkrishna Doshi smoke?: Not Known

• Does Balkrishna Doshi drink alcohol?: Not Known

• Since his childhood, he was interested in architecture artistry and was exposed to this world by his school teacher.

• At the age of 11, he tried to imitate a fire trick and got a leg injury, which almost made him lost his leg. But this incident left him with slight limp.

• He has gained his architecture degree from J.J. School of Architecture, Mumbai, which is one of the oldest and leading institutions for architecture in India.

• With bundles of dreams and vision to reconstruct his home country, he headed over to London.

• Initially, he started working with Le Corbusier over there, who was a renowned Swiss-French architect in Paris. He later joined hands with him as an amateur in his projects at Ahmedabad and Chandigarh, which included the Mill Owner’s Association Building and Shodhan House in Ahmedabad, and many more such projects.

• Doshi worked for Le Corbusier for four years from 1951 to 1954. 

• In 1955, he established his own practice studio named Vastu-Shilpa, which was later renamed with Vastu-Shilpa Consultants and has expanded to sixty employees and five partners with the completion of over 100 successful projects.

• He was also associated with the design of living places for thousands of government servants of Chandigarh, which prompted him, even more, to explore in designing, planning, and constructing.

• He then jointly worked with Louis Kahn and Anant Raje in designing and creating the campus of IIM (Indian Institute of Management), Ahmedabad. 

• Doshi was the member of Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in Fine Arts and Royal Institute of British Architects.

• In 1962, he established the School of Architecture, which was later known as “Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology”.

• In 1976, he was honoured with Padma Shri for his trailblazing work as architecture.

• Despite gaining international name and fame as an Indian Architect, he is a great educator also.

• His notable works include the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad, the School of Planning, founder member of the Visual Arts Centre, Ahmedabad, first founder Dean of the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, and first founder Director of the Kanoria Centre for Arts, Ahmedabad.

• Out of all the enormous designs and buildings, his endeavours for Sangath, his architecture studio is the closest to his heart. He described his studio as “Sangath fuses images and associations of Indian lifestyles. The campus integrates, and memories of places visited collide, evoking and connecting forgotten episodes. Sangath is an ongoing school where one learns, unlearns and relearns. It has become a sanctuary of culture, art and sustainability where research, institutional facilities and maximum sustainability are emphasized.” 

• He has done his major contribution in planting the Vastu-Shilpa Foundation, a well known national and international research institute for studies and research in Environmental Design.

• His established foundation focuses on city planning and low-cost housing and acts as a bridge between academics and professional consultants. Moreover, his exceptional work in providing low-income housing to needy people is worth praising.

• In 1990, he was honoured by University of Pennsylvania, United States, and then by McGill University, Canada with a doctorate degree.

• He was presented the 6th Aga Khan Award for Architecture for building up Aranya Community Housing in 1996. 

• Here’s a video by ArchDaily in which Balkrishna Doshi has shared a different sight of an architecture:

• He has also worked as the jury for the Pritzker Prize from 2005 to 2007 and was also in the selection committees for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts.

• Apart from building, he has given a cameo appearance in Tamil movie- O Kadhal Kanmani and it’s Hindi version- Ok Jaanu, in which he played himself.

• In 2011, for his stupendous work as an architecture, he was awarded the “Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters,” which is France’s highest honour for arts.

• In 2018, he was honoured with Pritzker Architecture Prize and became the first Indian to achieve this and also the 45th Pritzker Prize Laureate.

• Upon his great accomplishment, our honourable Prime Minister, Narendra Modi also tweeted congratulating him. 

• Doshi has set a benchmark in the field of architecture and some of his famous built buildings are: Sangath, Ahmedabad; Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore; National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi; Amdavad ni Gufa, Ahmedabad; Aranya Low-Cost Housing, Indore; IFFCO township, Kalol; Sawai Gandharva, Pune; Premabhai Hall, Ahmedabad; Tagore Hall, Ahmedabad; Vidyadhar Nagar, Jaipur. 

• He has also delivered a TED Talk at TEDx Talk (an international community which conducts TED-style talks across India), which was held at Nirma University. Here are some wise words from Doshi: