Monday, September 10, 2007

Invitation : Works of legendary architect Padmashree B. V. Doshi's exhibition

Exhibition upto 14th September 2007 at Indiaart Gallery, Patrakar Nagar Road, Off Senapati Bapat Road, Pune
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On the occasion of 81st birth Anniversary of Padmashree Balkrishna V. Doshi, we invite you for a week long series of events that will rekindle the journey of this legendary Architect and philosopher.

Balkrishna Doshi, born and brought up in Pune and now based in Ahmedabad, is one of the most respected practitioners and educationist in the field of architecture. He is considered one of the three pillars of modern Indian architecture alongside Ar. Achyut Kanvinde and Ar. Charles Correa. Beginning his career at the office of renowned architect Le Corbusier, he worked with the master in Chandighar on the Capitol Complex. Later he shifted to Ahmedabad to oversee Corbusier’s projects in that city. Patronised by the likes of Vikram Sarabhai and Kasturbhai Lalbhai, Doshi settled in Ahmedabad and did path defining work with his numerous institutional buildings. He invited Ar. Louis Kahn to India to design the IIM, Ahmedabad and worked closely with him. He, in fact, is the only architect to have worked with Corbusier and Kahn, the masters who have shaped the course of modern architecture.

Doshi’s architecture has matured from his constant observation, assimilation and interpretation of the Indian vernacular and classical. His work is at the same time modern as well as traditional. He has designed innumerable institutional campuses including IIM-Bangalore, Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board- Jabalpur, NIFT- New Delhi, CEPT University- Ahmedabad and Yashwantrao Chavan Development Academy- Pune. His urban scale projects include the planning for the Bandra-Kurla complex- Mumbai, development of the Kharghar node- New Mumbai, and the proposal for Vidydharnagar- the new city of Jaipur. But Doshi’s mastery over hosing is unsurpassed. Apart from designing large scale housing for GSFC, IFFCO, ECIL, etc. his most noteworthy project remains Aranya- Indore, a slum redevelopment township, for which he received the international Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the Muslims. He is also decorated with a Padmashri and most recently an honorary Doctorate from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He is also the founder of CEPT University- the premier institute of architecture and planning in India.