Architecture Is A Living Organism by B V Doshi (34th Coomaraswamy Memorial Lecture)

Opening address by Mr. Sabyasachi Mukherjee - 00.00.17
Ms. Vaidehi Savnal introducing B V Doshi - 00.09.30
Architecture Is A Living Organism by B V Doshi - 00.13.04

Listening to stories and myths in his childhood, BV Doshi, as a student of fine arts, was fascinated by the way stories were narrated through a singular image in the Indian miniature painting. The depiction of an entire story through an image—its moods, seasons, aesthetics and spatial movements experienced through volumes, light, space, texture, colour, proportion and location fascinates him even today. The multi-dimensionality of the two dimensional painting has, over the years, influenced his projects from city planning, institution building to building communities. From these paintings he has learnt to navigate narrations which reflects in his basic approach to concepts and visualisation. Following this approach, he has found his own stories, freedom and proportions as well as varied combinations of space, volume, openings and siting of buildings in the context. For Doshi, architecture means experiencing life, behavioural patterns, climate, culture and social relationships. In his talk, he will address how he found/rediscovered his freedom of expression through conceiving myth/stories and his understanding of time, place and relationships to cosmic forces.

B V Doshi
2018 Pritzker Prize Laureate Balkrishna Doshi was born in Pune into a family that had been involved in the furniture industry for two generations. Displaying an aptitude for art and an understanding of proportion at a young age, he was exposed to architecture by a school teacher. He began his architecture studies in 1947 at the Sir JJ School of Architecture Bombay (Mumbai). Doshi later moved to Paris to work under Le Corbusier. Beginning in 1962, Doshi worked with Louis Kahn as an associate to build the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and they continued to collaborate for over a decade. He established Vastu Shilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design in 1978 to evolve indigenous design and planning standards for built environments appropriate to the socio-cultural and environmental milieu of India. Doshi was Founder, former Director and former Chairman of the School of Architecture and Planning (Ahmedabad, 1966–2012), which was renamed CEPT University in 2002. He is currently Dean Emeritus and continues to reside in Ahmedabad.

34th Coomaraswamy Memorial Lecture
The prestigious annual Coomaraswamy Memorial Lecture was instituted by the Trustees of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) and the Museum Society of Mumbai in 1979 in the memory of Late Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, a pioneering historian and philosopher of Indian art.