Balkrishna Doshi Overview

The name of the architectural offices of Vastu-Shilpa Consultants, "Sangath," translates into "moving together through participation." The workspace's appellation is telling, as is the title of the group itself; Vastu Shilpa means "design of environment." In case it's not already painfully... [more]

The name of the architectural offices of Vastu-Shilpa Consultants, "Sangath," translates into "moving together through participation." The workspace's appellation is telling, as is the title of the group itself; Vastu Shilpa means "design of environment." In case it's not already painfully obvious, the running themes here are collectivism, collaboration, and inclusion. For Balkrishna Doshi, these are words to design by. Doshi applies Modernists concepts to an Indian context, and he has developed a theory of the city as an accretion of layers and overlays. As a result, his work is a visual feast of diverse mediums, dimensions, and textures. His "National Institute of Fashion Technology" (1994) reads like a gentle urban funhouse. Swatches of glassy skyscraper are grafted onto simple white surfaces. But one of the mirror-like slabs is nudged intentionally askew, tweaking the seemingly standardized 90-degree-angle formula. A courtyard of grass sits harmoniously in the center, a little reminder that the city should act as a well-behaved visitor in Mother Earth's home. Harmony between community and nature is similarly present in "Sangath" (Doshi's aforementioned headquarters). The building consists of vaulted, interlinked structures on various levels. The tones are warm, the space is open, and the flicker of fluorescence seems as out of place as a penguin in Tahiti. Overall, Doshi's work brings architecture back into human service while reconciling urbanization with a fragile environment. To see his work is to recognize that spaces can provide stability and warmth and that the city is capable of blending with, rather than subsuming, natural environments. [show less]