11 MAY, 2022: Credited with designing some of the iconic buildings in India such as IIM Bangalore, Cept University in Ahmedabad, Aranya Low Cost Housing, Indore among many others, the 94-year-old acclaimed architect Balkrishna V Doshi, received one of the world’s highest honours for architecture — Royal Gold Medal 2022, on May 10th.
The president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Simon Allford, presented Doshi the medal in person, a rare instance for the institute. The prestigious medal is approved personally by the UK’s Queen Elizabeth and is given in recognition of a lifetime’s work that had a significant influence on the advancement of architecture.
Allford, who had chaired the 2022 Honours Committee of RIBA, stated that Dr Doshi's lifetime contribution is a legacy of teaching a generous and open architecture and how he connects architecture to life.
The 2022 Honours Committee comprised architects Alison Brooks and last year’s Royal Gold Medal recipient Sir David Adjaye OBE, architect and academic Kate Cheyne, and cultural historian and museum director Dr Gus Casely-Hayford OBE.
“The model of formal education he has created is about encouraging individuals to form their response to life. His model of architecture is a backdrop to the theatre of life,” said Allford after presenting the honour to Dr Doshi.
Dr Doshi has had a career spanning over 70 years during which he has worked with legends like Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn. Later, Dr Doshi founded his own practice, Vastushilpa in 1956.
“My connection with architecture is not only as a professional but also as a teacher, as a practitioner and as somebody who is trying to understand how life and building go on. I was interested in social life around buildings and its impact on architectural education,” said Doshi stating that throughout his life and career he was interested in how people live and learn.