PM Modi hails UK Royal Gold Medal 2022 winner Balkrishna Doshi's monumental contributions

Renowned Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi won the UK Royal Gold Medal 2022, UK's highest architectural honour granted personally by Her Majesty The Queen. PM Modi dialled the renowned architect on Friday, congratulating him on receiving the Royal Gold Medal 2022. Doshi's contributions to the field of architecture, according to PM Modi, are tremendous. PM Modi stated that Doshi's art is admired around the world for its inventiveness, individuality, and diversity.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that renowned Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi would get the Royal Gold Medal 2022, one of the world's highest architectural honours. The 94-year-old Doshi has influenced the course of architecture in India and its surrounding regions through both his practice and his education, according to the RIBA. Doshi has a 70-year career and over 100 built projects. The Royal Gold Medal is granted to a person or group of persons who have had a significant influence on the growth of architecture. It is approved directly by Queen Elizabeth II and is given in appreciation of a lifetime's effort.

PM Modi hails UK Royal Gold Medal 2022 winner Balkrishna Doshi

“I am pleasantly surprised and deeply humbled to receive the Royal Gold Medal from the Queen of England. What a great honour,” said Doshi, on hearing about the big win.

“The news of this award brought back memories of my time working with Le Corbusier in 1953 when he had just received the news of getting the Royal Gold Medal. I vividly recollect his excitement to receive this honour from Her Majesty. He said to me metaphorically, ‘I wonder how big and heavy this medal will be’,” he shared.

“Today, six decades later I feel truly overwhelmed to be bestowed with the same award as my guru, Le Corbusier – honouring my six decades of practice. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my wife, my daughters and most importantly my team and collaborators at Sangath my studio,” he said.

Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi wins UK Royal Gold Medal 2022

Doshi's structures, according to the RIBA, blend pioneering modernism with vernacular, informed by strong respect of India's architectural, climate, local culture, and artisan traditions. Administrative and cultural facilities, housing developments, and residential buildings are among his projects. His imaginative urban planning and social housing initiatives, as well as his efforts in education, both in India and as a visiting professor at institutions across the world, have earned him international acclaim. In 1956, he co-founded Vastushilpa with two other architects. Vastushilpa is now a multi-disciplinary firm with sixty staff and five partners spanning three generations. The firm encourages discussion, and its idea of proactive engagement extends to their office space, which includes an open door that welcomes passers-by.

His projects include Shreyas Comprehensive School Campus (1958-63); Atira Guest House low-cost housing (1958); The Institute of Indology (1962) building to house rare documents; Ahmedabad School of Architecture – renamed CEPT University in 2002 – which focused on creating spaces that promoted collaborative learning; Tagore Hall & Memorial Theatre (1967); a 700-seat Brutalist auditorium; Ahmedabad School of Architecture – renamed CEPT University in 2002 – Theatre and auditorium Premabhai Hall (1976). Apart from that, he designed the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore (1977-1992), Sangath (1981), the studio for his architecture firm Vastu Shilpa, Kanoria Centre for Arts (1984), an arts and creative centre, and Aranya Low Cost Housing in Indore (1989).

(Inputs: PTI)