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B V Doshi
B V Doshi
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Dr. B.V. Doshi dons several hats with elan. An architect, artist,
teacher and speaker, hes one of the pioneers who shaped
modern architecture in India. His holistic and comprehensive
approach to design he considers architecture a social
enterprise has, over decades, ensured a body of work that
anoints him the master of his craft.
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The master architect speaks to Teja Lele Desai on how his design
sensibilities were forged, why the interior must be relevant to
the exterior, and why art, architecture and life need to co-exist.
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Sangath, Ahmedabad, was designed to function as Doshis studio and visualises traditional Indian
architecture in a modern medium
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ar. b. v. doshi
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Ar. Doshi believes that architecture cannot be distinguished separately either as modulation of
light or surfaces or supporting system
A good design merges floors, walls, ceilings into one contiguous whole and creates an organic
space almost like a living being, Ar. Doshi says
His Favourites
Doshi favours a tightly knit team
when it comes to work, the reason
why hes limited the size of the firm.
This also ensures having substantial
participation in all projects by the
principals. His firm has developed
and consistently embraced a design
methodology that revolves around
design teams framed at the outset
of each project to work together
from concept phase to completion.
At Vastu Shilpa, the development of
design begins from the conceptual
base of the project and generates
a formal vocabulary that ultimately
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B. V. Doshis friendship with M. F. Husain resulted in Amdavad-ni-Gufa, an underground art gallery located on the CEPT Campus in Ahmedabad
At the Amdavad-ni-Gufa, the form of roof shells is guided by computer design and the structure
is in the form of skeletal skin and wire mesh
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He writes in Amdavad-Ni-Gufa:
Kurma reminded me of the
achievements of the Renaissance
and Baroque period. He emphasised
how the definition of space and form
were gradually being dissolved, three
dimensionally, and how the sky was
becoming a part of the interior space.
He even talked about optical illusions
and how they are essential to make
us realise that the space and form
that we see are part of the infinite,
and hence timeless and illusory.
Doshi went on to envisage a space
with wonderful light and structures,
unlike anything that had ever been
created before. Sketches were
doodled, models were made and
studies continued over time. The result
was a sustainable, unexpected and
unimaginable building, the now
famous Gufa. The form of roof shells
is guided by computer design and
the structure, built in ferrocement,
is in the form of skeletal skin and
wire mesh, sandwiched on each side
by layers of cement.
The design is the epitome of
freedom of expression. On this,
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ar. b. v. doshi
Inspired by the earth-hugging forms of the Indian vernacular, Sangath also draws upon the vault
suggestions of Le Corbusiers work
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Passers-by and local labourers like to come and sit near Sangath, enjoying the low mounds, the
water jars overgrown with creepers and the walkways
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