Balkrishna Doshi : Paths Uncharted

Dr. Balkrishna Doshi (1927–2023) was foremost among the modern Indian architects. An urban planner and educator for over 70 years, Doshi has to his credit outstanding projects ranging from dozens of townships and several educational campuses. Apart from his international fame as an architect, Doshi was equally known as an educator and institution builder. He received several international and national awards and honors, and in 2018 Doshi was selected as the Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, internationally known as architecture’s highest honor.

This autobiography captures Doshi’s career from his childhood to his studies in Bombay and London, his work at Atelier Le Corbusier in Paris and collaboration with Louis I Kahn for IIM Ahmedabad. It recounts his meetings with the most remarkable persons in his own and allied fields, and his equally remarkable patrons, and the story of his own family.

Put together, for the first time, from the lifelong diaries and notes maintained by him, Paths Uncharted is a personal recounting of this remarkable journey unfolding over more than 80 years and across all the continents.

Dr. Balkrishna Doshi, foremost among the modern Indian architects, was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Architects. He studied at the JJ School of Architecture, Bombay, and went on to work for four years with Le Corbusier in Paris (1951–1954) and four years in India to supervise his projects in Ahmedabad. Doshi’s office Vastu-Shilpa (Environmental Design) was established in 1955. He was also the first Founder–Director of School of Architecture (1962–72) and School of Planning (1972–79), Ahmedabad. He held important chairs at American universities and was on the jury for several international and national competitions. Dr. Doshi received several international and national awards and honours and in 2018 he was was selected as the Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate.