BALKRISHNA DOSHI: ‘When I was eight
years old, my grandfather’s workshop was
next door to our extended family home of
around 20 people, young and old, uncles
and aunts. I saw a lot of timber, like wooden
planks, coming into the workshop, and
slowly the wood would start forming itself
into long and short pieces of different
shapes and sizes. It gradually became some
kind of structure – a chair, a stool, a bed,
a cupboard. I realized this assembly from
raw material was ‘transformation’, a word
that became very important to me as my
grandfather’s house constantly changed.
Somebody would get married or have more
children. A room would be added. The
house would change shape or new furniture
would appear. When I started thinking
about architecture, I thought preservation
was an area to keep in mind. I wanted to
remember how a raw material can assume
a character or a form that makes it use-
ful. Architecture is not just a product but
a living organism. In our family, an excess
of food would not be thrown away but fed
to the cattle. So in my work I found a way
to create a cyclical order of sustainability,
where even waste can be consumed at the
right time for the right purpose.’‘In 1945 I witnessed the end of the Second
World War, soon followed by India’s inde-
pendence in 1947. The stride for independ-
ence already existed, though. There were
riots and clashes with the police; people
burned imported clothes. It was at archi-
tecture school that I first saw the need for
India to find its own resources and identity,
a realization that became more apparent
when I began working with Le Corbusier in- He was trying to find a new vocabulary
for his work in India. His efforts forged a
connection between us; when one goes
to a new place and culture, it’s not easy to
discover a new identity and to find another
means of expression and the freedom to
break with convention. It was quite funny,
because Le Corbusier hardly spoke English,
and he knew that I did not speak French.
He also saw me as a novice in terms of
learning about architecture. Often as I
worked on a drawing or a project – such as
the Mill Owners’ Association Building in
Ahmedabad, my first job – he would ask me
to get up and let him sit on my stool, where
he drew and explained as he drew. Speaking
to me slowly in English, he’d say: This is the
way you work; it will help you improve. The
climate is like this, the breeze comes from
this side and people walk up this staircase.
He described how people move, react and
gather and how air blows. He taught me
about movement, about how places become
tangible and about variations – why turning
a wall around prompts people to move in
another direction. I learned why organic
architecture should be based on climate and
structural purpose. While he was doing this,
he asked me about India: Tell me, what kind
of climate do you have? Do you have a bird
like this? Do you think the trees would blow
and bend when the wind comes?’‘A few years later I met Louis Kahn while
I was teaching in Philadelphia. I asked him
to design the Institute of Management in
Ahmedabad. We agreed that I would work
on the project and see it through. As well
as movement, he talked about structure,
climate, the behaviour of materials and the
articulation of heights. He explained the
importance of a veranda and a brick arch.
He showed me how to create a court-
yard and how to analyse the behaviour
of students. His drawings showed how
architecture can become more expressive
and unique in its identity of structure and
experience, which became important for
me to know.’‘When I set up my own practice, Sangath,
I applied the principles of sustainability
learned from my grandfather’s house – how
to work with the climate to avoid the sun,
to allow more breeze to enter a building
and to harvest rainwater. I gave myself
a challenge: absolute sustainability in
terms of climate control by using minimal
air-conditioning, ventilation and cooling
systems. I developed a traditional way of
building but with a double cavity wall sand-
wiched between two thin curved concrete
slabs. On my various construction sites,
I picked up stones and discarded bathroom
tiles from factories. I used the white glazed
mosaic tiles, which reflect heat, for the »B. V. DOSHI
‘I found a way to
create a cyclical order
of sustainability’
48 PORTRAITS