Balakrishna

Vithaldas
“I hesitate calling myself an architect
Doshi
Since 1929
because the more I think I know
what architecture is, the less I feel I
know about its true calling.”
• B.V. Doshi was born in Pune, Maharashtra on 26 August
1927. He is considered to be an important figure of
Indian architecture and noted for his contributions to
the evolution of architectural discourse in India.
• Doshi’s family had been in the furniture business for
two generations. In 1947, he enrolled himself in J.J
college of Architecture, Bombay.
• After initial study in Bombay, he worked with Le
Corbusier in PARIS (1951-1954) as Senior designer. In
1954, he returned to India to supervise Le Corbusier’s
projects in Ahmedabad and Chandigarh including Villa
Shodhan, Villa Sarabhai, Mill Owner’s association and
Sanskar Kendra.
• Corbusier is described as a major influence on Doshi's
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later work.
 • In 1955, Doshi established a private practice Vastu-
Shilpa, Ahmedabad and In 1962, he established the
Vastu-shilpa Foundation for studies and research in
Environmental design, Known for pioneering work in low-
cost housing and city planning.
• In 1958 he was a fellow at the Graham Foundation for
Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. He believed in
Architecture, for a place and people.
• He also founded and designed the School of Architecture
and Planning in Ahmedabad. Doshi has worked in
partnership as Stein, Doshi & Bhalla since 1977. Apart
Having worked under Le Corbusier from his international fame as an architect, Dr. Doshi is
and Louis Kahn, he is a pioneer of equally known as an educator and institution builder.
modernist and brutalist architecture
in India. Doshi worked closely with • In recognition of his distinguished contribution as a
Louis Kahn and Anant Raje, when professional and as an academician, Dr. Doshi has
Kahn designed the campus of the received several International and National honors. In
Indian Institute of 2018, he became the first Indian architect to receive the
Management, Ahmedabad. Pritzker Architecture Prize
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 1. Architecture of a building is conceived not
as a container of specific activities but as a
place to be inhabited, as a place to
facilitate the course of human environment.
2. Interrelationship of Indoor and Outdoor
space.
3. An appropriate and honest approach to
materials.
ARCHITECTURAL 4.
5.
Proper climatic response.
Timelessness

PRINCIPLES : 6. Construction of scale models and full scale

mockups to make decisions jointly with the
client.
7. Modernist concepts to an Indian context.
8. Openess in buildings through colonnades,
pergolas, porticos, sky lights etc.
9. Symbolism, amporphous forms, flexible 4
approach, vastu purusha mandala, mythical
science
BV DHOSHI 'S WORK
IN VERNACULAR
ARCHITECTURE
Doshi has been reckoned among the first rank of
Indian architects for half a century, and he figures
prominently in almost any account of “critical
regionalism”—the adapting of modernism to
better engage with local climate and building
traditions, prioritizing the multisensory lived
experience of buildings. Critical regionalism arose
in reaction to the tendency of the modernist
International Style to indulge in visually
impressive, intellectualized experiments with
space.
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Sangath : Vastu Shilpa Foundation,
Ahmedabad
(1979 – 1981) Moving together through participation
 CLIMATE AND TOPOGRAPHY
ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLES :
The city is located on the banks of Sabarmati river at 23
Location : Thaltej Road, Ahmedabad degrees N and 72.58 degrees E. The city has hot and
Building type : Architect’s office Client : B.V.Doshi humid climate. Situated at the height of 55m above the
Principal Architect : B.V.Doshi sea level, Ahmedabad experiences extreme climate.
Site Area : 2346 sq.m There is a great difference between the temperatures
Total Built up Area : 585 sq.m of days & nights
Project cost : 0.6 million (1981)

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Sangath is the architect’s own studio. In Sanskrit, Sangath means
“moving together”. There is an easy flow of terraces, reflecting ponds,
mounds, and the curved vaults which are the distinguishing formal
elements. There is variety and richness in the interior spaces that have
different qualities of light, different shapes as well as different uses,
while united through the use of concrete. Sangath represents the
architect’s understanding of life and associations, and is composed of
layered experiences.

Space Organization
• Sangath is an attempt to evolve structures an forms which are suited to the local climate and which evoke a local
ethos.
• The architect, acting as his own client, was able to express his attitudes concerning community cooperation and
individualistic expression, which accounts for the unusual incorporation of multiple activities "under one roof". The
principle design element is the vaulted roofing and the building is sunk into the ground to make the vaults more
prominent and to create a stepped outdoor space for lectures and slide shows.
• These steps lead to the terrace and the main studios
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Architecture

The dominant architectural forms in the complex are the vaulted roof, which are obtained from a combination of
local traditions and materials with historical examples culturally prefigured such as temples or traditional
headgear Hindus. These determinants joined resulting in a complex new design to which must be added the
unevenness in the main study, below ground level and the dynamic interconnection of closed spaces both inside
and out, giving the vaults a dominant presence

Structure and materials

With the help of a mobile formwork vaults “Sangath” were constructed with
hollow clay tiles embedded in the walls. The outer skin is covered with tiles
fragmented pieces of waste material from a manufacturer. This procedure
has a precedent on the banks of Parque Güell of Barcelona, the
Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Doshi used this traditional technique not
only to reduce the heat inside the building but also as an important element
of the methodology in the use of waste material. Air cooling is not achieved
by mechanical technology, which in turn is expensive, but by strengthening
traditional cooling devices, improved screens cold water through which air is
sucked and returned to the interior spaces
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• The structural system is based on poles and combined beams with reinforced concrete slabs. In the recesses
of the vaults of the upper floors, iron and concrete have been used with high insulation materials such as
filling with brickwork. The facades are covered with tiles or cement and plaster.
• The interiors are characterized by their different shapes and light into different directions. The decor is based
on building materials, with the exhibition of prints formwork in concrete ceilings, contrasting with the soft
and smooth concrete floor rust colored red. All materials and 60% of the workforce were local

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Sangath also hopes Balkrishna Doshi create a connection between nature and the individual. The general form
exaggerate the details of nature with its rolling hills, spaces such as caves, terraced land and water channels
with reflective surfaces, which recall the Salk Institute of Louis Khan. Rainwater is channeled through the
vaults smooth, round and deposited in the troughs. The hollow interior spaces are isolated by clay within the
structure. The sun’s heat is reduced coz of grassy mounds and reflective white mosaics that cover each vault.
Natural light filters into the interior spaces during the day, while the moon is reflected in ponds and around the
porcelain tile overnight.

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Aranya Low-cost Housing by BV
Doshi

•Project name: Aranya Housing

Project

•Description: Incremental
Housing Project, Low-income
housing

•Design: Vaastu-Shilpa
Foundation

•Building status: in use

•Location: Indore, India

Location and Planning of Aranya Low-cost
Housing

• There is a stadium at the center, and in the

northwest, west, and southwest of it, there
are urban services.
• Also in the western part of the whole
complex, single houses accounted for the
significant residential type.
• Therefore single houses formed three
neighborhoods accompanied by three
zigzag-shaped open-air gathering zones.
Also, those building programs include flats,
single houses, green areas, hospitals,
schools, and other types of urban services
in the remaining directions.
• Aranya Low-Cost Housing was not
composing of housing units only as it
included various urban services; hence it
comes under an urban-scale neighborhood
project.
Plots with planned framework to grow Interconnectivity and space interactions

Play of
color,
material,
spatial
features,
light and
shadow

Load bearing masonary

 Design of Aranya Low-cost Housing

• Aaranya Township is designed as a services project

spread out in six sectors that congregate on a 17
central spine, i.e., the Central Business District.
• Moreover, one of the critical elements of Doshi’s
design was a hierarchy of open spaces that include
small courtyards to be sharing by three to four
families, larger green spaces for each sector.
• And also a central playing field to aid the entire
development.
• Also, open spaces and pedestrian pathways
interconnect the clusters to the central spine.
• Each user has an array of choices available, from
one-room shelters to supplementary spacious
houses.
• The emphasis is making on family and neighborhood
while encouraging adaptation and personalization
according to their needs and resources.
• The lower-income Groups were
given numerous options that
including a site and plinth, a
service core, and one room,
contingent on how much they
can afford.
• Owners were free to use any
material for the construction and
decoration of the house. Brick,
stone, and cement were locally
available.
• Bright Colors in the facades,
railings, grills, and cornices
commonly seeing in the old
houses of Indore are using in
some of the houses.
• Interior streets and squares in
the Economically Weaker Section
are stone-paving, decreasing
their cost and maintenance.
Peripheral roads are asphalt 18

paving for heavy traffic.

• Indore’s Climate was effectively taken into account, and a
conducive living environment was achieving in Aaranya.
• Most of the plots are small in and size, and the houses are
clustered in low-rise blocks.
• The more extended side facade is oriented in the north-south axis
to reduce the solar radiation on the building. Especially during
summers.
• The two openings on the north and south permit the natural light
and cross ventilation—the adjacent buildings sufficiently shade
courtyards within houses, cul-de-sacs, public squares, and small
activity areas

Construction and Materials

•As the soil at the site was black cotton soil, Doshi used shallow
concrete piles for footing. Every house was provided with a plinth,
load-bearing masonry walls, and concrete slabs. This also reduced
the overall construction cost. The longer side of the house
was oriented in the north-south axis, residing the heat exposure.
Owners were free to choose the decorations, material,
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and colour palette for the house.
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About the Streets

• The formal street network induces

vehicular traffic outward to the
perimeter road.
• In contrast, pedestrian traffic on
informal pathways and open space
networks flow in the opposite direction
achieving clear and safe segregation of
slow- and fast-moving traffic. Also,
non-rectilinear alignment of streets
with varying widths bends, and
widening is providing to accommodate
a range of spontaneous human
activities.
• The hierarchy of commercial activities
coincides with the street hierarchy.
Standard commercial outlets are along
major arterial roads, while informal
shopping areas occur along narrow
streets and open spaces throughout
the settlement.
• Doshi’s vision to have a unified sense of belonging by including the user in the design process was an
effective and practical approach towards the housing.
• The growth of houses and the evolution of spaces were purely out of need and the lifestyle of families.
Design parameters like hierarchy, movement, scale were instrumental in the Master Plan.
• Every neighbourhood is connected through smaller public spaces and informal pathways.
• This framework provides the space for users to grow and move organically. This project stands to be one
of the exceptional attempts towards its purpose. This approach not only maximized the functionality and
usage of space but also uplifted the weaker class.

“Design is nothing but a humble understanding of materials, an instinct for solutions and respect
for nature.”
— B.V Doshi