The winner of one of the most prestigious awards in the field of architecture — the RIBA Gold Medal 2022 — will be the Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi.

Photo: Pratik Gajjar.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that Balkrishna Doshi will receive the Royal Gold Medal in 2022, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of architecture. The medal is approved personally by Her Majesty the Queen and is awarded to a person or bureau that has had a significant impact on the development of architecture.

Photo: Pratik Gajjar.

Balkrishna Doshi built more than 100 buildings during his seventy-year career and significantly influenced the formation of architecture in India. His works are based on a deep understanding of traditions, climate, local culture and crafts.

Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.Photo: Vinay Panjwani / Vastushilpa Foundation.

Balkrishna was born in 1927 in the Indian city of Pune in a large family of furniture makers. He studied at an architectural school in Bombay, then worked for four years with Le Corbusier as a senior designer, and then with Louis Kahn was engaged in the design of the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.

Institute of Indology. Photo: Vastushilpa Foundation

In 1956, Doshi, together with two architects, founded his own studio Vastushilpa, which works to this day. For more than sixty years of practice, the bureau has worked on both social housing projects and urban buildings. Among the famous buildings are the Campus of the Shreyas Comprehensive School, the Institute of Indology, the Ahmedabad School of Architecture, the Tagore Hall and Memorial Theater in Ahmedabad, the Kanoria Arts Center and much more.

Premabhai Hall.Photo: Vastushilpa Foundation.

Now Balkrishna Dosha is 94 years old. He has already been awarded the Pritzker Prize and the Aga Khan Prize in Architecture. Upon hearing the news that he would also receive the 2022 Royal Gold Medal, he said“ “I am pleasantly surprised and grateful to have received the Royal Gold Medal from the Queen of England. What a great honor! The news of this award reminded me of the times when I worked with Le Corbusier in 1953. Then he also received news of the award of his Royal Gold Medal. I vividly remember his excitement. He told me metaphorically“ “I wonder how big and heavy this medal will be.” Today, six decades later, I feel truly overwhelmed to receive the same award as my mentor””

Tagore Hall, 1967.Photo: Vastushilpa Foundation.