BALKRISHANA DOSHI

ABOUT
• Professor Balkrishna Doshi, also known as B. V. Doshi, has been an architect, urban planner, and
educator for 70 years.
• Born in Pune in 1927, Doshi attended the Sir J.J. School of Architecture Bombay, in 1950.
• He worked for four years with Le Corbusier as senior designer (1 951 -54) in Paris.
• In 1956 he established a private practice in Vastu-Shilpa, Ahmedabad and in 1962 he established
the Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for Environmental Design.
• Doshi worked closely with Louis khan and Anant Raje, when Kahn designed the campus of the
Indian Institute of Management.
• Doshi has been a member of the Jury for several international and national competitions
including the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts and Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
• He was presented in 1995, Aga Khan Award for Architecture , for the Aranya Community
Housing in Indore , India.

3 MASTER PIECES BY BV DOSHI

• CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING & TECHNOLOG
i. elimination of classroom feeling
ii. architecture without barriers
iii. integration of open spaces
iv. ease of interaction between various departments.

• ARANYA LOW COST HOUSING Sketch of the entrance under the south façade
create a balanced community of various socio-economic groups" – enabled
high-income buyers to subsidize loans for the lower-income properties.
Their research led to the "site and services" approach.

• SANGATH ARCHITECT'S STUDIO

1.Minimizing Solar Radiation on South and West side : The structure is
closely integrated with the outdoor spaces.The West and South façade is
shaded by dense trees.
2.Maximizing Wind Flow : Wind from West and South-West side is taken Sketch showing staircases and terraces as living spaces.
in by juxtapositioning structures so as to create a elation on site is almost
left to grow into central open space through which wind can flow
unobstructed.

THE DESIGN PHILOSOPHIES OF B.V. DOSHI

1.ARCHITECTURE IS ETHICAL AND PERSONAL

2.ARCHITECTURE IS BOTH POETIC AND FUNCTIONAL Sketch of section
3.ARCHITECTURE IS A SERVICE TO HUMANITY

• According to him 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
• Doshi's work has consistently revolved around the interrelationship of indoor and outdoor space , an appropriate and honest approach to materials,
proper climatic response and observance of hierarchy and order that has always been present in the best modern architecture .
• The success of any project depends on effective construction, contracting, logistic planning and coordination.
• An essential part of the philosophy is the construction of scale models and of full scale mockups to make decisions jointly with the client about the
building.

THE DESIGN PRINCIPLES

• Doshi belief in the ‘Mythical Sense’ of space often evident in traditional architecture which is not simply confined to open or closed
space. Accord ing to him space can be modified according to the desire of the perceiver and is never static.
• The structural and formal systems that Doshi has adopted led him to assimilate the 2 nd principle of Vaastu-Purusha Mandala to
ensure minimum standards of health and hygiene in each project .
• Transformation of Energy between the building and people using the space for functional use . The Energy takes place between the
walls, columns and space of the building.
• Doshi has persisted a deep belief in importance of ‘Human Institutions’. This belief, is amplified by his own deep cultural
experience and popular evolution of new institutions.
• flexible rather than rigid approach to the structure’. This is how transformation of space from the mere static container to a place
where people actually feel a psychic interchange is best achieved.
• The idea of flexibility leads him to a principle , of incorporating “symbolism” . He believes that it can only be accommodated by
mixture of structural systems.
• Advocate s “Amorphous rather than finite forms ” used with multiple structural systems so that ‘experience with them may be
loose meandering and multiple.
• As an eighth and final principle , “Timelessness ” in his architecture ,describing his quality in historical precedents as ' open
endedness’.
THE CENTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING & TECHNOLOGY

ABOUT THE COLLEGE

• One of the best examples of spatial planning with interesting.
• CEPT university was started in 1962 under the Ahmadabad education society and was
actively supported by Kasthurbhai Lalbhai a leading industrialist and philanthropist.
• The school broke away from the conventional teaching courses . the concept changed from
architecture as the technical discipline to architecture as a design discipline.
• CEPT was sponsored by the Ahmedabad education society AES, a premier voluntary non
profit organization.
• Established in 1935 devoted to all levels in several branches of learning. CEPT was started
in1962, offering an under graduate program in architecture. This was followed by a
postgraduate program in planning under the school of planning in 1972.

LOCATION : GUJARAT UNIVERSITY AREA ,

ARCHITECTS PHILOSOPHY AHMEDABAD ARCHITECT : B.V.DOSHI
I. Elimination of classroom feeling AREA OF SITE :12.5 ACRE
II. Architecture without barriers MATERIAL USED :REINFORCED CONCRETE
III. Integration of open spaces & BRICKS.
IV. Ease of interaction between various departments

PLANNING
• The built form starts with a pair of parallel walls. The basic component of the buildings
of the CEPT is a derivate of load-bearing walls, supporting a flat floor slabs. The
repeated occurrence of parallel walled structures can be seen in the CEPT campus.
• The overall planning has been done around the central court with built masses on sides
and green on one side which gives the campus noise protection
• The whole building is very simple and architectural elements are expressive of their
functions.
• The building has simple horizontal lines and merges beautifully with the site
• The building is two-storied with a split level basement
• The building design incorporates the thermal comfort and natural sensibly.
The long side of the L- shaped plan is exposed to
the prevailing wind.

DESIGN FEATURES
• All buildings are oriented in the north-south direction
• Open spaces on the north and south side respectively allow fresh air to ventilate
the built structures.
• Institute complex presents the shortest , solid elevations to the hottest east west
axis . The longer class room wing extends to the south and delineates one edge
of harder surfaced plaza on the opposite side of studio wing , which draws cool
air contained in the green area through the open , shaded rooms below.
• The studio are high and airy, with north light from angled glass monitors, and
wide doors which serve more as panels hinged at the third point , giving
unhindered visual access to outside and allowing a free flow of air .

Showing the levels in fa&fp blocks

LANDSCAPE
• The campus is full of Neem trees, which were planted over the
years since the initial phase makes hot Ahmadabad climate
cooler
• There are many interconnecting pathways with brick paving
and terracotta tiling
• The steps in fact become external activity hubs with students
Covered streets, shaded passages and outdoor rooms using the levels for reading, organizing informal discussions,
performances.

VENTILATION
• The parallel walls, forming an open tube of space are predominantly
aligned north south ,effectively close to east and west sides
• North side is heightened to allow more light in while the south side is kept
low to shield from direct radiation

Central courtyard is being Courtyard

used as play area
GUFA
ABOUT THE ART GALLERY
• Gufais an underground Art Gallery located on the CEPT campus, used for M.F.
Hussain to display his paintings.
• These paintings resemble the ‘Paleolithic Art’ hence ‘Gufa’, meaning cave, is
used as a concept of the gallery.
• It was earlier known as ‘Hussain-Doshi Gufa’,later renamed after the city
‘Amdavad ni Gufa’.
• The structure’s contemporary form draws natural and ancient Indian forms
together.
Entrance to Gufa, partially covered, leading
ARCHITECTS PHILOSOPHY to the cave like structure.
I. The structure is an amalgamation of modern form and ancient
themes and natural materials LOCATION : CEPT CAMPUS,
II. . The domes are inspired by the shells of tortoises and the AHEMDABADGUJARAT
MATERIAL USED : FERRO CEMENT,
skylights by soap bubbles.
REINFORCING WIRE MESH AND BARS,
III. The mosaic tiles on the roof are similar to those found on the PROCELAIN TILES , VERMICULIN
roofs of the Jain temples at Girnar, and the mosaic snake is
from Hindu mythology.
IV. The elliptical interiors are inspired by The caves
of Ajanta and Ellora.
V. The interior is divided by tree trunk like columns which try to
resemble the stone ages.
VI. Overall the structure tries to imitate a pre-historic time.

DESIGN FEATURES
• The underground gallery is approached by a partially hidden staircase
which leads to a circular door that opens into the cave-like space.
• the cave has no straight walls. Soap bubble like openings have been left out as
• the curved dome structure which extends down to the floor. skylights, which add to the mystical charm.
• The domes are supported by irregularly shaped inclined columns, Tree trunk like structures are used as support for
similar to those found in natural caves. They are also said to resemble the roof.
the trunks of trees.
• The entire design is made up of circles and ellipses.
• Light enters though snouts, creating spots of light on the floor which
move around as the day progresses, intended to create a mystic
atmosphere.

Mosaic tiles on the roof imitate the

snake form.
CONSTRUCTION
•Computer-assisted planning facilities were used to resolve the structure's
unorthodox design.
• A simple floor of wire mesh and mortar was used instead of a
Wire mesh construction, covered by 1 inch thick traditional foundation.
Ferro cement. •All the structure's components are self-supporting, relieving stress by their
ubiquitous continuity.
•Ferro cement, only one inch thick, was used for the undulating walls and
domes in order to reduce load.
• The cave was constructed by unskilled tribal labourers using only hand tools.
• Broken ceramic crockery and waste tiles were used to cover the domes'
exterior, which bears a transversal mosaic of a snake.[
•Work was carried out in two phases: the first was the construction of the main
cave as an underground art gallery, while the second covered the surrounding
structures including the paving, the café, and a separate art gallery for
Section of Gufa exhibitions.
 LESSER KNOWN WORKS

CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA, AHEMDABAD

•Central bank of India, is an example of Brutalist architecture in

India.
•It was constructed in 1966 in Ahmadabad.
•It features a rather simple façade with egg-crate windows. It was
a climatic response due to the hot climate of Ahmadabad.
•The primary building material used is RCC, made in a time where
builders didn’t know how to cast concrete.
•The presence of a courtyard surrounding the main building is
prevalent, a must in B. V. Doshi’s design.
•Ventilation is an important factor in the design of the complex.
Openings have been provided throughout to keep cool.

SAWAI GANDHARV

•It is a memorial created for the famous Hindustani

classical singer Ramachandra Kundgolkar Saunshi.
•It consists of auditoriums and classrooms for disciples
of Hindustani music
•The concept was to create a sort of labyrinth using
staircases and classrooms to symbolise the depth and
infinity of musicians and their art form.
•The style is modern with touch of traditional
elements.
•The classrooms are connected via semi covered
corridors.
•The complex has a central courtyard which not only
makes it spacious and airy but also provides an
interactive space.
•The terrace is a beautiful interplay of various levels
and curves.
•The primary building material used is RCC.