Pritzker-winner Doshi says award will enhance status of architecture in India

TORONTO For Prof Balkrishna Doshi, there is a sense of fulfilment: After over six decades of inhabiting the space, he received the field’s highest honour, the Pritzker Prize at a ceremony in Toronto, making him the first Indian to be awarded the so-called ‘Nobel of architecture’.

“It is one of the rarest things one could expect in life,” he said in an interview the morning after receiving the award at a ceremony in the Aga Khan Museum. “What more do you expect? This is a crowning glory.

So at the age of 90, if I get that kind of a thing, what more can I expect? I’m fulfilled.” Doshi, who was born in Pune and lives in Ahmedabad, has collected numerous accolades during his distinguished career but the Pritzker is special since it also brings recognition to Indian architecture.

“That will be extremely significant in the Indian context because architecture as a profession doesn’t have a kind of status in India today except marketing. I mean, architect is synonymous with developers. “First time, there is the recognition that architecture is a discipline which is extremely important in a civilised society...” he said.

Doshi joins a roster of impressive, if not legendary names among architects who have won the Pritzker since it was established in 1979, such as Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Frank Gehry and Oscar Niemeyer. He became aware of the selection when the Prize’s executive director Martha Thorne called him in January. Thorne said she was in a “delicate way” seeking to inquire if he could travel to collect the award in Toronto. Doshi responded, “Of course I can travel. I was happy about the award, so I could have gone to the moon or to the deserts.” Doshi was born into a family running a furniture business and he said he came into architecture “by chance”. He started studying the discipline as India gained Independence. “Favourable coincidences helped me in my life,” he said.