Doshi’s buildings are known for belonging to the people, and to the place. His indigenous innovations to sustainable and climate responsive design is what has inspired some, like Ar. Kiran Kabra (Team Netaji). During the recent office visit to Ahmedabad, Ar. Azar Indikar (Team Kanhoji) took the opportunity to visit the famed Amdavad ni Gufa, an experimental underground gallery, with M.F. Hussain’s vibrant and bold paintings lining the walls. "Although the internal spaces are unusual and dynamic, the whole experience (both in the exteriors and exteriors) gives you a sense of calmness and tranquility.”

Though-out his eventful life, Doshi has donned many hats and won many titles. As an alumni and an educator, Ar. Athulya Aby, the writer for the firm, is most indebted to Professor Doshi for founding the School of Architecture at Ahmedabad, and nurturing it to grow into the present CEPT University. Conceptualised as an open campus with flexible studios, it was the initiator of a pedagogical shift in architectural education – rethinking how we teach, learn, design and talk about spaces.

He stops his architectural studies in Mumbai to try his luck at the RIBA examination in London, and abandons that to work at Le Corbusiers' Atelier - despite his inability to speak French - on a whim. For four years, he survives mostly on olives and bread, absorbing as much as he can from the master. He comes back to India, moves to Chandigargh and then Ahmedabad for work, going from one site to another on his bicycle, learning as he worked. Chance meetings with Buckminister Fuller (Bucky, as Doshi lovingly called him) and Louis Khan (Lou) became life-altering events because of his willingness to take the chance to grab opportunities as it came along. Reluctantly accepting Bucky invitation to lecture in Chicago during his Graham Fellowship was the beginning of his life-long association with architectural education.

I think his success lies in finding the right balance while amalgamating the paradoxes that inspired him – Corbusier’s boldness to break free from rules vs. Kahn’s meditative precision to geometry and adherence to simplicity; Western cities’ order, technology driven aesthetics and mobility vs. the chaos and organic growth of Indian cities; the scientific temperament of Modernism vs. the spirituality, myths and Hindu philosophies he imbibed from his childhood.

The exploration of narrative is something that interests me as an architect. Including a story in a building creates a level of meaning and connection to the patron or user that can be engaging and provoking. The story can be as simple as a metaphor or as complex as a novel. Architectural storytelling plays an essential role in branded architecture for cities and companies. The structure itself could communicate that story, in addition to possibly inventing a new story of its own. 

I am convinced that B. V. Doshi' sensitivity to site conditions arose from his exposure to the varied landscapes, materials, technologies and lifestyles during his travels across countries and continents.  

Beyond London and Paris, he hitchhiked all over Europe before coming back to India. In Italy, he examined the plan of Rome drawn in the 17th century by Piranesi. In Venice, he was awed by the canal, foot-bridges and people friendly open spaces. "Until I went there, I had not realized the wonder of not having any steps or level difference between water and the floor, that was the norm in India." He wondered at the eclectic

collection of buildings around the Piazza San Marco. During his visit to the Acropolis, he couldn't help drawing parallels  between the temple sites in India, "physically isolated to make it difficult to reach yet visible enough to attract the devout." His design for the Matar shrine in Gujarat was an attempt to recreate the experience he had in the Pantheon. "Though it appeared insignificant at first from the street, once inside its interiors stunned me. Its scale proportions, volume and especially the light cast by the oculus in done made it a divine experience" he recalls. 

The Graham Fellowship turned out to be another educative trip, allowing him to travel to various cities in USA and Japan, meet many luminaries like Meis van der Rohe, Eero Saarinen, JL Sert, Charles Eames and Frederick Kriesler and visit their works. While USA exposed him to a world of new technologies, Japanese architecture fascinated him with their traditional but contemporary approach. Interaction with some of these architects transformed his ideas of architecture and structure.

His travels were not all outside India either. He admired the use of local stone in Jaisalmer and Meenakshi Temple at Madurai, the street-like corridors of Fatehpur Sikri, the Kailask temple craved out of living rock and the town planning of Jaipur. Every place he visited was a place of discovery, both of the self and those embodied in that space. He learnt about societal issues, politics and way of living of different sections of society, especially the poorer segments. Everywhere he went, he was constantly reminded of the economics in architecture: "making most of the resources... from the choice of building materials to appropriate construction techniques, emphasis on multiple use of spaces have been important concerns all my life."

- Athulya Ann Aby