Balkrishna Doshi: An Architecture for India

by William J.R. Curtis

Balkrishna Doshi is an architect, urbanist and educator who builds in harmony with the climate, culture and traditions of India. His contribution has long been acknowledged internationally but this is the first monograph to be devoted to his work. At a time of rapid and unsettling urbanization, Doshi's architecture reaffirms the links between community and nature. It charts his quest for a philosophy rooted in principles.

The book is in four main parts a historical essay; a section which analyses key projects in detail with the aid of sketches, models, drawings and diary jottings; a selection of the architect's reflections; and a postscript by the author on the trends in Indian architecture. A detailed bibliography and catalogue of Doshi's works complete the study. Balkrishna An Architecture for India is a valuable addition to the literature on contemporary architecture in developing countries.

The volume is a reprint of the originally published by Rizzoli International in 1988.

Preface; Modern Architecture and Indian Tradition; Search for Projects and Buildings; Selected Thoughts of the Architect; Author's The Future of Indian Architecture; Biography; Chronology of Works; Project Details; Footnotes; Doshi's Sketches.

192 pages, Paperback

Published July 20, 2015

About the author

William J. R. Curtis is an architectural historian whose writings have focused on twentieth century architecture. Curtis seems particularly interested in broadening the "canon" to include a wider range of architects working across the world.
Curtis was educated at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London (First Class Honors, 1970), and Harvard University (Ph.D., 1975). He has taught history and theory of architecture in the United States, Mexico, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Curtis's most important work is Modern Architecture Since 1900, first published in 1982, and now in its third edition (1996). This book won the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain in 1984. The third edition was awarded the architecture book prize of the American Institute of Architects in 1997. In 2006 the Museum of Finnish Architecture awarded Curtis its Commemoration Medal of Foundation on the occasion of the Museum's 50th Anniversary.
Curtis currently lives in southwestern France.