ISAS Working Papers

On 7 March 2018, the Hyatt Foundation announced the selection of Professor Balkrishna Doshi of India as the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate. The Pritzker Architecture Prize is recognised internationally as architecture’s highest honour, the equivalent of the Nobel Prize, were there one for architecture. Doshi is the 45th Pritzker Prize Laureate and the first to hail from India. Deeply influenced by two icons of 20th century architecture, Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, Doshi placed his own imprint on his work; shaped by the ecology, environment, and cultural norms of his homeland, leading to an architecture sensitive to the socio-economic milieu in which people lived. Some of the most celebrated of his projects are in low income housing3. Without going into the economics and policy challenges, this paper contends that Doshi’s approach to architecture remains as relevant as ever, and if embedded in the design, it can lead to housing that is sustainable and imparts a sense of belonging, continuity and hope.