Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi gets Queen Elizabeth approved Royal Gold Medal 2022

Balkrishna Doshi, an Indian architect who is credited with designing some of the country’s most iconic structures, was awarded the Royal Gold Medal, 2022, on Tuesday, one of the world’s highest architectural honours.

The Royal Gold Medal is awarded in recognition of a lifetime’s work and is personally approved by Queen Elizabeth II.

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The Royal Gold Medallist was chosen by the 2022 Honours Committee, which was chaired by The Royal Institute of British Architects president Simon Allford and other distinguished members of the profession.

Allford stated that Doshi’s architecture has influenced generations of architects. “Influenced by his time spent in the office of Le Corbusier, his work nevertheless is that of original and independent thinking. His outstanding contribution to the art of architecture, the craft of construction, and the practice of urban design establish him as a most deserving recipient of this award,” he said.

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Doshi, 94, is the only Indian and one of only a few people in the world to have received both the Royal Gold Medal and the Pritzker Architecture Prize, also known as the Nobel Prize of architecture, in their lifetime.

“I am deeply humbled to receive the Royal Gold Medal from the Queen of England. The news brought back memories of my time working with Le Corbusier in 1953 when he had just received the news of getting the Royal Gold Medal. Six decades later, I feel truly overwhelmed to be bestowed with the same award as my guru, Le Corbusier — honouring my six decades of practice…,” Doshi stated.

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Among his notable designs are the IIM Bangalore, IIM Udaipur, NIFT Delhi, Amdavad ni Gufa, CEPT University, and the Aranya Low-Cost Housing Development in Indore, which received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. He has also received the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan awards.