Balkrishna Doshi: Paths Uncharted | 2019

By Balkrishna Doshi

First edition published by Vastushilpa Foundation in 2011, Reprint 2012 / 2015

Republished by Mapin in 2019

Softcover, 439 pages

21 x 15 x 4 cm 

This autobiography captures Doshi’s career from his childhood to his studies in Bombay and London, his work at Atelier Le Corbusier in Paris and collaboration with Louis I  Kahn for IIM Ahmedabad. It recounts his meetings with the most remarkable persons in his own and allied fields, and his equally remarkable patrons, who include the likes of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Sheth Kasturbhai Lalbhai, and the story  of his own family.

Doshi’s life - from the time he was born into a modest family in the by-lanes of Pune, and his struggles and tenacity to excel in his chosen fields - is a fascinating and inspiring story. Put together, for the first time, from the lifelong diaries and notes maintained by him, Paths Uncharted is a personal recounting of this remarkable journey unfolding over more than 80 years and across all the continents.

In 2018, Doshi was selected as the Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, internationally known as architecture’s highest honour. The Jury Citation states, in part, that Doshi “constantly demonstrates that all good architecture and urban planning must not only unite purpose and structure but must…go beyond the functional to connect with the human spirit  through poetic and philosophical underpinnings.” With the continued interest worldwide in his work, this volume brings to the reader invaluable insights into the course of Doshi’s illustrious life, the paths it has taken over the years, the experience and the learnings.