Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, OAL, (born 26 August 1927) is an Indian architect. He is considered to be an important figure of Indian architecture and noted for his contributions to the evolution of architectural discourse in India.[2] Having worked under Le Corbusier and Louis Khan, he is a pioneer of modernist and brutalist architecture in India. His more noteworthy designs include the IIM Bangalore, IIM Udaipur, NIFT Delhi, Amdavad ni Gufa, CEPT University, and the Aranya Low-Cost Housing development in Indore which was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. In 2018, he became the first Indian architect to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, which is considered one of the most prestigious prizes in architecture. He was also awarded the Padma Shri. - source: Wikipedia article on my personal experiences and thoughts during my architecture internship at Sangath, Vastu Shilpa Consultants. regards, alen joseph james kerala,India alenjosephjames@gmail.com

1. I, Alen James had interned at the atelier of respected Architect Dr.BV Doshi’s Vastu Shilpa Consultants
from June - December 2018.Philosophies of life and that of architecture of the masters, Laurie Baker and
BV Doshi has been the guiding light throughout my years as a student architect. The architectural appraisal
which I had done on both the legends along with my Portfolio helped me to gain internship at Sangath. Dr.
Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi the proficient architect and the first Pritzker Prize laurate of India recently won
the accolade in 2018. BV Doshi had worked with French architect Le Corbusier and contributed in the build-
ing of Chandigarh and numerous other projects like the Shodhan house etc. His own contributions to archi-
tecture like IIM Bangalore, CEPT University and even his own atelier Sangath are exemplary spaces.
Vastu Shilpa Consultants works primarily on an institutional scale, covering housing and residential clusters
along with an academic or administrative belt for institutions. The approach that the firm has towards the
resolution of such huge expanses is the master planning of the campus, along with experiential and visual
aspects.
Internship Experience:
Sangath,Vastu Shilpa Consultants,Ahmedabad
Fig(a): Check Dam model of Smritivan Earthquake Memorial,Bhuj,Gujarat.
Fig(b): Studio visits of Doshi sir during IIM Vizag Competition.
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I joined the studio on a warm summer morning. Each
and everything, from the architectural language, stu-
dio culture, lifestyle of people was a new experience
which gave me an opportunity to learn and unlearn
several lessons. The studio strength was fifty and had
eight trainees from different regions of India and five
foreign trainees from AA School,Bauhaus Germany,
Politecnico di Milano, Brac University-Dhaka and oth-
er. The cultural pool of the studio and its collabora-
tion is the most interesting feature which I felt about
BV Doshi’s conception of a studio as a Microcosm.
Sangath means moving together through participa-
tion and Vastu Shilpa means the design of environ-
ments

2. Doshi Sir used to visit the Studio thrice in a
week, and gave us lectures occasionally. His
lectures were mostly about his thoughts that
he had during his apprenticeship under Le
Corbusier and the art of storytelling in archi-
tecture in accordance with the Indian way of
thinking. The values I gained was that of being
curious about every aspect of life and to get
haunted by own thoughts till I achieve them.
Internship Experience:
Sangath,Vastu Shilpa Consultants,Ahmedabad
Fig(c): 1:200 scale model .Smritivan Earhquake
Memorial,Bhuj,Gujarat.
Finally, I was assigned to be part of the design team of Competition project, Indian Insitute of Management,
Vizag. The team consists of four architects and two interns including me. This session was like a complete
crash course to learn the design process of Sangath. From site analysis to the master planning principles and
values of the studio and finally to the design details. The Design was developed by Ar.Rajeev Kathpalia and
Dr BV Doshi used to give reviews to the team at various stages of design development.
Initially, I was assigned to assist the senior site architect of Nalanda University at Rajgir District Nalanda, Bi-
har. We both worked on the good for construction drawings of a couple of buildings in the academic spine.
The studio was well equipped with iMac systems for each person which runs ArchiCAD BIM Software for all
architectural purposes. The other project that the studio handled during the same period was of IIM Udai-
pur. After that, I was asked to work on the exhibition model of Smritivan Earthquake memorial project at
Bhuj, Gujarat. Smriti Van is envisaged as nature’s memorial to the victims of the 2001 Gujarat Earthquake.
This part was of a gifted opportunity to work with the model makers of Doshi sir who have witnessed and
played a momentous part in the design process of his projects all through his career. The model was hand-
crafted using Softwood for detailed building parts and contours on MDF boards with CNC laser machines.
All the architectural models of Doshi sir are kept in sangath for his visitors. Interns are entrusted to take
personal tours on sangath for his visitors from diverse professions and fields, which was indeed a unique
opportunity to meet new faces every day and to get good contacts with people from all around the world.
Fig(d): Chai time break
and informal interactive
sessions on outside
lawn during evenings.
Fig(e):Doshi sir’s 91st
birthday celebrations at
Sangath.
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TheVastuShilpaConsultantshasasisterfoun-
dation, the Vastu Shilpa Foundation (VSF),
that additionally undertakes Environmental
research and publication of BV Doshi’s works.

3. We had a vibrant team of interns and junior architects from
all around who were in Sangath and from other reputed
firms in Ahmedabad. We ourselves found an Architecture
fraternity among us who had a great deal of interest in
traveling. During the weekends and holidays, we traversed
Ahmedabad, having much to see the masters’ works from
le-Corbusier to Louis khan to Charles Correa and BV Doshi.
Later we visited the Seven arches and other Unesco sites
in Champaner, Jaisalmer Fort, Udaipur the city of lakes and
Thar deserts in Rajasthan, which revealed a pristine India of
vivid colours. While the visits to Aranya Housing in Indore
then to Kutch and Bhuj villages of Gujarat gave yet another
insight into the rural India. This exposure to an array of Indi-
an cultures of various decades have helped me to cultivate a
good understanding of the diversity among the cultures and
places and of how it influences the architectural language.
Internship Experience:
Sangath,Vastu Shilpa Consultants,Ahmedabad
Fig(g): IIM Vizag Team
left to right:
Kirit Bhai(Carpenter),
Anjali(architect),
Manojna(architect),
Nattu kakka(senior Carpenter),
Rasha(architect),
Ar.Rajeev Kathpalia(Studio Head),
Micky(architect),
Alen James(intern).
Author:
Alen Joseph James
Semester-VIII
Internship:
Vastu Shilpa consultants,
Ahmedabad
Design Workshop,
Lonavla
Fig(f): Champaner ,Interns of ahmedabad 2018,
The saga of a master architect which I could refer for
myself and a global perspective of life and architectur-
al thinking that he shared with us through a great stu-
dio culture, language, and standards will be the es-
sence that I would like to imbibe from Sangath.
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