City of Doshi: The Architect Who Shaped Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD—In 1954, Balkrishna Doshi, a young Indian architect and protege of the legendary Le Corbusier, moved to the city of Ahmedabad in the northwestern state of Gujarat, where he would soon settle down and establish his own practice.

Based on his pedigree—he had worked and studied in Bombay, London, and Paris—the move was not particularly obvious. Ahmedabad, in comparison to those global hubs of art and culture, was decidedly more provincial, and according to the first census of independent India in 1951, had a population below one million. Le Corbusier’s most significant project in India—the city of Chandigarh—was also underway, and Doshi’s initial involvement in its planning indicates he could have stayed on and played a larger role there instead.