An exhibition of works of Neelkanth Chhaya, Sohan Nilkanth and Kallol Joshi — three architects from Gujarat — at Swabhumi’s Kalavaani pays a fitting tribute to legendary Indian architect and their close associate B.V. Doshi, credited with gifting Kolkata its first condoville — Udayan by Ambuja Neotia.
The inaugural edition of BV Doshi Memorial Exhibition organised by Ambuja Neotia was inaugurated on August 30 and will remain open to the public till September 15 between 4pm and 8pm on weekdays and 12 noon and 8pm on weekends.
(From left) Madhu Neotia with Doshi’s son-in-law Rajeev Kathpalia and daughter Radhika Kathpalia
Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi was known as the pioneer of Indian modernism with a successful career spanning nearly seven decades. He completed more than 100 ground-breaking projects, including schools, libraries, art centres and affordable housing. One of his masterpieces, Udayan on Kolkata’s New Town, is the city’s first condoville, developed by Ambuja Neotia in partnership with the state government. Launched in 1992 and completed by 2002, Udayan set new benchmarks in social housing and was recognised as a model housing project by HUDCO. Since then, Ambuja Neotia's design philosophy and projects have been deeply shaped by Doshi’s guidance and visionary ideas for three decades.
Speaking about the Padma Vibhushan awardee, Harshavardhan Neotia, the chairman of Ambuja Neotia, said: “Doshi sahab grew very close to my family, especially my father, when he was in Kolkata. He has been the man behind many of our projects and this is our tribute to him. We lost him last year (January 24, 2023) and this year, we decided to start with an annual memorial exhibition during his birth month, which is August. This is an inaugural exhibition and henceforth every year we will conduct it where works of architects who worked with him and were inspired by him will be showcased.”
Sohan Nilkanth and Neelkanth Chhaya present BV Doshi to the audience
At the inauguration ceremony, Neelkanth Chhaya and Sohan Nilkanth were present to take the visitors through their different projects across the country. Kallol Joshi couldn’t join the ceremony owing to heavy rain in Vadodara. The work exhibited represents the architectural thought of the three architect friends who have worked together for the past decade. Their work represents a period of great social, political, economic and cultural change in India between the 1980s and the present. These changes affected the practice of architecture, including the development of cities and housings. The works of Balkrishna Doshi, Charles Correa, and Achyut Kanvinde, were path-breaking challenges to all architects who practised in this period. In a slide show, Neelkanth Chhaya took the visitors through different projects by the three pioneers of Indian architecture. He pointed out the distinct changes in design and approach as times changed.
Project Udayan in Kolkata
Both Neelkanth Chhaya and Sohan Nilkanth were students at the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad, which was founded by a group led by Balkrishna Doshi. They got the opportunity to study and work with him. Kallol Joshi studied at Vadodara but worked with two of Doshi’s important assisting architects, P.S. Rajan and Panna Rajan.
Recalling Doshi while showing some old photos on a giant screen, Neelkanth Chhaya said: “We never called Doshi ‘professor’. He wouldn’t have approved of it either. He was always ‘Doshi’ for us. He had an interesting personality. He was casual yet sincere. When he spoke, everyone listened to him. I remember he would carry a notebook to paper presentations where he would take down notes during a second year student’s session. He was that sincere.”
The Neotia family at the exhibition inauguration
Joining Chhaya on stage, Nilkanth recalled: “Doshi was a genius with his advice. He compared a building to the king. He would say that to identify a king, one has to see his crown. It will be the most beautiful, expensive crown. To make a building stand out, you have to focus on designing the top. He would similarly say that the king's footwear is also important as people bow down to his feet. So same with buildings, the ground floor should be aesthetically pleasing. There are several other examples of how he saw things and explained it to us.”
Doshi's daughter, Radhika, and son-in-law, Rajeev Kathpalia, were present at the first edition of Balkrishna Doshi Memorial Exhibition by Harshvardhan Neotia. Madhu Neotia and son, Parthiv also joined in. The exhibition includes site plans, photographs and models of several projects by the trio. Some of the groundbreaking projects exhibited are INTACH Centre in Anegundi, Karnataka; Kannada University in Hampi, Karnataka; Samarkand Revitalisation in Uzbekistan; Udayan in Kolkata and more.
INTACH Centre in Anegundi
The projects of various schools, colleges, and private houses are showcased too. The works are categorised into themes of time, place, technology, land and language.