Now in its 40th year, the Pritzker Prize is awarded to a living architect who displays a combination of “talent, vision, and commitment.” Ninety-year-old Balkrishna Doshi received the award for 2018 in recognition of a career spanning almost 70 years.
Founded by Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy — members of the American family behind the Hyatt Hotel chain — the annual award is modeled on the Nobel Prize.
“Over the years, Balkrishna Doshi has always created an architecture that is serious, never flashy or a follower of trends,” reads a jury statement. “With a deep sense of responsibility and a desire to contribute to his country and its people through high quality, authentic architecture, he has created projects for public administrations and utilities, educational and cultural institutions, and residences for private clients, among others. His solutions take into account the social, environmental and economic dimensions, and therefore his architecture is totally engaged with sustainability.”
Early in his career Doshi worked with Swiss French architect Le Corbusier and helped supervise the construction of Le Corbusier’s projects in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. He won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, another top honor, in 1995, and was a member of the Pritzker jury from 2005 to 2007. He has taught at MIT, Rice University and the University of Pennsylvania.
