Given in recognition of a lifetime’s work, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Queen Elizabeth II. Renowned Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi (94), who is credited with designing some of the most iconic structures in the country, was on Tuesday conferred with Royal Gold Medal, 2022, one of the world’s highest honours for architecture. Doshi is the only Indian and among a few globally to have been awarded both the Royal Gold Medal and the Pritzker Architecture Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture, in their lifetime.
“I am deeply humbled to receive the Royal Gold Medal from the Queen of England. The news brought back memories of my time working with Le Corbusier in 1953 when he had just received the news of getting the Royal Gold Medal. Six decades later, I feel truly overwhelmed to be bestowed with the same award as my guru, Le Corbusier — honouring my six decades of practice,” said Doshi.
Balkrishna Doshi was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India, in 2020, for his contribution to the field of architecture.
Given his age and the risks to travel amid Covid-19 pandemic, Doshi could not travel to UK to receive the award and hence a team of representatives of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), London, UK led by Architect Simon Allford, President of RIBA and chair of the board of trustees of The Architecture Foundation visited him in-person at his residence in Ahmedabad to bestow him with the Royal Gold Medal 2022.
The 2022 Honours Committee that selected the Royal Gold Medallist was chaired by RIBA President Simon Allford and comprised architects Alison Brooks and last year’s Royal Gold Medal recipient Sir David Adjaye OBE, architect and academic Kate Cheyne, and cultural historian and museum director Dr Gus Casely-Hayford OBE.
