Today’s buildings do not have soul, says Doshi

Vadodara: Buildings in city have changed as population increased due to which we can have a glimpse of the buildings, but its soul is missing, said Pritzker Architecture Prize winning architect Balkrishna Doshi.

The veteran architect was in the city on Saturday to deliver convocation address at city-based Navrachana University.

Giving an example of pols of Ahmedabad, Doshi said that today’s buildings do not have the uniqueness which the buildings of pols have. “Not only the buildings are beautiful, but its designs and ideologies were such that people would not feel hot in summers and get shade in the lanes of pols. It is today that people talk of rain water harvesting, but the houses of pols have ‘tanka’ since so many decades to store rain water,” said Doshi.

He also said that today’s buildings do not bring its residents together. “If there is a wedding in pol, people from all houses will gather, but we cannot see that in the buildings which are built in recent times,” Doshi said, adding, “The buildings we have built today are huge and the roads too are broad, but we do not get anything there while in pol even if we want something at night, it is easy to get.”

Doshi also said that the students who have graduated should ask themselves how much can they contribute to an independent India.

In all, 535 students received bachelor’s degree at the convocation on Saturday. Amongst the successful students, 194 specialized in engineering and information technology, 115 in management studies, 21 in computer applications, 90 in sciences, 11 in commerce, 17 in social work, 45 in education and 63 in architecture and interior design.

Seventeen students, 11 of whom are girls, topped their respective areas of specialization and received gold medals for the same.


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