Architect and educator Balkrishna Doshi, best-known for his innovative work designing low-cost housing, has been awarded the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize, the first Indian to win architecture's highest honor in its 40-year history.
India's Balkrishna Doshi who won the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize poses for the Associated Press at his home in Ahmadabad, India, Wednesday, March 7, 2018. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
The award was announced Wednesday by Tom Pritzker of the Chicago-based Hyatt Foundation.
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Architect and educator Balkrishna Doshi, best-known for his innovative work designing low-cost housing, has been awarded the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize, the first Indian to win architecture's highest honor in its 40-year history.
The award was announced Wednesday by Tom Pritzker of the Chicago-based Hyatt Foundation.
The housing itself, he said, can transform how residents see their world. "Now, their life has changed. They feel hopeful," he said. "They have ownership of something."
The prize citation noted how their influence "can be seen in the robust forms of concrete which he employed."
While the work of Pritzker winners are often scattered across the globe, Doshi is known for working almost completely in his homeland, designing buildings for government offices, companies and universities.
Doshi has been an architect, urban planner, and educator for 70 years. The foundation called the 90-year-old's work "poetic and functional," and noted his ability to create works that both respect eastern culture and enhance quality of life in India.
Among Doshi's achievements: the Aranya low-cost housing project in Indore, which accommodates over 80,000 people, many of them poor, through a system of houses, courtyards and internal pathways.
Reached at home in the western city of Ahmedabad, Doshi said his life's work has been "to empower the have-nots, the people who have nothing."
India's Balkrishna Doshi who won the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize poses for the Associated Press at his home in Ahmadabad, India, Wednesday, March 7, 2018. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
The housing itself, he said, can transform how residents see their world. "Now, their life has changed. They feel hopeful," he said. "They have ownership of something."
He called the prize an honor both for himself and for India.
"What I have done for close to the last 60 years, working in rural areas, working in low-cost housing, worrying about India's future. Now all this comes together and gives me a chance to say "Here we are!" he said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations.
"This honour is a fitting recognition of his outstanding work, which has spanned decades and made a notable contribution to society," He said.
Doshi was influenced early by two of the great 20th-century architects, Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier, and Louis Kahn.
This photo provided by The Pritzker Architecture Prize shows Balkrishna Doshi of India winner of the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize, the highest honor in the field, announced Wednesday, March 7, 2018. (Courtesy of The Pritzker Architecture Prize/Vastushilpa Foundation via AP)
The prize citation noted how their influence "can be seen in the robust forms of concrete which he employed."
But he grew into his own. "With an understanding and appreciation of the deep traditions of India's architecture, he united prefabrication and local craft and developed a vocabulary in harmony with the history, culture, local traditions and the changing times of his home country India," the citation read.
Doshi's work ranges from the blocky, concrete Life Insurance Corporation Housing buildings in Ahmedabad to the naturalist curves of that city's Amdavad ni Gufa underground art gallery.
"My work is the story of my life, continuously evolving, changing and searching . searching to take away the role of architecture, and look only at life," the prize announcement quoted him as saying.
This photo provided by The Pritzker Architecture Prize shows the Aranya low-cost housing project by Balkrishna Doshi in Indore, India, which accommodates over 80,000 people through a system of houses, courtyards and internal pathways. (Courtesy of The Pritzker Architecture Prize/Vastushilpa Foundation via AP)
While the work of Pritzker winners are often scattered across the globe, Doshi is known for working almost completely in his homeland, designing buildings for government offices, companies and universities.
Born in 1927 in the city of Pune, Doshi studied architecture in Mumbai and later worked under Le Corbusier, overseeing his projects in the cities of Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. He was the founding director of Ahmedabad's School of Architecture and Planning, which is now known as CEPT University.
India's Balkrishna Doshi who won the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize poses for the Associated Press at his home in Ahmadabad, India, Wednesday, March 7, 2018. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
He founded his own practice in 1956, and lives and works in Ahmedabad.
Doshi will be formally awarded the prize in a May ceremony at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.
NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of Indians voted Friday in a moderate turnout in the second round of multi-phase national elections as Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to galvanize voters with his assertive brand of Hindu nationalist politics.
People lined up outside polling stations as voting opened at 7 a.m. local time and braved hot summer weather with temperatures soaring up to 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit) in the afternoon.
The election authority said in a statement that approximately 60.96% of 160 million eligible voters exercised their right to cast a ballot in the second round.
The outcome of Friday’s voting will be crucial for Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, as the 88 constituencies up for grabs across 13 states include some of its strongholds in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Most polls predict a win for Modi and the BJP, which is up against a broad opposition alliance led by the Indian National Congress and powerful regional parties.
Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi is running in Wayanad constituency in southern Kerala state for a second time, after he was defeated in 2019 elections by Smriti Irani, a BJP leader, in the northern Indian city of Amethi — a traditional stronghold for the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Other prominent candidates in the second phase of voting include Shashi Tharoor of the Congress party, popular BJP Bollywood star Hema Malini and actor Arun Govil, who played the role of Hinduism's revered Lord Ram in a 1987 television adaptation of the ancient epic Ramayana.
Prime Minister Modi urged people to vote in record numbers to strengthen democracy.
“I especially urge our young voters and women voters to turn out in great numbers. Your vote is your voice!” Modi said in a message on the social media platform X before voting began Friday.
The BJP has already won one parliamentary seat from Surat in Gujarat state, where the Congress party candidate was disqualified Monday. Election officials said they found discrepancies in the signatures on the nomination and other candidates pulled out of the contest, leaving BJP nominee Mukesh Dalal as the winner by default.
Nearly 970 million voters — more than 10% of the world’s population — will elect 543 members to the lower house of Parliament for five years during the staggered election, which runs until June 1. The votes will be counted on June 4. There are a total of 28 states in India.
The turnout in the first phase of polling on April 19 was estimated at around 62% of 166.3 million eligible voters.
By comparison, India’s 2019 national election registered the highest-ever voter turnout — 67.11% — in the history of Indian parliamentary elections. The turnout is expected to increase for five more rounds of voting.
Voters’ relative apathy has surprised some political analysts, but they say that the BJP remains a front-runner.
"You could argue that the listlessness is a consequence of a foregone conclusion,” said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, an Indian political scientist.
"But for Modi’s party which is expecting to win 400 of the 543 seats the joyous surge is missing," he said in an article in the Indian Express daily.
However, Prime Minister Modi said “Phase Two (voting) has been too good!”
Critics of the prime minister, an avowed Hindu nationalist, say India’s tradition of diversity and secularism has come under attack since the BPJ won power a decade ago. They accuse the party of fostering religious intolerance and sometimes even violence. The party denies the accusation and says its policies benefit all Indians.
Modi stirred a huge controversy over the weekend when he said that the Congress party, if voted to power, would distribute the country’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children,” in an apparent reference to the Muslim community.
Hindus make up 80% of India's 1.4 billion people, while Muslims account for 14% and Christians and Sikhs 2% each.
The Congress party leaders met with election officials and urged them to investigate whether Modi’s comments violated the body’s code of conduct that bars politicians from appealing to voters based on caste and religious feelings.
The BJP also filed a complaint against Congress's Gandhi, accusing the opposition leader of falsely asserting that poverty was increasing and driving a wedge between the North and South of India based on language and region to disrupt the electoral environment.
The election authority recognized the complaints on Thursday and asked the presidents of the two parties to file their responses by Monday. The authority is expected to give its ruling next week.
Tangkhul Nagas rest outside a polling station in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yirmiyan Arthur)
An elderly voter waits to cast his vote as an election official checks for his name in the voters list during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Jammu, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
A paramilitary soldier stands guard as people queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Jammu, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Indian men gather outside a polling station after casting their votes during the second phase of polling in the six-week long national election in Barmer district, western Rajasthan state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)
Women arrive to cast their vote during the second phase of polling in the six-week long national election in Barmer district, western Rajasthan state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)
Women walk to cast their vote during the second phase of polling in the six-week long national election in the desert village Akli in western Rajasthan state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)
Women queue up to cast their vote during the second phase of polling in the six-week long national election in Barmer district, western Rajasthan state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)
Women pose with their identity cards as they walk to cast their vote during the second phase of polling in the six-week long national election in the desert village Jaiisindhar, Barmer district, western Rajasthan state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma)
Tangkhul Nagas wait to cast their votes during the second round of voting in the six-week long national election in Ukhrul, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yirmiyan Arthur)
A security person walks past queues of voters in a polling station on the bank of the Brahmaputra river during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A woman shows the indelible ink mark on her finger after casting vote in a polling station on the bank of the Brahmaputra river during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Voters line up to vote in a polling station during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
People check for their names in the voters' list as they arrive to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
An elderly man puts his thumb impression before casting his vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Sunanda village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A man displays his index finger marked with indelible ink a sign that he voted as he rides on a two wheeler after voting during second phase of national election, near Palakkad, southern state of Kerala,India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
People vote during the second phase of national election in Palakkad, Kerala, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A woman leaves after casting her vote at a polling booth during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A voter puts his hand on a classroom desk covered in marks as a polling officer applies indelible ink mark on his index finger at a polling station situated inside a school during the second round of voting in the national election, near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Tangkhul Nagas stand in a queue to cast their votes in Shangshak village, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yirmiyan Arthur)
A man squats to rest as he waits with others in a queue to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
People queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Jammu, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
People walk to a polling station after crossing the Brahmaputra river in a boat during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, about 77km (48 miles) from Guwahati, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Women hold their babies as they queue up to cast their votes in a polling station on the bank of the Brahmaputra river during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
People queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week long national election outside a polling booth in Kochi, southern Kerala state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
A police official instructs an elderly couple take rest sitting on a bench during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
An elderly couple arrive as others wait in a queue to cast their vote during the second phase of national election in Palakkad, Kerala, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Women stand on queue to cast their votes in a polling station on the bank of the Brahmaputra river during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A security person walks past queues of voters in a polling station on the bank of the Brahmaputra river during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Morigaon district, Assam, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
People stand in a queue to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A person drinks water to beat thirst and humidity as he queues up to vote during second phase of national election, near Palakkad, in southern state of Kerala, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A man squats to rest as people queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Jammu, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Elderly voters sit as others stand in a queue to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
People queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
People check for their names in the voters' list as they arrive to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A voter shows her identity papers and signs her name in the polling register before casting her vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Tangkhul Nagas stand in a queue to cast their votes in Shangshak village, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yirmiyan Arthur)
An elderly woman arrives at a polling station to cast her vote in Shangshak village, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Yirmiyan Arthur)
A woman waits to cast her vote at a polling booth during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A man shows his identity papers to a polling official as people queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A security personnel stands guard as people queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
People queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A man squats to rest as people queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
People queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week long national election outside a polling booth in Kochi, southern Kerala state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
People queue up to vote behind a statue of the Hindu goddess of learning, Saraswati, during the second round of voting in the six-week long national election outside a polling booth in Kochi, southern Kerala state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
People queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A policeman stands guard as people queue up to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week long national election outside a polling booth in Kochi, southern Kerala state, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
Elderly voters sit as others stand in a queue to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
People stand in a queue to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election in Nahal village near Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh, India, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A man shows his voter's identity card as he queues up with others to vote during the second round of voting in the six-week-long national election near Palakkad, in Indian southern state of Kerala, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
