Balkrishna Doshi :
Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi was born in Pune in 1927. After he completed his studies at J. J. School of Art, Bombay in 1950 he became a senior designer on Le Corbusier’s projects in Ahmedabad and Chandigarh. In 1956 he established a private practice in Vastu-Shilpa, Ahmedabad and in 1962 he established the Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for Environmental Design. He also founded and designed the School of Architecture and Planning in Ahmedabad. Over the years Doshi has created architecture that relies on a sensitive adoption and refinement of modern architecture within an Indian context. Doshi’s architecture provides one of the most important models for modern Indian architecture. His important works include Gandhi Labour Institute at Ahmedabad (1980 to 1984) and ‘Sangath’ at Ahmedabad (1979 to 1981).
Charles Correa :
Charles Correa was born in Hyderabad, India in 1930. He studied at the University of Michigan and Massachusetts Institute of Technology after which he established a private practice in Bombay in 1958. Correa’s work in India shows a careful development, understanding and adaptation of Modernism to a non-western culture. Correa’s early works attempt to explore a local vernacular within a modern environment. Correa’s land-use planning and community projects continually try to go beyond typical solutions to third world problems. An international lecturer and traveller, Correa was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1984, the Aalto Medal and the UIA Gold Medal in 1990. He has also been awarded gold medals by the Royal Institute of British Architects, the International Union of Architects, and the India Institute of Architects as well as the 1998 Aga Khan award of $500,000 for his Vidhan Bhavan in Bhopal, the world’s largest dollar amount awarded for architecture. His important works include the Bharat Bhawan, Arts complex, Bhopal (1982), Madhya Pradesh Assembly and the Kanchenjunga Apartments, Bombay (1970 to 1983). Correa also designed the Gandhi Sanghralaya in Ahmedabad as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
Jashu Shilpi :
Jashu Shilpi is a renowned sculptor who has been selected by the American Biographical Institute for its Millennium Woman Award which was presented during the 27th International Millennium Congress on Arts and Communications. She crafted more than 275 bronze statues and is popularly referred as the “Bronze Woman of India”. Her first work, a life-size statue of B.R. Ambedkar, was installed in Rajkot, Gujarat and has since then made several sculptures of national leaders.
Raj Rewal :
Raj Rewal (b.1934) is the one of the doyens of Indian architecture most renowned for designing the Asian Games Village at New Delhi between 1980-1982. Raj Rewal starting his practice in New Delhi in 1962 after having worked at Michel Ecochard’s office in Paris.
His other well-known projects include the Hall of Nations (Hall 6) at the Pragati Maidan Exhibition Centre, National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi; the Parliament Library in New Delhi and National Centre for Biological Sciences campus at Bengaluru.