Earth Hour 2018’s evening with ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’.

I didn’t realize yesterday was the day when the annual Earth Hour event is held. Ahh…yeah, yesterday was the last Saturday of March, the usual date selected for this global event that is aimed to raise awareness on climate change. First started in 2007 in Australia, this event has now entered its 11th year with much larger scale as it is now present in over 180 countries across the globe. Turning off all unnecessary lights for an hour appears to have contribute much but the event is actually persuading people to think and act beyond that one hour. The ‘turning-off lights’ is just a symbolic action to signify the need to care for the Earth in every single day. I find that the ‘Earth Hour’ event in recent years is getting lesser media attention and that could hamper its effect to reach out to more people and locations.

So, I was out for a dinner during 8.30pm to 9.30pm yesterday and so my house’s lights are all eventually turned off. I consider that as a support to the event too. As usual, major landmarks across the world including my own city’s Petronas Twin Towers (in Kuala Lumpur), Sydney’s Opera House, Taipei 101, Paris’ Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building in New York City, Egypt’s Pyramid of Giza, etc all turned off their lights yesterday for one hour to mark the occasion. Other supporting events with aim of ‘going green’ were also held concurrently.

I had the remaining of the evening spent on a movie. I joined in with my sister pleasing her two sons who wanted to watch ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ because the film is all about robots fighting monsters. The movie was just ‘ok’ (average) while its predecessor (first one released back in 2013) is slightly better. I couldn’t feel any suspense or intense moments although there are sufficient battle scenes in this movie. The climax (near the ending) just felt flat. It’s like watching an animation of robots fighting monsters with no material or depth. The visual effects are the one compliment here (I like seeing cities destroyed).

John Boyega is the main lead in this movie. I never liked him. He is not good looking and his acting is just very average and yet he was given a lot of important roles in recent years. Why is that so? I believe he successfully made a lot of connection with those Hollywood bosses and that he gained a lot of benefit from recent Hollywood issue of emphasizing diversity in film-making (he is black). He couldn’t hold the story together although he is the main lead while the other cast (mostly very young and unfamiliar faces) looks unsuitable and unenergetic for the roles of ‘saving the world’.

Parts of the story is also a bit draggy and that is similar to the first movie (besides than a surprising plot twist that I am pleased with). However, the first movie succeeds in building up momentum and climax for the audiences to get thrilled. The intense moments of biggest monster rising up from the ocean’s floor, Jaegar (name for the robots in the movie) wielding sword-like weapon while up in the outer space before landing back to Earth, huge explosion under the ocean to close the ‘bridge’ are some of the memorable scenes I still remembered from the first movie. I’m definite that I won’t remember much from this sequel a month or two later. Guillermo del Toro (who recently won Academy Award for Best Director for ‘The Shape of Water’ which won Best Picture) should return to direct this sequel. He was the one directing the first one and that was better. Steven S. DeKnight (unknown to me) is turning this sequel into a flat franchise going into its doom like the ‘Transformers’ series. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ a total of 6.8. It is still entertaining for a Saturday’s evening though.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Quick Architectural Tour in Singapore

I was in Singapore the past few days in a sudden move. Besides than attending a job interview, I also take this opportunity to travel around in this gorgeous island and visit some architectural icons. Besides than facing the interview with huge anxiety, I was actually enjoying the rest of my brief 3 days 2 nights trip to Singapore. The total cost spent on this trip is less than RM900. This amount covers bus ride to and from Singapore, parking fee at bus terminal, stay at budget hotel (not hostel), meals, phone data, and public transport in Singapore.

Here are 7 architectural icons in Singapore that I have visited during the trip:

1 – DUO Towers (Architect: Ole Scheeren, Year completed: 2017)

I am very intrigued by the unique form, hexagonal patterns and the balance of rigid geometry with curving surfaces of this complex of twin towers. They gave the design an overwhelming presence.

2 – The Gateway (Architect: I.M. Pei, Year completed: 1990)

This twin towers are located just opposite the DUO Towers and the former are here much earlier. A very simple modernist approach but still leaves a striking impression due to its sharp edges and angle that contributes optical illusion.

3 – Marina Bay Sands (Architect: Moshe Safdie, Year completed: 2010)

A ship-like structure suspended above three towers is definitely one of the landmarks of Singapore.

4 – Parkroyal on Pickering (Architect: WOHA, Year completed: 2013)

Massive curvaceous sky gardens and undulating layers of precast concrete forming parts of the design that created similar image to eroded rock formations are the highlights of this hotel building.

5 – The Pinnacle @ Duxton (Architect: ARC Studio Architecture + Urbanism, Year completed: 2009)

An upmarket public housing project in Singapore, The Pinnacle @ Duxton features 7 residential towers with 2 sky decks that connect all of them. The highest sky deck at the 50th floor is accessible to the public.

6 – The Hive, Nanyang Technological University (Architect: Heatherwick Studio, Year completed: 2015)

A very unique university building. The design goes beyond the stereotype classroom layout; all the learning spaces are in circular plan with no corners to encourage collaboration. The building has a naturally ventilated central atrium surrounded by shared circulation spaces and informal garden terraces. The outer appearance of this building really reminds me of stacked ‘dimsum baskets’.

7 – The Interlace (Architect: OMA + Ole Scheeren, Year completed: 2013)

Multiple residential blocks stacked in playful manner while creating picturesque voids, dramatic overhangs and numerous courtyards, pools and gardens for the residents.  ‘The Interlace’ won Best Building of the Year from World Architecture Festival in 2015.

I do enjoy this kind of trip whereby I can visit and experience some amazing architectural projects. I hope for more of such trips in near future to other places too. Singapore is certainly a city with luxurious and unorthodox architecture that one should explore if you are an architectural enthusiast like me.

(Copyrights reserved to all the images in this post)

Hooray! Another milestone reached: this is my blog’s 2000th post!

Yes, I did not write it wrong. It’s not 20. It’s not 200. It’s 2000! This post here, is officially the 2000th! I don’t think it’s easy for one person to produce 2000 blog posts with each one having an average 500 words. 2000 posts in a span of less than 10 years and that’s equivalent to about 200 posts in a year. Compiling all the 2000 posts together and it will turn into 10 books easily. I think that’s worthy of a mention and my post here is dedicated specifically to acknowledge and celebrate this achievement!

I purposely chose this day to publish this historic 2000th post because it also coincides with my dad’s 60th birthday today. I would take this opportunity to wish ‘Happy Birthday’ to my father. I’m wishing him abundance of great health and wealth! He is one awesome and caring dad who has loved, cared and supported me in all these years. At 60 years old now, he is aging (that’s inevitable) and I promise to myself that I will take good care of him and provide him with much better life very soon.

After a quick check, my blog got to the 1000th post milestone in August 2012 which is approximately 4 years after the blog started (started in September 2008). It took a little bit longer to reach the 2000th post (nearly 6 years to do so) from the 1000th mark. Well, I emphasize more on quality rather than quantity now. By the way, in few more months, and my blog will be celebrating another historic moment. It will be having its 10th anniversary later this September. I am also looking forward to celebrate 4 million views to my blog later on (hopefully in less than 2 years from now).

Now I’m in the midst of job hunting and I’m hoping for the best that I can get a good employment place very soon with cool salary, pleasant working environment, friendly colleagues, huge learning exposure, etc. I need some luck right now!

5 areas in KL that needs to be rejuvenated.

Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful city. It has soaring skyscrapers, bustling malls, happening streets, beautiful parks and interconnected public transport system. It also has one of the most beautiful and recognizable skylines in the world, mostly due to the majestic Petronas Twin Towers. However, there are much more that can be done to improve the city and to further place it into international sight. I have been living in KL for over 20 years and I can see huge potential for the city to turn from a typical unknown South East Asian city into a developed world-class destination. Here are the 5 areas in KL that needs to be rejuvenated. The areas here refer not only to a place but also to element and this list is driven more towards architectural perspective rather than conventional issues like transportation system and network, etc. KL can learn a lot from other cities across the world or even set its own trend.

Backlanes

Most backlanes in KL (typically lane between two rear side of shops) are in horrible condition. Clogged drain, rubbish scattered everywhere, rats running around, wastewater dripping and unlit in the evening are some of the characteristics of a typical backlane in the city. I am delighted by the authority’s action reported in news recently that they are planning to turn some of these backlanes into a cleaner and vibrant place for the community by painting the pavement and walls, and installing some facilities and public furniture. This approach needs to be done not only to some (touristy) places but to as many as possible. Why not we turn our backlanes into those lively ones as seen in cities like Melbourne?

Riversides

We have rivers running through the city but they are not well taken care enough. Recent effort to clean the river and beautify its surrounding is applauded (the River of Life project). However, I find that the river is still not clean enough (people here still like to throw things onto the river and vandalize the riverside), not accessible (people are still at a distance away from it without any opportunity for passer-by to truly appreciate and admire the nature) and the beautified riverside area along Masjid Jamek is not popular as intended. More shelters and natural air-cooling strategy are needed to provide visitors with a comfy walk in this hot Malaysian weather. We can really learn a lot from projects like Cheonggyecheon stream in Seoul, South Korea.

Shophouses

Many shophouses in KL are either abandoned or in dilapidated condition. The shophouses are considered architectural treasure to the city and they carries huge historical significance. Rather than forgetting them (or just demolishing them to make way for future developments), I can see huge potential in giving new life to these shophouses by transforming them into small hotels, boutique, cafes, museum, gallery, etc through adaptive reuse. Seeing them in poor condition as seen in most parts of KL especially at the Chinatown area is an eye-sore. A lot of adaptive reuse projects in Penang and Singapore can be used as reference in this case.

Towers’ facade

When you are viewing the city skyline during the day, you will be amazed by the huge number of sksycrapers in the city. However, as the sun sets and the evening comes, you hardly notice any buildings at the same place. Why is that so? Besides than the Petronas Twin Towers and KL Tower, there are only very few other buildings that will lit up in the evening, giving illusion to us that they are all gone. The skyline disappeared in the evening with only the brightly lit twin towers visible. KL can learn from Hong Kong or even other cities in China on how to further enhance a city skyline through lighting. Hong Kong’s daily city light show is a good example. Although this action seems to be wasting more electricity, but it is indeed an effective way to give a ‘wow’ impression to tourists, further enhance buildings’ aesthetic and reinforcing the sign that KL is a city that never sleeps.

Public housing flats

Before my grandma passed away, I used to visit her at least once a week in a public housing flat where she stayed. I was disgusted by frequently malfunctioning elevators, smell of urine in the elevators, and filthy corridors. The flats are perfect setting for horror movies too. When I first visit Singapore several years ago, I was in awe after seeing that all the public housing flats in Singapore are so well maintained, clean, organized and look new. Why can’t our flats here in Malaysia be like them? Simple action such as repainting the walls, proper maintenance and tightening security are sufficient enough to make a huge leap from our present public housing state. They are inevitably part of our city and should be given attention too although they only caters to mostly low-income residents. City is not only for high-class citizens with all those towering glass skyscrapers, but also should be a vibrant community setting for people of all other classes. The city can also look into building public housing flats with beautiful architecture like what Singapore has achieved from their award-winning Pinnacle @ Duxton.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Viral videos again, but this time…they are movie trailers.

There are a lot of movies this year that I’m very excited to watch. In average, I watched about 100 movies per year. That’s equivalent to watching 1 new movie in three or four days and it’s an impressive achievement. Besides than going for those major blockbusters, I also went for those smaller independent films as well as Oscar-bait movies (usually released near the year’s end). The award season for 2017 Hollywood films had just ended not long ago with the 90th Academy Awards (held early this month) and so discussions about award contention for 2018 films will only commence this November at the earliest.

Recently, two new movie trailers were released that caught worldwide attention. The first is the very first trailer for ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’. This movie is slated to be released in November this year. That’s a long wait (now is only March). 9 months to go. This film is the second in the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ franchise that revolves on Newt Scamander (portrayed by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne), a person who has interests on magical creatures in Harry Potter universe. The story sets few decades before Harry Potter’s timeline. I am delighted that J.K. Rowling decided to continue mesmerizing us with her magic-filled stories after the end of the successful Harry Potter books and films. The Harry Potter series is better (more enjoyable and engaging…and I grow up with it) than this Fantastic Beasts but people will still be attached to the latter due to all the nostalgia for the former. After watching the trailer (below), people are more excited for Jude Law’s portrayal of the young Professor Albus Dumbledore than seeing Newt’s latest adventure. The trailer which has been out for only 4 days has gained over 14 million views in YouTube alone.

The next trailer is for the movie that everyone has been waiting for 10 years. Yes…10 years! This movie will be the biggest of the year. Marvel has recently released its latest (and most probably) final trailer for the movie ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ which will be up in theatres worldwide end of next month. April 27th to be exact. Why today is not April 27th already?! I can’t wait for that day to come and I am very eager to watch it on the first day of its screening. It must be very hard to purchase tickets to this most anticipated movie of the year. This ‘Infinity War’ serves as a conclusion to the 10-year build up of all the Marvel superhero films that began with Iron Man in 2008. It will see all the Marvel superheroes (Iron Man, Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor, Hulk, Ant Man, Spiderman, Black Panther, Dr Strange, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, War Machine, Winter Soldier, Vision, etc) assembled together to fight the big bad boss, Thanos who came to Earth to collect all the 6 Infinity Stones to power up the powerful Infinity Gauntlet. The trailer (below) which has been out for only a day has gained about 30 million views already in YouTube alone.

My heart is pumping super fast while watching this trailer. I believe many would have the same reaction as mine (especially to those who have been catching up to all the past 18 Marvel superhero movies and not miss a single one) There are a lot of fresh new scenes shown in it compared to the previous trailers. There is about 1 more month to go! ‘Infinity War’ is expected to earn huge ton of money in worldwide box office and I’m predicting that it will gross around US$ 1.8 billion in the end (after analyzing that the first Avengers movie gained US$ 1.5 billion back in 2012 and the second one, Avengers: Age of Ultron obtained US$ 1.4 billion in 2015). The hype is real for this third Avengers which will see more superheroes and Thanos finally coming up to take on the avengers on his own! Marvel films usually do much better in both box office and in critics’ opinion (sorry to DC lovers). That’s a fact.

Plenty of viral videos in recent days…

When I meet up with my family or friends lately, I would be asked (or I’m the one to ask) if I/you have watched this particular video that has been widely shared? It’s becoming much easier now for anyone to get famous instantly (for the wrong reason) and also much easier for everyone to know about an incident immediately. With just a click on the ‘share’ button in any platforms (Wechat, Whatsapp, Facebook, etc) and with that actions repeated by over thousand of people, it is simply too easy to make one clip getting viral and hotly debated.

Just two days ago, I saw a clip of a Chinese woman rushing over to an empty parking spot and stand on it while the video is taken inside a car of which the driver intended to park on that spot. This is believed to have taken place in a car park building in US (New York City if I’m not mistaken). Argument rises between them as the Chinese woman insist that she is right to stand there to reserve the spot for his dad whose car is not even there yet. This is unbelievable but I think such cases do happen very often too (involves a lot of uneducated Chinese). I myself is a Chinese and I would never defend those kind of people although we are of the same race. It is a disgrace to the whole race and society for behaving like that. That Chinese woman is obviously not right as it is a spot for car and not for people. Whichever car comes first has the right to park on it. That’s the basic rule. The worst thing is that the woman insisted she is 100% right and is supported by her mother who later joined her in the argument and blasting the driver for being stubborn. Damn…what happen to this Chinese family? This incident leaves a very bad impression on the Chinese.

The other video that went viral recently is a horrific chairlift accident that happened at Georgia resort up on a snow mountain. The chairlift malfunction and resulted in reverse motion to all the chairlifts in a very high speed. People have to throw themselves out of them while some who didn’t do that were flung out when the chairlifts reached the end. I felt so intense and shocked while watching it. Fortunately, the height from the chairlift to the ground is not that much. If not, there would be much more serious injuries from people falling down and hitting the ground with much higher impact. This accident left at least 10 people injured. Now, this is one scary event that skiers wouldn’t want to encounter.

Last but not least, there comes another viral video that shown an accident that happened not in other countries but in Malaysia itself. A Chinese man, believed to be drunk, drove his car and smashed into the memorial hall of Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong (founder of Genting Highlands) which is located along the route up to this popular mountain resort. The man is then arrested. A lot of people discussed about it and assumed that the man must have lost a lot of money on gambling in the Genting casino and attempt to take revenge by crushing the altar of Uncle Lim (referring to Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong). The others, who had watched this clip, attempted to go up to the resort recently to gamble after believing that this accident would contribute bad luck to Genting and letting gamblers to win. Haha…sometimes Malaysians are too creative and superstitious in their mindsets.

Trust me, few more days later (or maybe even few hours later), there would be another viral video coming up…

Stephen Hawking dies at age 76.

My Facebook home page is suddenly being flooded with many reacting to the one breaking news today. I was shocked to learn that Stephen Hawking has passed away today at the age of 76. Born on 8th January 1942 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, Stephen Hawking emerged successful in the world of science and achieved world recognition despite his struggle with ALS disease.

The excerpt below is from CNN:

     Considered by many to be the world’s greatest living scientist, Hawking was also a cosmologist, astronomer, mathematician and author of numerous books including the landmark “A Brief History of Time,” which has sold more than 10 million copies. With fellow physicist Roger Penrose, Hawking merged Einstein’s theory of relativity with quantum theory to suggest that space and time would begin with the Big Bang and end in black holes. Hawking also discovered that black holes are not completely black but emit radiation and will likely eventually evaporate and disappear.

      Hawking suffered from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a neurodegenerative disease commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, which is usually fatal within a few years. He was diagnosed in 1963, when he was 21, and doctors initially only gave him a few years to live. The disease left Hawking wheelchair-bound and paralyzed. He was able to move only a few fingers on one hand and was completely dependent on others or on technology for virtually everything — bathing, dressing, eating, even speech. Hawking used a speech synthesizer that allowed him to speak in a computerized voice with an American accent.

     “I try to lead as normal a life as possible, and not think about my condition, or regret the things it prevents me from doing, which are not that many,” he wrote on his website. “I have been lucky that my condition has progressed more slowly than is often the case. But it shows that one need not lose hope.”

‘Stephen Hawking’ is a name known worldwide. I have met him before (ahh, just his wax figure in a Madame Tussauds Museum). I also get to know a bit more about him from the 2014 biopic movie ‘The Theory of Everything’ that revolves on his struggling life and romance. The movie which received 5 Academy Awards nominations, won one in best actor for Eddie Redmayne. I do remember that Stephen Hawking also attended the British Academy Film Awards in the same year. His knowledge, discovery, courage, and determination will surely inspires people from all walks of life. May you rest in peace, Stephen Hawking. You remains as one of the greatest in history and will be forever remembered.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

‘Black Panther’ reaches over US$1 billion in worldwide box office.

‘Black Panther’ is going really strong in worldwide box office. It has been the world number one film for four consecutive weeks. In fact, the movie has recently just broke past the 1-billion milestone with current grossing of US$ 1.078 billion. US$ 562 million comes from domestic earning while US$ 516 million are gained from international markets. Well, this figure is not stopping here as it still has a very strong run in the coming days or even weeks. Furthermore, the movie has just opened in China recently.

‘Black Panther’ is the 33rd film in history to earn over US$ 1 billion and is currently world’s 21st highest grossing movie (not adjusted for inflation). It is also the highest grossing film in 2018 and the fifth highest grossing film in Marvel Cinematic Universe (behind The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Iron Man 3 and Captain America: Civil War). The movie defies earlier projection which estimated that it will gross only about US$ 700 million (typical number for standalone superhero movie).

I have not watched this movie yet but I’m going to do so later. Although I don’t have much interest in it but I just won’t miss a single movie in MCU (‘Black Panther’ is the 18th film in MCU). Furthermore, this is the last movie before the arrival of the highly anticipated ‘Avengers: Infinity Wars’ on end of April where all Marvel superheroes are reunited once again to battle Thanos, the big boss. That is the movie that everyone is confident that it will goes past not only US$ 1 billion but US$ 1.5 billion to become among the world’s five highest grossing films in history.

Okay…let’s move on from all those numbers. More and more movies are able to join the 1-billion dollar club easily now and I think that is mostly due to the higher movie ticket prices nowadays as well as China’s recent flexibility that allows more Hollywood movies to be screened in their country which is now the world’s second largest market in this industry. Inflation is also a huge cause and going to the cinema has become a norm to all corners in the world. Just last year alone (2017), there are already 4 movies going past the 1-billion milestone. For this year, I am predicting that there will be at least four other movies that will join ‘Black Panther’ in the 1-billion dollar club. They are ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’, ‘Incredibles 2’, and ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Movie review for ‘Game Night’ and ‘Tomb Raider’ (2018)

The 90th Academy Awards has just concluded last weekend with ‘The Shape of Water’ being the biggest winner this year with 4 wins. As mentioned earlier, I’m mostly satisfied with the outcome this time (most are predictable) especially with my favourite (The Shape of Water) out of the 9 nominees winning the top honor; best picture. It successfully beats out the other favourites, ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ and ‘Get Out’ to win best picture in a very close race. Some disagreed with this selection while some find ‘The Shape of Water’ very much deserving of a best picture win (me included).

‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ which is released end of last year may stand a chance of hitting US$ 1 billion in worldwide box office before the end of its run as it has now grossed somewhere around US$ 930 million. It is still airing in some cinemas worldwide and I think it has not been released in Japan yet. So, it has a chance to become the 5th 2017 film to gross over US$ 1 billion in the end. On the other hand, ‘Black Panther’ which is released last month has already reached US$ 920 million. This movie which is the last before the upcoming ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ will be the first film in 2018 to gross over US$ 1 billion. Surprisingly, I have not even watched it yet.

I didn’t have that huge excitement to watch ‘Black Panther’ but I’m sure I will watch it somehow later…most probably before the highly anticipated ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. I went for two other movies instead recently. They are ‘Game Night’ and ‘Tomb Raider’. ‘Game Night’ is a comedy film that starred Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdam and it follows a group of friends whose game night turns into a real-life murder mystery. The movie is entertaining most of the time (there are some fun twists and black comedy added in) but still I do find some of the intended funny scenes to be a little pretentious (forced). The cast did amazing work and that compliment includes the supporting cast. It’s a nice movie for those who want to get their stress out but it is one easily forgettable film. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Game Night’ a total of 7.2.

‘Tomb Raider’ is my next movie for review. It is a reboot of the Tomb Raider film franchise and it immediately reminds me of the past two films that has Angelina Jolie in them. The effects are poorer back then but Angelina Jolie carried the movies with confidence and delivered them with great actions. Now, the leading lady is Alicia Vikander. She is a great actress but I don’t think she fit into this role well enough. It is mostly due to her small figure despite I knew she placed a lot of effort on it as can be seen from her abs in the movie. She lacks that aura of strength. Nevertheless, the movie is also very entertaining with some great actions especially near the end when the team entered the tomb (predictable yet still exhilarating adventure there). Daniel Wu is her supporting man and I’m glad that Asian is also starting get to a bit more prominent role now. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Tomb Raider’ a total of 7.4. Well, I hope this reboot just didn’t stop here as the story’s ending for this movie has already hinted that there is much more to do for Lara Croft.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

B.V. Doshi wins Pritzker Architecture Prize 2018

You may not have heard his name. I didn’t know who he is before today. B.V. Doshi (Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi) is the winner of this year’s Pritzker Prize, the highest honour presented annually to a living architect and is often referred as the Nobel Prize of architecture. Although he is not as popular as those star architects, but he now joined the elite group of past Pritzker winners such as Richard Meier, Oscar Niemeyer, Tadao Ando, Renzo Piano, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Peter Zumthor, Toyo Ito, etc. He is the first Indian architect to win the prize.

Excerpt below is from an article in Archdaily (https://www.archdaily.com/890126/balkrishna-doshi-named-2018-pritzker-prize-laureatez):

Doshi has been a practitioner of architecture for over 70 years. Previously, he had studied and worked with both Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn. Doshi’s poetic architecture draws upon Eastern influences to create a body of work that “has touched lives of every socio-economic class across a broad spectrum of genres since the 1950s,” cites the jury. 

Born in Pune, India in 1927, Doshi began his studies in architecture in the year of his country’s independence, 1947. After a period in London, he moved to France to work under Le Corbusier, and from there he returned to India in order to oversee work on Le Corbusier’s plans for Chandigarh, and on Le Corbusier’s projects in Ahmedabad such as the Mill Owner’s Association Building (1954) and Shodhan House (1956). Doshi also later worked with Louis Kahn on the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, beginning in 1962.

Since founding his practice Vastushilpa (now known as Vastushilpa Consultants) in 1956, Doshi has combined the lessons learned from these two modern masters with a local sensibility. His distinctly Indian form of critical regionalism synthesizes the sculptural concrete and brick forms of his mentors with recognizably Indian architectural layouts and urban morphologies. One of the clearest manifestations of this style is perhaps his own studio, known as Sangath, where striking concrete barrel vaults are combined with gardens, sunken communal spaces, and water features to mitigate the heat. In 1978, Doshi founded the Vastushilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design to develop planning and design approaches suited to the Indian cultural context; today, the foundation serves as a crucial link between the academy and the architectural profession.

In over 100 projects completed during his career, Doshi has also worked on a number of low-cost housing developments. After completing his first in the 1950s, he stated that “It seems I should take an oath and remember it for my lifetime: to provide the lowest class with the proper dwelling.” The apotheosis of this oath was perhaps the Aranya Low Cost Housing development in Indore. Completed in 1989, this network of houses, courtyards and internal pathways provides housing for over 80,000 people ranging from low- to middle-income families, and won Doshi the 1993-1995 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

Some of B.V. Doshi’s past projects are Sangath – B.V. Doshi’s Office at Ahmedabad (first picture), LIC Housing at Ahmedabad (second picture), Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (third picture), Amdavad ni Gufa (underground art gallery) at Ahmedabad (fourth picture), Aranya Low Cost Housing at Indore (fifth picture), Kamala House at Ahmedabad (sixth picture), etc.

In recent years, the jury behind selection of Pritzker Prize winners is more inclined towards selecting those who use architecture to contribute critically to the community and to the lower class society rather than opting for those with highly popular names attached with ‘loud’ and extravagant projects. It is a good move.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)