Doshi
Balkrishna Doshi believes that his journey is not entirely in his own hands: it seems chaotic and complex, and there may be an unspeakable inner drive and logic.*(Paths Uncharted)*
This realization seems familiar in Vedanta philosophy, especially Advaita Vedanta, advocated by Gandhi: all things interconnect each other while maintaining their particularity, ultimately pointing to the ultimate reality of Atman. In the context of colonialism, Indian intellectuals used Sutra Vedanta to respond to Western critiques of the inclusiveness of Indian philosophy. *(King, Richard (2002), Orientalism and Religion: Post-Colonial Theory, India and "The Mystic East," Routledge)* Under this premise, the simplification and standardization that have attracted attention in high Modernism and the pluralism in Indian philosophy have formed a fierce conflict: the necessity of the existence of simplicity it advocates, at least in the context of Indian philosophy and culture, have been weakened.
Another aspect of Balkrishna Doshi's understanding of complexity originates from his childhood experience of living in a traditional village with a huge family: material life and spiritual life intermingle, and the nature of the living space adapts to the complexity of the residents. A house always surprises people in space and beauty. There is always something new, something different (Paths Uncharted). Complexity and uncertainty, in this case, go hand in hand, and for Doshi, these mixed experiences all point to "the true meaning and purpose of the world." (Paths Uncharted) The logic that complexity ultimately points to a single purpose also corroborates the ultimate reality of Vedanta.
In 1947, after leaving J.J College of Mumbai, Balkrishna Doshi traveled to Europe and worked with Le Corbusier; after traveling in many countries, he founded the Vastu-Shilpa Foundation. (Vastu describes the total environment around us; Shilpa means "to design"). India became independent from the colony during this period, Mahatma Gandhi passed away, and Jawaharlal Nehru came to power. While Balkrishna Doshi incorporated his personal experiences, identity became an essential issue in the post-colonial context of the time; Reflections on Modernism also grew more assertive. As a result, naturally, Doshi connects experience with identity: this connection comes from the Vedanta philosophy, on the one hand, that ultimate reality comes from all human knowledge and experience, and on the other, from the development of Existentialist philosophy: "man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world – and defines himself afterwards."
From the development of Doshi's design philosophy, it is evident that developing a unique language system for India is a clear objective.
From an implicit logic, Doshi naturally believes that the language system of Western Modernism cannot inspire identity cognition for India: the Western semiotic language system is rooted in the context of simplicity and epistemological rationalism, which is a self-consistent reference system; Observation of the adaptation of localized modern architecture in Japan has further deepened this realization (Paths Uncharted). That is to say, the purpose of Modernism toward independence and authenticity is consistent, but the expression is necessarily inconsistent: this is also the embodiment of multiple correct paths in a pluralistic logic system.
Doshi's use of localized language also stems from his early philosophical context: the connection between past, present, and future is the only way to connect the mind and can ultimately generate a unique and precise identity. Contrary to Modernism, unconscious poise and unplanned behavior are closer to the representation of nature *(Identity in architecture - Contemporary pressures and tradition in India)*; Recognition of the uniqueness of each thing in complex systems also makes it impossible to eliminate the manifestations of natural things actively. From the natural, vernacular, and complex spatial language, the spontaneously generated experience can be connected vertically in time; From another perspective, the causality and reincarnation in Indian philosophy are connected with the real world in this way.
The creation of experience also testifies to his deep recognition of complexity: he places equal emphasis on individualized experience and shared experience, rejecting abstract human needs.