Vitra's Doshi Retreat Is a Sensory & Spiritual Design Experience
The new addition to the Vitra Campus is an immerisve sanctuary designed by late Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi.
Summary
- The Vitra Doshi Retreat, Doshi’s final work, is a spiritual open-air experience at the Vitra Campus designed with his granddaughter and grandson-in-law.
- Its design features an undulating pathway, low-carbon steel walls, an ambient sound-system, and a contemplation chamber with a brass mandala.
Vitra has officially unveiled the Doshi Retreat, an immersive open-air experience conceived by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Balkrishna Doshi with his granddaughter Khushnu Panthaki Hoof and grandson-in-law Sönke Hoof
Over multiple decades, the world-famous Vitra Campus in Weil Am Rhein, Germany, has become a destination — not only for lovers of design and architecture, who enjoy its buildings and archival exhibits, but also for visitors who enjoy its sprawling park-like atmosphere.
With this in mind, as well as a recent visit to the Modhera Sun Temple in India, Vitra chairman Rolf Fehlbaum enlisted Doshi to design a space for the Vitra Campus that evoked a spiritual experience. For the Indian architect, who previously worked under Modern masters Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, the design panned out to be his final piece before he died in 2023.
Doshi’s granddaughter Khushnu shared, “This architecture was born from a dream Doshi had of two interweaving cobras. From this subconscious vision emerged a written narrative, followed by a sketched concept composed of notes and evocations. It then evolved into an invitation to embark on a journey of discovery.”
Woven into the natural landscape, an undulating pathway is enclosed by sweeping XCarb® steel walls, an eco-friendly material produced entirely with renewable energy and made with scrap steel. Built into the structure is an ambient sound system that is shaped by the structure itself, resonating through visitors’ bodies as they reach the “contemplation chamber.” Khushnu describes the experience as one that “erases the boundary between self and structure.”
Culminating in a rounded alcove, partially open to the sky, the space contains a rainwater basin surrounding the base. Along the walls, stone benches flank a central gong, and on the ceiling, a hand-hammered brass mandala made in India refracts warm light across the space.
See the gallery above for a closer look at the Doshi Retreat at the Vitra Campus. Stay tuned to Hypebeast for the latest design news and insights.
