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Aadal ArasiPosted: Dec 08, 2002 at 0000 hrs IST

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The Cave Man

“The Husain-Doshi Gufa.’’ There are no doubts in architectBalkrishna Doshi’s mind about the one creation of his thatcontinues to mesmerise him as much as it did when it wasconceptualised.

‘‘It’s been a decade since the idea came into being, born of a35-year-old friendship with Husain,’’ says Doshi. ‘‘Husain was always curious about architecture. Once, long ago, hequestioned me about the ideal construction for a place like

Ahmedabad, where it is summer for the major part of the year. I told him that underground construction was theanswer. This planted the germ of the idea in some corner of my mind and I remembered it years later when we hit uponthe idea of building a space for cultural activities, whereHusain could also display his paintings.’’

Architect Balkrishna Doshi at Husain-Doshi Gufa, Ahmedabad But dreaming up the idea proved to be easierthan convincing the contractors. ‘‘They couldn’t understandthe amalgamation of the depths of the earth, its surface andthe space above,’’ remembers Doshi. ‘‘So we had to rope intribals to work on the ferro-cement structure.’’

Even when the gufa (cave) was coming up, Doshi could seethe confusion among his students, to whom he hadpreached the concepts of foundation, straight walls, highceilings and polished floors. ‘‘Some thought it was aswimming pool when work was going on below the surfacelevel, when it reached the plinth level, they thought it was a

bunker,’’ laughs Doshi. ‘‘Even as it neared completion, very few could understand it, though they appreciated the essence of its architecture. That’s what makes this creation of mine special, that in spite of flouting all rules of architecture, this is a piece of architecture to reckon with.’’

After the basic construction had been completed, Husain came to the Gufa armed with his palette and brushes andannounced that he felt like painting. ‘‘That’s when he did the free flowing lines inside the Gufa. With RajeshSagara, Husain painted the walls, ceilings, even the air-conditioners. Then I decided to relate it with the primordialtortoise and the cobra, so Husain took up his brush once again and painted a headless black cobra on the tortoise-like structures of the Gufa. Then we had specially baked black saucers that were later broken to complete the china

mosaic on the structure,’’ says the architect.

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