Search
A sensory, architectural structure designed to immerse visitors in a contemplative and meditative experience.
Located on the Vitra Campus in Weil Am Rhein, Germany, the Doshi Retreat is a spectacular structure that engages the senses to immerse visitors into a meditative state of mind. The design was created in a collaboration between Pritzker Prize winner Balkrishna Doshi, his daughter Khushnu Panthaki Hoof and her husband Sönke Hoof. The architectural installation marked the first time Balkrishna Doshi completed a project outside of India, and ultimately became the last design he worked on before his passing in 2023.
Drawing inspiration from Indian spirituality and a dream about two intertwining cobras, the Doshi Retreat flows organically like a winding, twisting path that takes visitors through a sensory experience. An audio system integrated inside ground-level concave recesses produces a series of flute and gong sounds that guide visitors along the structure. At the end of the path, a circular room with curved stone benches and a skylight houses a large brass mandala crafted in India. The textured surface of the hand-hammered mandala reflects the light and casts shimmering shapes around the space.
The Doshi Retreat is not just a tranquil sanctuary that invites visitors to relax and enter a contemplative state, it’s also a sustainable architectural structure. ArcelorMittal donated the XCarb® corten steel that makes up the structure, a cutting-edge material produced only with renewable energy from mostly scrap steel. Over time, the walls of the sanctuary will develop a natural patina, gaining a beautiful texture as well as more warmth. Photography© Julien Lanoo.
