Vitra's Doshi Retreat Offers a Sensory and Spiritual Design Experience

Danisha Liang
Nov 7
2 min read

The design incorporates a sinuous pathway, low-carbon steel walls, an ambient sound system, and a contemplation chamber featuring a brass mandala.

Vitra has formally introduced the Doshi Retreat, an immersive outdoor experience designed by Pritzker Prize laureate Balkrishna Doshi in collaboration with his granddaughter Khushnu Panthaki Hoof and grandson-in-law. Sönke Hoof For several decades, the renowned Vitra Campus in Weil Am Rhein, Germany, has emerged as a destination for design and architectural enthusiasts who appreciate its structures and archive displays, as well as for visitors who relish its expansive park-like environment.

Considering this, along with a recent visit to the Modhera Sun Temple in India, Vitra chairman Rolf Fehlbaum commissioned Doshi to create a setting on the Vitra Campus that elicited a spiritual experience. The Indian architect, who had previously collaborated with Modern luminaries Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, completed this design as his final effort before his death in 2023.

Julien Lanoo/ Vitra

Khushnu, Doshi’s granddaughter, stated, “This architecture originated from a dream Doshi envisioned of two interlacing cobras.” A written tale arose from this subconscious vision, accompanied by a drawn notion consisting of notes and evocations. It subsequently transformed into an invitation to undertake a voyage of exploration.

An undulating pathway, integrated into the natural landscape, is bordered by expansive XCarb® steel walls, an environmentally sustainable material manufactured entirely with renewable energy and composed of recycled steel. An ambient sound system is integrated within the structure, vibrating through visitors' bodies as they enter the "contemplation chamber." Khushnu characterizes the experience as one that "obliterates the distinction between self and structure."

The area culminates in a spherical alcove, partially exposed to the sky, featuring a rainwater basin encircling the base. Stone benches line the walls, surrounding a central gong, while a hand-hammered brass mandala from India casts warm light over the ceiling.