Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis
| C. A. Doxiadis | |
|---|---|
| Born |
14 May 1913 Greece |
| Died | 28 June 1975 (aged 62) |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Buildings | Teacher-Student Centre, University of Dhaka |
| Projects | Islamabad, Riyadh |
Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis (also Konstantinos; 14 May 1913 – 28 June 1975), often cited as C. A. Doxiadis, was a Greek architect and town planner. He became known as the lead architect of Islamabad, the new capital of Pakistan, and later as the father of ekistics.
Doxiadis was born on 14 May 1913. He graduated in architectural engineering from the Technical University of Athens in 1935, obtaining a doctorate from Charlottenburg University (today Technical University of Berlin) a year later. In 1937 he was appointed Chief Town Planning Officer for the Greater Athens Area. During World War II he held the post of Head of the Department of Regional and Town Planning in the Ministry of Public Works. He took part in the Greek resistance and was decorated by the Greek and British governments. He distinguished himself as Minister of Reconstruction at the end of the war and it was this experience that allowed him in the 1950s to gain large housing contracts in dozens of countries.
In 1951 he founded Doxiadis Associates, a private firm of consulting engineers, which grew rapidly until it had offices on five continents and projects in 40 countries. In 1963 the company changed its name to DA International Co. Ltd. Consultants on Development and Ekistics.
One of his best-known town planning works is Islamabad. Designed as a new city it was fully realised, unlike many of his other proposals in already existing cities, where shifting political and economic forces did not allow full implementation of his plans. The plan for Islamabad, separates cars and people, allows easy and affordable access to public transport and utilities and permits low cost gradual expansion and growth without losing the human scale of his "communities".
Doxiadis's work in Riyadh and elsewhere represented what one anthropologist has called "containment urbanism," that is to say policies aimed at integrating rural masses migrating to cities and thus prevent the emergence of subversive political movements. In Riyadh, Doxiadis reoriented the city on a southwest-northeast access, rendering "the planned city...similar to an immense mosque facing Mecca."
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