New Delhi: Balkrishna Doshi, who helped build Chandigarh and changed the face of low-cost housing, has won the Pritzker Prize, considered the Nobel for architecture.

Doshi, 90, is the first Indian to win architecture's highest honour. The award will be bestowed on Doshi, the 45th laureate, at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto in May.

"Housing as shelter is but one aspect of these projects," said the citation of the Pritzker jury, which included Ratan Tata. "The entire planning of the community, the scale, the creation of public, semi-public and private spaces are a testament to his understanding of how cities work and the importance of the urban design."

Doshi worked with two masters of the 20th century - Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn. He helped supervise the construction of Le Corbusier's projects in Chandigarh and Kahn's Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

"My works are an extension of my life, philosophy and dreams trying to create treasury of the architectural spirit. I owe this prestigious prize to my guru, Le Corbusier," Doshi said.

Doshi's key projects include the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology in Ahmedabad, the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and Tagore Memorial Hall in Ahmedabad.

Calcutta, too, houses his buildings. Doshi gave the city its first "large-format, socio-economically tiered" housing in the shape of Udayan, The Condoville, and Upohar, The Condoville.

The architect designed Aranya Low Cost Housing in Indore in 1989, which accommodates over 80,000 individuals through a system of houses, courtyards and a labyrinth of internal pathways.