ArcelorMittal steel shapes “Doshi Retreat” at Vitra Campus

In collaboration with ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company, the design manufacturer Vitra has unveiled the Doshi Retreat – a multi-sensory sculptural installation on the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein. Conceived by the late Indian architect Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, the project unites architecture, sound, and philosophy in a meditative landscape made possible by ArcelorMittal’s low-carbon steel.

A place of reflection and resonance

The Doshi Retreat consists of two interwoven paths that lead visitors to a gong room inspired by Hindu philosophy. The space is designed as a journey through sound and symbolism, with the resonant tones of the gong representing the chakras — the body’s spiritual energy centres. The ceiling is adorned with a hand-crafted mandala from India, symbolising wholeness and harmony.

Doshi, recipient of the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize, envisioned the project as “a journey of discovery” based on a dream of two intertwining cobras. The work was developed together with his granddaughter Khushnu Panthaki Hoof and her husband Sönke Hoof. Completed in 2025, it is both Doshi’s first project outside India and his final realised design before his passing in 2023.

Steel as structure and symbol

Central to the Doshi Retreat is steel — both as a structural material and a symbolic medium. The installation uses Indaten® weathering steel and HE220M beams produced to ArcelorMittal’s XCarb® recycled and renewably produced specification.
The heavy plates, made at ArcelorMittal’s mills in Gijón (Spain) and Belval (Luxembourg), were shaped by Ostseestaal, the only fabricator capable of realising the complex three-dimensional forms of Doshi’s design.

Indaten® was chosen for its natural patina and durability, developing a protective layer that evolves from dark grey to deep brown over time. This living surface reinforces the project’s theme of transformation and permanence.

“Together with Vitra, we are proud to support the realisation of B.V. Doshi’s first work outside India,” said Aditya Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal. “The Doshi Retreat shows that steel can be more than a material of industry – it can also be a medium of art.”

A new landmark at the Vitra Campus

Located among architectural icons by Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, and Herzog & de Meuron, the Doshi Retreat adds a contemplative new dimension to the Vitra Campus — merging design, philosophy, and sustainability.

The Doshi Retreat opens to the public on October 25, 2025.