Pramod Balakrishnan paints a stark picture of the architectural profession, highlighting its internal divisions and its focus on serving the elite. He argues that this, coupled with a flawed educational system churning out compliant technicians rather than innovative visionaries, is stifling the field’s potential.
Kanay Shah in his post-graduate dissertation titled “Inequality in Architectural Education in India”, investigates structural disparities in architectural education across government and private institutions. He explores how financial constraints, faculty quality, curriculum design, and technological accessibility shape students’ experiences.
Jaimini Mehta critiques architectural education in India, arguing for reform that balances vocational training with liberal education, combining science, humanities, and arts. He challenges the Western-centric approach that has marginalized indigenous architectural knowledge and practices.
Striving to start a conversation about what can be done to improve architectural internship, we bring to you opinions from the educators’ and professionals’ side.
The delinking of internship from education is particularly relevant today, as architectural education is now far more diversified, and is no longer confined to designing and making buildings.
In India, the need to include internship as a part of the undergraduate degree programme arises more from the shortcomings of the professional licensing system than from the intrinsic requirements of education.
It is important to remember that all through life these kids have always been instructed and evaluated. In the process, most become doers and lack the ability to think for themselves. What they are taught in schools makes them problem-solvers and plan-makers – they understand the process of design as being linear.
Are we preparing our new generations to look deeper? Search more broadly? Are we getting them interested in thinking and working beyond self-sustenance?
Chitra Vishwanath opines: The office needs commercial success to retain the practice – it is not an ‘Institute’ to either teach or provide a knowledge sharing platform. Further, architectural education is a long, drawn-out process and is never finished.
Defining architecture in precise words is a difficult task. Architecture has always been true reflector of prevailing social economic and cultural trends of the society. Not only designs of building but even planning of towns and cities is also found influenced by various social economic and cultural issues like religion rituals and customs, political system trade and commerce, therefore architecture can be rightly called as the mirror of the society. Architecture is one of the earliest professions of the world and has been in the service of humanity from time immemorial. Architecture has been undergoing a process of evolution throughout the successive stages of social development. – Ujwala Chakradeo
Because you have landed up on this page, we assume that you have decided the career of your choice, and, it’s Architecture. Welcome aboard, next five years, or more in some cases, are going to be an adventurous journey for you. It is assumed that you have already gathered the necessary information about the profession and the life that architects and architecture students live. No? Set up an appointment with the best architects in your city, go to all colleges in the vicinity, talk to students, talk to teachers, visit their websites and spend some time at the “college canteen” where you will get some ‘real’ feedback. We have left the job of deciding ‘top ten’ architecture colleges in India to other magazines, we don’t trust. 😉 – Career in Architecture
Dr. Sridhar Rajan – B. Arch., IIT (1970-75), M. Arch., IIT, (1976-78), PhD, FIIA. Presently, Principal, MIDAS (TN34), on the East Coast Road, Tamilnadu, is a permanent
Keshav Gangadhar is a chief architect at Eco-Design and a Professor at McGans Ooty School of Architecture. He completed his graduation from School of Planning
Anurag Roy is Principal, Gateway College of Architecture and Design, Sonepat, Haryana. He graduated from School of planning and Architecture in 1976 and completed his Research
Harimohan Pillai is a practicing architect, an educator and an activist. He runs his blog and a personal website: archiestudio.in, from where he shares his architectural
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