“One of the great beauties of architecture is that each time its like life starting all over again”
Renzo Piano
Well, I wouldn’t say it is just the college that has taught me about architecture, but it is the first push which gave me the direction and made architecture an inspiration in my life. The reason I had planned on joining an architecture college was just that the buildings I saw while travelling fascinated me, it made me curious and keen on learning how to construct one. Frankly, I didn’t have any idea about it, for me, studies had always been limited to the books, followed by an exam and the need to get the highest to be the best. I had never thought that completion of something could give happiness which is beyond words and above the marks which all of us would care so much about. The college and the love I have for architecture has given me a new outlook towards life, it makes me feel powerful and responsible to revolutionize, to express without fear and be confident about my opinion. It taught me the power of the five senses, the power it withholds to provide knowledge to one-self if used wisely, which is way beyond the knowledge and satisfaction I could get by a single book. Architecture is a continuous cycle of teaching, learning and manifestation which has the power of hypnotizing one. You’ll be surprised to know that it is not only about making a building but is way beyond, it inspires one to read history, to think about future, to learn from songs, poems and writings, to be inspired from photographs, to conceptualize through words and phrases, to find an idea within the concepts of complicated disease and complex equations of math and physics. It is vast, and every day is a new day with a new skill and new people to learn and be inspired from. It adds spices to one’s monotonous life.
Let me start from the beginning, the first thing all of us were told when we entered college was not to address any faculty by sir, madam, Mr Or Mrs. rather just address them by their first names. ‘Strange’, that’s what my first thought was too but the explanation blew me off, they said that no one is above the other in this field, everyone is a designer with their perspective, knowledge, and this process of learning is a to and fro method; and the first step to achieving it is to break the barrier between a student and a teacher. This made me proud of my decision to be a part of the architecture community. The next sentence was to observe since it is the biggest contributor to one’s knowledge, though I didn’t understand what it meant then, I sure do now. The third was the absence of a distinct division between ‘classrooms’ which major people would refer as, but it is termed as a studio space in architecture colleges. The studios were open and free for anyone of any year to come and sit, share their knowledge and learn, be a part of discussions since this is the only way of learning; by communicating. Half of the things and the terms they used like ‘space’, ‘intimacy created through light canons’, ‘intuitive’, ‘context’, etc all were just bouncers in the first year. What I feel is it is more like a training course of self-development and self-exploration which brings out your true self; surely, model making skills, material exploration, construction techniques are all a part of it but they are just a push to the bigger picture, mere tools to smoothen the design process. What I feel is the learning one receives from architecture college is merely based on the person’s interest and passion one develops; it turns out soul mates for a few whereas a nightmare for others. You might have heard many individual and elders telling you that the course is stressful, it requires all of your time and dedication, it’s rigorous and full of sleepless nights, but what one fails to realise that it might be true for some but fun for others if you ask me I love it because I have signed up for it. The hard work, the sweat, tears are all a part of this amazing experience the results of which is shown in your final product, my work is my caffeine and my ‘me spot’.
The colleges don’t teach you anything if teaching for you is just about what is specified in the course. They say if one wants bookish knowledge one can see the course, rather it aims towards making one informative by making one aware about oneself, about the surrounding, it helps in finding your self, your true passion, precise thinking and decision making quality; it just intrigues one to learn and experiment and create. It is not a production factory, rather it just uses the method of art, design and drawings to express and become a voice which might not be liked by a group of people but be loved by the other half. It makes one aware of taking critique positively, but at the same time teaching that the opinions are subjective.
Well if you would like to know what have I learnt after three years of architecture schooling, I would say everything I know of, be it my knowledge of the European or Indian history, current affairs, new urban projects, various architects and their works, the classification in architecture styles, multiple modelling, rendering, parametric software, sketching, painting, the fact that every design is an inspiration and there is nothing called as original, several indigenous and modern construction technique, visualisation skills, exhibition design, product design, UIX design and the list goes on; now amongst these how much did the college teach as a part of the course not even half, but it is the competitive spirit the eager to learn, to explore and experiment taught by the college which encourages me to learn and learn and learn.
Architecture for me is a dialogue between permanence and impermanence, emerging from the roots of past with an aspiration towards the future, it has the power of simulation of senses within the viewer, and is an individualistic expression of the creator, it is a dialogue between one and all which is continuously evolving and moulding itself.
