Contemporary architecture schools under various universities train students beginning with the basic design development process to the detailed execution of their thesis. Learning, irrespective of the field depends upon the interests of the student.
Architecture – establishes a basic platform for many design profession. A few of them being: Interior Design, Graphic Design, Furniture Design, Product Design, Film making, Design Research and Documenting, and much more. But when a student decides to work in mainstream Architecture, then he/she must gain experience in both design development and technical aspects.
Importance of Problem-Solving:
Every Architecture school teaches and trains with various ‘problem solving’ methods. It is one of the basics and important requirements for any design process. But the drawback of problem-solving techniques is that students are not aware of its application in various other fields it could be applied to. One of the major growing profession is UI/UX design in current days. Every fellow Architect after graduating has only one major question in their mind. ‘What should I do now? To find your heart and soul in any profession takes a long period.
Some may succeed while others may not. Although Architecture schools teach a lot of other courses during workshops, the students must also be made aware of their scope, professionally. That will help the students to understand their need and importance.
Application of Subjects:
Like every course following a certain academic curriculum and schedule, Architecture in India has a well-planned teaching structure of five years, including a semester or a year of practical training. Generally, the first year comprises of a list of foundation courses, followed by core subjects. The foundation courses in Architecture includes – Basic Design, Mathematics, Visual arts, and so on. Students at such an initial stage of their architectural education, might not be aware of its application in the real field. It is vital to make them understand the basic concepts of their possible applications for a better understanding.
The Reality:
Most of the time, a life spent at architecture schools is not the same as life after graduating. The reality deals with various problems that are not experienced during college years. There are many major difficulties every architecture graduate faces after graduating and entering into the architecture profession.
Like in any other professional field, a fresher usually lies at the end of the hierarchy pyramid in most architectural firms. A college education should at least ensure that every student builds a good and strong portfolio using their unique quality. It could be anything-a software skill, the design process, the manual presentation skills, or any other interest, a student could have developed over the years. With the right motivation and guidance, a graduate should easily be able to find a better role in the field of their interests.
Communication:
One of the basic tools required for sharing one’s ideas with others. Mastering this skill can take time, but the methods of communication can be introduced and practiced in colleges, even before the students are sent for practical training. This should help them think and work better, and much neater. When a student steps out of the college and gets into a practicing architectural firm, he/she is expected to attend client meetings and other vendor meetings. All these communication skills if introduced and taught in schools, would be an added value to any student’s profile. They can carry out things with higher confidence and a clearer mind, which would result in confident solutions for problems.
New Addition of Subjects:
Above mentioned are some basic skillets to be taught and experienced in Architecture schools. An article has been published by The Times of India last year (2019), that certain architectural colleges that are affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University (JNAFAU) are expected to add four new subjects to the existing syllabus.
- Building Information Modelling (BIM)
- Intelligent Buildings
- Vernacular Architecture
- Architectural Documentation.
Although most of the universities in the southern region are familiar with Vernacular Architecture and Architectural documentation, their application, in the long run, are misunderstood and are not followed up well. This situation can be handled better if they’re used in the field of Research as well as Architectural Journalism. The two main subjects to be added are mentioned below.
Building Information Modelling:
The term ‘Building Information Modeling’ is always misunderstood as software, like Revit, AutoCAD, etc. But, what it really means is a guiding system adopted from the beginning of the project till its execution, including the following processes of 3D modeling, document management, coordination and simulation of the project. The BIM tool saves time in many ways and lets you execute multiple works such as design, analysis, and visualization, simultaneously. It needs a lot of practice to learn the process of BIM. Once, understood it becomes easy for every architect to design and build time-efficiently. To cope-up with the growing population of the world and their housing demands, an intelligent method of designing and construction is required, which is satisfied by the use of the BIM tool.
BIM includes 4 main processes:
1.PLAN
2.DESIGN
3.BUILD
4.OPERATE
Intelligent Buildings:
The design of intelligent buildings is very upcoming and is envisioned to form the future world. Intelligent buildings are designed to be energy efficient, self-sustaining, which could provide a responsive, effective and supportive environment for the future. The design of these buildings is conceptualized to be more flexible to balance the exterior and interior world at the same time while maintaining the context of the Urban fabric where it could be refurbished.
Presentation Techniques:
Students must know the techniques of various presentation methods of their designs, which play an important role in legibly and attractively, exhibiting their works. This is one of the important segments every architectural office requires expertise in, to stand out from the rest. Introduction to corresponding software which can be used to produce these renders and presentation drawings must be taught and practiced in the school itself.
The designing and execution of buildings can be made easier for the students, both during their academics and through their professional lives. These techniques and tools are already in practice in foreign countries which have accelerated their infrastructural development. Updated modern technology can be taught and the process could be implemented in our country for swift growth.
