02] Setting The Scene

“It is said that Architectural Education is somewhat like a black-box because students enter as laymen and exit as architects, without really knowing what happened inside.” 2

Personal Experience

Family businesses hold a significant standing in the Indian economy. India ranks 3rd worldwide in terms of public-listed family businesses, after China and the USA, with 60% of them in their third generation.3 Having grown up in a similar environment, where our family business is manufacturing and distribution of industrial ceramics, I also had aspirations to contribute by pursuing engineering. However, as time passed, I discovered my passion for architecture and design, and with the support of open-minded family members, decided to pursue that instead.

Good quality education in India is very expensive and not easily accessible in all parts of the country. I am grateful that my family could fund my expensive entrance exam (NATA) training classes – which seems to be the requirement to get good grades and secure admission into one of the best architectural institutions in the country. Being a topranked private institute, with exceptionally advanced infrastructure, the tuition for my undergraduate degree was exorbitant, and again, was sponsored by my family.

The thing about these private institutions in India is that due to the income generated from high tuition fees, the concept of management quota, and fundraising abilities, they attract highly competent and experienced faculty that graduate from the best architectural institutions globally. More often than not, when one is part of such an institute, it is easy to become oblivious to the overall quality of education in other institutes in and outside the country.

2 Jadwiga Krupinska, What an Architecture Student Should Know (New York: Routledge, 2014) p.116.

3 ‘The CS Family 1000 in 2018’, Credit Suisse, September 2018 <https://www. credit-suisse.com/about-us-news/en/articles/news-and-expertise/the-family-businesspremium-201809.html> [accessed 1 April 2020]

Figure 1. The Cycle of Unequal Opportunities

With reference to the ‘The Cycle of Unequal Opportunities’ sketch (Figure 1), having graduated from a top-ranked institute with good grades helped me procure an internship at a leading architectural firm in India. My exemplary performance prompted the partners to offer me a fulltime position, which I continued for two and a half years. Working at a medium-sized firm with an inclusive environment, I had the opportunity to interact with other interns and junior architects who had graduated from various architectural institutes in India. These interactive discussions on design, research and technological experimentation brought to my attention the inequalities within architectural education, especially in the Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and towns of India. The lack of experienced faculty, a conservative design approach, absence of research-driven innovation and no exposure to modern technology or software seemed to be a prevalent issue. “It is a big crisis. The lack of teachers is a crisis. The large number of colleges is a crisis”. 4

In India, 1% of the total population holds more than four times the wealth of 953 million people, which comprises the bottom 70%. The combined wealth of the mere 119 Indian billionaires is greater than the country’s annual budget.5 In such a country, where the ratio of financial inequality is constantly rising, mine was a relatively privileged experience and it is through this experience that I have realised that there are other, substandard educational journeys which prompted me to write this dissertation as a greater inquiry into this subject.

4 Sonali Rastogi referenced by Marcus Fairs, “Huge Rise In Number Of Schools Causes “Big Crisis” In Indian Architecture Education”, Dezeen, 2020 <https://www.dezeen. com/2019/10/18/indian-architecture-education-crisis/> [Accessed 23 April 2020].

5 Oxfam International. 2020. India: Extreme Inequality In Numbers | Oxfam International. Available at: <https://www.oxfam.org/en/india-extreme-inequality-numbers> [Accessed 5 September 2020].

Alternative Experiences

Questionnaire: To get further insight into the existing inequalities within architectural education in India, a questionnaire was emailed to a set of twelve participants comprising current students and young professionals. The questions were simple, non-specific and demanded subjective answers thus yielding varied responses based on individual experiences. Owing to the anonymity of the responses, the participants were expected to be critical and explicit with their views.

Participant Selection: Participants of different age groups were selected based on specific criteria (Figure 2 & 3) to maximize personal experiences encountered in different institutions nationwide.

Geographical Location of Participant’s Institution

Year of Establishment of Institution

City Classification based on Location of Participant’s Institution Participant’s Age & Experience

Government or Private Dominion Institutions Institution’s Annual Tuition Fee

Figure 2. Criteria for Participant Selection

Figure 3. Mapping the Diverse Range of Participants’ Institutions

A Few Observations

Based on my personal experience coupled with the responses to the questionnaire by students and recent graduates, the key emerging sectors within architectural education where the inequality is most prevalent are: Status of the Institutions, Faculty, Curriculum, Access to Resources, Fees, and Course-related Stress.

Here Lies the Purpose

This dissertation aims to understand the current crisis and inequalities that exist within architectural education in India. By analyzing the underlying issues at both, the macro and micro levels, the objective is to explicitly portray domains within architectural education in India where inequalities are most prominent. The concluding chapter briefly speaks about certain modifications that can be undertaken to tackle the current crisis and bring the student experiences at par.