03] The Current Scenario

Education is the lifestream of a country’s progress.6 It is important that this stream is copious at the source and equally accessible by all. In India, the Indus Valley Civilisation marked the beginning of architectural education, followed by ‘gurukuls’ and then formally by schools of art and architecture (Amaravati, Mathura and Gandhara). The establishment of full-fledged architectural institutions began gaining momentum in India only after its independence in 1947.7

Currently, in India, the Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) is typically a 5-year programme which includes a compulsory practical training period of 4-6 months, depending on different institutions’ curricula. After graduating, one can register themselves with the regulating body and work in the full capacity of an ‘architect’.

However, in the past few years, the country has witnessed an unpleasant boom in the number of architectural schools, ‘like a nuclear ball of fire growing larger and larger, as it expands outwards, ever further’.8 From merely 4 schools providing accredited courses in the field in 1947 (Figure 7), the number rose to 117 in 2005, and then rapidly increased to reach the current 469. These numbers raise serious doubts regarding this ‘explosive ball’ going out of control.

6 Pradhan, B.M. “Architectural Education.” In Seminar on Architecture, edited by Achyut Kanvinde, 129-135. New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi, 1959. Available at: < https:// architexturez.net/doc/az-cf-168628> [Accessed 8 September 2020].

7 Rahul Mehrotra, Kaiwan Mehta and Ranjit Hoskote, The State Of Architecture: Practices & Processes In India, 1st edn (Mumbai: Spenta Multimedia Pvt. Ltd), p.61.

8 Benninger C., The Future Of Architectural Education In India - The Crises And Challenge. ArchitectureLive!, Available at: <https://architecturelive.in/the-future-ofarchitectural-education-in-india-the-crises-and-challenge-christopher-benninger/> [Accessed 6 September 2020].

The Council of Architecture: A Regulating Body?

The Council of Architecture (COA) was constituted by the Indian Government under the provision of the Architect’s Act in 1972 legislated by the Parliament of India. The Architect’s Act provides regulations for the standards of education, registration of architects, standards of practice and recognised qualifications that practicing architects have to comply with. It is the COA’s responsibility ‘to regulate education and practice of profession’ whilst also maintaining the register of architects.9

The COA is responsible for formulating the ‘Minimum Standards for Architectural Education’ and also monitors the abidance of it by the validated institutions to provide a recognised degree qualification. The eligibility criteria cover admissions, staff-student ratio, infrastructure requirements, course modules, pay scale, programme duration and examinations. However, analyzing this document shows quite a few important points that either unachievable or left loose-ended (Figure 4).

COA is the single regulator for education and licensing, both. This is unconventional when compared to most other nations, where the two are intentionally kept independent. The licensing of architects is undertaken ‘to protect the public interest by establishing a threshold of competence’10 that one must traverse to earn the title of an ‘architect’. Setting a qualifying threshold implies that the licensing of architects is focused on ‘setting minimum standards’.11 Contrarily, regulating education is about pushing for excellence. By having a single regulator for both, leading to a ‘contamination of methodologies’12, education follows licensing via a ‘minimum standards’ outlook.

9 Council Architecture, “Council Of Architecture”, Coa.Gov.In, 2020 <https://www.coa. gov.in> [Accessed 25 April 2020].

10 Chandavarkar, P., 2017. Architectural Education and Regulating Architecture in India. [online] https://wordpress.com/. Available at: <https://premckar.wordpress. com/2017/10/14/architectural-education-and-regulating-architecture-in-india/> [Accessed 9 September 2020].

11 Ibid.

12 Ibid.

“From the viewpoint of education, it is necessary to realise that the regulation of practice is about ensuring a minimum threshold of competence, and when the same regulator takes on both practice and education there will be a tendency to take this ‘minimum standards’ approach to education as well.” 13

The role of the COA goes beyond the regulatory functions, extending to training and research, publishing journals, creating digital platforms as well as support for ancillary academic endeavours. However, the Council is struggling with its own shortcomings and focusing on rather redundant aspects associated with the ‘definition of professional services, of architecture as a multi-disciplinary practice, and the remittance of fees of foreign architects working in India’.14

National Institute of Advanced Studies in Architecture (NIASA) is a centralised national level institute set up jointly by the Centre for Development Studies & Activities (CDSA) and COA. The role of NIASA is to facilitate advanced research in the varied fields of Architecture to faculty, students and professionals and conduct QIP’s (Quality Improvement Programmes) for training teachers.

Earlier, the decentralised COA would regulate similar programs, wherein faculty would have to attend courses organised by individual schools for training purposes. Today, the QIP’s have become a ‘mere fulfillment in order to secure an advancement or increment in a teacher’s tenure’.15 Shockingly, despite being such an integral resource to the field, the NIASA website is filled only with advertisements by sham consultancies, low-grade institutions and random ticketing services. (Figure 5)

13 Chandavarkar, Prem, “Architectural Education: A Road Map To Reform”, Matter, 2018 <https://thinkmatter.in/2018/05/25/prem-chandavarkar-architectural-education/> [Accessed 10 October 2020]

14 Rahul Mehrotra, Kaiwan Mehta and Ranjit Hoskote, The State Of Architecture: Practices & Processes In India, 1st edn (Mumbai: Spenta Multimedia Pvt. Ltd), p.63.

15 Akhtar Chauhan referenced by Rahul Mehrotra, Kaiwan Mehta and Ranjit Hoskote, The State Of Architecture: Practices & Processes In India, 1st edn (Mumbai: Spenta Multimedia Pvt. Ltd), p.68.

On March 17, 2020, the Supreme Court of India passed a ‘milestone judgment’16 wherein ‘a person does not need to have a professional degree and be registered with the COA to undertake work related to architecture and its cognate activities’.17 (Figure 6) This has provoked ‘great alarm and consternation’18 for architects in the country as this will certainly lead to a deplorable deterioration in architectural quality as the field now opens up for anybody who is not trained as an architect.

16 Chandavarkar, Prem, Regulating Architectural Practice: Thoughts On A Recent Judgment From The Supreme Court Of India, 2020 [online] Prem Chandavarkar. Available at: <https://premckar.wordpress.com/2020/04/20/regulating-architecturalpractice-thoughts-on-a-recent-judgment-from-the-supreme-court-of-india/> [Accessed 1 November 2020].

17 Amit Choudhary, “No Bar On Architecture Work For Not Being Qualified And Registered Under Law: SC | India News - Times Of India”, The Times Of India, 2020 <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/no-bar-on-architecture-work-for-not-beingqualified-and-registered-under-law-sc/articleshow/74694477.cms> [Accessed 26 April 2020].

18 Chandavarkar, Prem, Regulating Architectural Practice: Thoughts On A Recent Judgment From The Supreme Court Of India, 2020.

Figure 5. Excerpts from the NIASA website

Figure 6. The Supreme Court ruling which states that a person does not require a professional degree (B.Arch/M.Arch) or Registration to undertake work related to Architecture

The Status of Institutions - Getting The Numbers

According to COA’s January 2020 report19, there are 469 schools of architecture in India with an estimated intake of 26,310 students for the Bachelor of Architecture programme per year. There were 4 architectural schools in India in 1947; 12 in 1972; 50 in 1991; 126 in 2006 and 177 in 2010.20 Thus, in the last 14 years, 339 new schools have been granted permission to offer recognised degree courses within the field. The total annual intake of the newer schools is 18,073 which is more than double that of the older schools i.e. 8,237 students.

This data translates to almost three times the number of fresh graduates entering the field as compared to 15 years ago, without the market expanding to this extent. This huge expansion has also led to underqualified, less-experienced staff teaching overcrowded classes of up to 80 students.

The author undertook a mapping exercise to understand the current distribution of architecture schools according to the states and cities (Figure 7 & 8). This was then followed by understanding the decennium growth patterns of private and government institutions post-independence until now. This data shows the unequal distribution of schools not just within the states, but also within the entire country. While some states have more than 60 schools, most other states have their total number of schools in single digits, while 5 states do not have a single school! The central and eastern regions barely have enough schools in comparison to the western and northern regions of the country.

“Twenty years ago, Mumbai had three architecture colleges. Now there are over 18 just in Mumbai. With the huge influx of new colleges around the country, especially the smaller city ones, I am sure it is impossible to find enough experienced teachers.” 21

19 Council of Architecture, Status With Intake Of Architectural Institutions In India As On January 01, 2020, coa.gov.in, 2020 <https://www.coa.gov.in/show_img.php?fid=629> [Accessed 25 April 2020].

20 Dua, S., and K. Chahal., Scenario of Architectural Education in India, Journal of The Institution of Engineers (India): Series A 95.3 (2014), p.187.

21 Sanjay Puri 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].

Architecture Schools in India 1947

[Year of Indian Independence] Total No. of Schools: 4

Tier-1 Cities

Important Tier-2 & Tier-3 Cities

Location of Architecture Schools

Architecture Schools in India 2020

Total No. of Schools: 464

Tier-1 Cities

1-5 Architecture Schools

5-10 Architecture Schools

10-15 Architecture Schools

15+ Architecture Schools

There is a shift in interest for the establishment, funding and management of new architectural institutes in the country; from being primarily state-run in the early years post-independence, to being heavily privatised today. This may be due to several reasons. Some of these academic institutions train students ‘solely for the market and ensconce them into a comfort zone’22, thus inhibiting their creativity and sense of curiosity. Additionally, a lot of the promoters see architectural institutions as an excellent source of financial profit through ‘capitation and other fees’.23 Some of these institutions are affiliated with real estate developers and since their vested interests lie there, they ‘merely teach and do little in terms of research, all set in [a] comfortable status quo’.24 However, sometimes it is not only about the financial gains, but also about the ‘status and power’25 that are associated with running an institution. Owing to the ‘mushrooming of schools’26 the institutions are in a race to lure students for admission. As a result, to ‘sustain their interest’ the schools undergo the process of ‘over grading in the evaluation process’, which leads to further deteriorating in the quality of education.27

Jindal School of Art and Architecture founded in 2018 by the Jindal Group; Anant National University founded in 2016 by the Piramal Group; Nirma University’s Institute of Architecture and Planning by the Nirma Group are some examples of prominent industrialists who have recently founded private architectural institutions charging an exorbitant sum of fees.

22 Mustansir Dalvi referenced by Rahul Mehrotra, Kaiwan Mehta and Ranjit Hoskote, The State Of Architecture: Practices & Processes In India, 1st edn (Mumbai: Spenta Multimedia Pvt. Ltd), p.61.

23 Chandavarkar, Prem, ‘Regulating Architectural Education: An Approach Paper’, Architecture: Time, Space & People, June 2004.

24 Mustansir Dalvi, The State Of Architecture: Practices & Processes In India, p.62.

25 Chandavarkar, Prem, ‘Regulating Architectural Education: An Approach Paper’, Architecture: Time, Space & People, June 2004.

26 Dua, S., and K. Chahal., Scenario of Architectural Education in India, Journal of The Institution of Engineers (India): Series A 95.3 (2014), p.187.

“Where are the teachers going to come from? Because the teachers need to come from my generation, who studied at a time when there were only 20 schools. So obviously there is not sufficient teaching quantity.” 28

Most of the newly founded schools are based in small towns. The issue of ‘shortage of faculty is felt acutely’29 in these small towns. In general, architecture graduates prefer to work as professionals over taking up teaching. Moreover, in many institutions, the full-time faculty is forbidden from running their individual practice. The issue is more severe for the senior faculty positions, wherein seldom would you find a senior architect willing to give up his practice to take up a teaching role, resulting in a shortage of experienced staff in many schools.30

The sudden explosion of schools accompanied by the regulation of faculty appointments based on their degree-holding has resulted in a situation wherein the cumulative number of teachers required that satisfy the pre-qualification norms, is so high that it would not even be satisfied by the number of Master’s degree holders that the country has produced until today. This has ‘resulted in a rash of Master’s degree courses by several schools wherein their own teachers are being forced or encouraged to take up the courses to satisfy the norms’.31 This throws the credibility of their education itself into question.

Owing to this unspoken shortage of teachers, the private institutes that charge exorbitant fees from students lure the good and experienced faculty from old, established institutes by paying higher salaries and thus increasing the inequality within architectural education.

28 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].

29 Dua, S., and K. Chahal., Scenario of Architectural Education in India, Journal of The Institution of Engineers (India): Series A 95.3 (2014), p.187.

30 Ibid.

31 Bhattacharjee. Suprio, ‘Notes From The Conference’, Domus India, February 2016 (Mumbai: Spenta Multimedia Pvt. Ltd).

Figure 9. Current distribution of schools

Figure 10. Growth of Government-Dominion schools

Figure 11. Growth of Private-Dominion schools

From a Business Perspective

As mentioned in the previous sub-topic, the sharp rise in the number of architecture schools in India can also be linked to architecture being a ‘fallback option’32 (Figure 13) for many students who opt for sciencestream courses. Many students join architecture because they are unable to secure admission into an engineering college.33

The long-standing quota system of seat reservation in India is an additional source of income for the promoters of various architecture schools. The selling of seats through ‘Management Quota’ and ‘NRI Quota’ have put the entire education system in a questionable state. The concept of Management Quota argued to be a ‘tacit understanding between the school and the state’ to help the school ‘raise funds and meet their capital expenses’34 leaves no room for the deserving, meritorious students.

It is interesting to see how the newer private institutions that can afford to hire top marketing staff, showcase their infrastructure, faculty and student facilities that students from other average institutions can only dream off. These are digitally marketed not only over their websites but also on several other famous social media platforms where they often appear as ‘ads’ or ‘paid sponsorships’. Owing to this competitive environment, ‘marketing can rise to the foreground’ and push ‘issues of substance to the background.’35 In all these years of architectural education in the country, students have applied for internships and job opportunities through their Portfolio and CV. However, these expensive institutions have ‘placement cells’ and tie-ups with leading global institutions and firms, solely for their students. (Figure 14)

From online advertisements to ‘purchase direct admission’ into architecture institutes (Figure 15) to outsourcing visualisations, physical models and even ready-made thesis projects, the commercialisation of the field is tremendous (Figure 16).

32 Sonali Rastogi referenced by Marcus Fairs, Huge Rise In Number Of Schools Causes Big Crisis In Indian Architecture Education, Dezeen, 2020

33 Urvashi Vashishta referenced by Marcus Fairs, Huge Rise In Number Of Schools Causes Big Crisis In Indian Architecture Education, Dezeen, 2020

34 Ravindra Punde referenced by Rahul Mehrotra, Kaiwan Mehta and Ranjit Hoskote, The State Of Architecture: Practices & Processes In India, 1st edn (Mumbai: Spenta Multimedia Pvt. Ltd), p.60.

Figure 13. Architecture as a ‘fall-back’ option leading to a huge rise in the number of schools

Jindal School of Art & Architecture offers cutting-edge technology for innovation and research, guided by top-notch faculty

Anant University boasts of partnerships with leading global institutes & universities NMIMS University’s Placement Cell is affiliated with some of the top architectural practices in India

Figure 14. Examples of infrastructure & facilities as marketed by various private institutions

36 Anant National University Partnerships, Anant National University, 2020 <https://anu. edu.in/partnerships/> [Accessed 10 November 2020]

37 Jindal School Of Art & Architecture | Facilities, Jsaa.Edu.In, 2020 <http://jsaa.edu.in/ facilities> [Accessed 10 November 2020]

38 NMIMS | Best Architecture College In India | Balwant Sheth School Of Architecture | B. Arch | NATA, Architecture.Nmims.Edu, 2020 <https://architecture.nmims.edu/ students/placements/> [Accessed 10 November 2020]

Figure 15. Online ad’s to purchase ‘Management Quota’ seats and ‘Guaranteed Direct Admission’ to schools in Tier-1 cities like Bangalore and Pune