ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION IN INDIA

Glimpse into the Past

The subject is comprehensive and divides itself into three parts: (i) Ancient Architectural Education,
(ii) Medieval Architectural Education and (iii) Modern Architectural Education.

. In 6 th CE India, witnessed not the beginning but the development in philosophical thought. It was
not a case of the dawn of philosophy as in Greece but what may be described as the full glow of
philosophical days. One can, therefore draw a conclusion that the art of architecture suitable to the
people living in that age also flourished in India side by side. Such a conclusion can be substantiated
by reviewing the Indus civilization which was in a fairly matured state as early as 3000 B.C. The
buildings constructed in that region during this period were of astonishing stability. The principal
buildings were oriented with their sides towards the cardinal points. The walls of private and public
buildings were constructed with a pronounced batter. They were built of burnt bricks and were two
or more storeys in height. The bond adopted for construction of walls was the same as the modern
one known as “English Bond”. There were market halls, offices, palaces, religious buildings and also
bathing establishments and each city was divided into different words for protective purposes. All
these show that the builders of these cities were not only proficient in the art of building houses but
they were well skilled also in the art of town-planning as proved by the methodical manner in which
the cities were laid out with straight streets at right angles, the main thoroughfares running almost
due north and south and east and west. This method of town-planning closely resembles the modern
American method of town-planning characterised as chequered board town-planning. It is,
therefore, quite evident that there existed teaching institutions which produced such builders and
town-planners. Unfortunately no records in the form of inscriptions in stone or manuscripts of any
other kind indicating the means through which architectural education was imparted to the master
builders of that age are available. In this connection I would like to make a suggestion that one or
two candidates appearing for the final examination of the R.I.B.A. should take up this subject for
their thesis and with the help of other literary persons who have made some research work in this
direction should try to throw some light on such a subject which is so vital to architects.

Means of Imparting Education in Ancient Times

- ‘Shilpa’ ( शिल्प ) means an art, fine or mechanical. Here, ‘Shilpa-shashtra’ is used in the sense
of ‘Vastu-Shashtra’, latter term being less usual.
- ‘Vastu-Shashtra’ takes architecture in its broadest sense and implies what is built. It denotes:

- All kinds of buildings

- Town-planning;

- Furniture

- dresses
 - ornaments and Sculpture

OTHER CASES WHERE WE WITNESSED ARCHITECTURE STUDY IN INDIA.(OPTIONAL)

- Another instance - “detached references to individual buildings are found in abundance in the
canonical texts. At places it appears as if Buddha were delivering discourses on architecture.
He enjoined the supervision of building construction as one of the duties.

Medieval Architectural Education

It is only after the great Indo-Aryan migration from the north-west and which in the course of time
laid the foundation for the Vedic age, that some authentic information was available with regard to
the author of architectural works and the method of teaching in general. Cities largely of wooden
construction began to appear in various parts of the country and according to Dhammapala, the
great Buddhist Commentator, they were planned by an architect of the name of Maha-Govind who is
stated to have been responsible fo the layout of several of the capitals in northern India in the 5th
century B. C. This is the first mention of an architect in the annals of the country.

Models to scale were also prepared. In the Upanishads it is related that an architect of the name of
Suradeva exhibited to his patron a model of a temple which he had built at Pataliputra. The
architects of that age followed the “shilpas' ' or the rules of the craft, a miscellany of religious
formulas and astronomical propositions. All these were committed to memory by them and were
sufficient to enable the builders of this age to construct buildings without any constructional
difficulty. It is, therefore, clear that architectural education on systematic lines was received by the
architects of India during the medieval times. The subjects such as the principles of design, plain and
solid geometry levelling, building materials, practical and theoretical construction, painting,
modelling and sculpture were definitely taught to them as can be evidenced from the numerous
marvellous buildings constructed by them. The education available then was mainly directed as
aesthetic considerations and it went on developing from this point of view only as the method of
construction was very simple. No arch construction was introduced by them in their buildings with
the result that they had no opportunity to study the nature of thrust and the means to counteract it.
The theoretical knowledge of the medieval architects was, therefore, very limited. Yet in spite of this
drawback, the principles of design which they were taught were perfect. The mode in which the art
was practised was clear and intelligible. For certain qualities the Indian buildings are unrivalled. It
can, therefore, be well deduced that architectural education was scientifically imparted during the
medieval times.

Architectural Education during 17th and 18th Centuries

● Architectural education in India must have surely attained a higher standard after the
medieval period as compared with that of Europe.
● The wonderful edifice of Taj Mahal and Gol Gumbaz which are unique and unrivalled and
other buildings of such class arc enough to prove that architectural education in India
available during the 17th and 18th centuries was of the highest order as compared with the
contemporary architectural education of the other parts of the world; because without
possessing scientific education, it is never possible to conceive of such extraordinary
planning and to execute it.
● In the case of Taj Mahal, the architect, in addition to observing the principles of design, had
to study the bearing capacity of the soil in close proximity of the Jumna, construction of
retaining walls, effect of wind pressure on minarets and many other constructional problems.
● It is significant to note that modern Rajput architecture came into being with the building of
the city of Jaipur in 1728. The plan of the city of Jaipur showed the development of modern
town planning during the beginning of the 18th century in India when the subject of town
planning was regarded as a recent invention of European science.
● Gol Gumbaz is a wonder of constructive skill. Its stupendous dome is the biggest in cubic
contents in the world and the entire construction of the monument demands sound
knowledge of theoretical construction.
Modern Architectural Education
After the conquest of India by the British, the Indian master builders who hereditarily followed the
building craft had seldom opportunities to keep themselves busy in constructing the buildings in
Indian traditional style. Government and private buildings in big cities of British India and Princely
states were built in European architectural style. The designs were prepared by European architects
and the works were carried out with the help of the blue-prints supplied by them. This state of
affairs. however, could not be continued for long as the architects in government employment in
India felt a keen necessity of having tracers and draughtsmen with them, who would be just able to
trace and do reproduction work for them. The creation of one or two classes where such persons
could be trained was inevitable.

The Government of Bombay took the lead and started a two years’ “Draughts man’s Course” in the
Sir J.J. School of Art, Bombay in 1896. The boys used to learn in the classes which were held only in
the mornings from 7-40 to 9-40 and earn their livelihood by working in governmentt architect’s office
or elsewhere during the day. Thus with the introduction of this two years’ course, the Modern
Architecture Education or rather the Historic Architectural Education in India was born and was in its
tenderest infancy till 1908 when it was extended to four years’ course. Although important subjects
pertaining to architectural education were included in the syllabus of the four years’ course, yet the
subjects taught particularly the technical subjects were of a rudimentary nature. The theoretical
construction subject designated as “Stresses and Strains” was being taught for the first time during
the second term of the fourth year. The students used to get hardly five or six lectures on the subject
of theoretical construction throughout the four years’ course and the time that was allotted for these
lectures was utilised for drawing a typical stress diagram for a king post truss only without being
taught previously even the most elementary portion of applied mechanics, theorems of triangle of
forces and polygon of forces, the knowledge of which is absolutely essential for drawing a stress
diagram. The way in which this subject was taught simply exhibited its mockery; but those days of
our being bluff ended in 1922 when the four years’ course was converted into full five years’ course.

A new era of architectural education was heralded with the opening of the five years’ course. Having
realised that theoretical construction is the backbone of architectural education, the then professor
of architectural section introduced this subject in the syllabus of all the five years. Many more radical
changes were made by including new subjects and extra-curricular activities in the curriculum. The
architectural education thus became full-fledged and a diploma was awarded after passing the fith
year final examination. It was recognised by the Bombay Municipality for the purpose of issuing
Surveyor’s Licence to practise in the city of Bombay and even the Council of the Royal Institute of
British Architects recognised this five years’ course for exemption from the Inter R.I.B.A. Examination.

Ambitious students who could not afford to go to England for passing the final examination of the
R.I.B.A. and who were craving to gain still higher education were striving hard to devise ways and
means for getting further facilities in India and as a result of their efforts the Government of Bombay
started in 1929 Atelier Classes (evening classes) for the purpose of coaching students for the Final
and Special Final Examination of the R.I.B.A. and the Final Examination of the R.I.B.A. was held for
the first time in 1930 under the auspices of the Indian Institute of Architects and since then these
examinations are being regularly held in Bombay under the supervision of the R.I.B.A. Examination
Board in India. The modern architectural education in India already attained its status and high
standard during the time of the final phase of freedom fight and after the achievement of
Independence, got full scope to expand throughout the length and breadth of this country. Professor
Claude Batley who was the body and soul of this education played an important role in the expansion
of this education and saw Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, Baroda, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Howrah and Kharagpur
giving birth to new in situations of architectural education. These institutions arc now in a matured
state, some of them being affiliated to their respective Universities.

Necessity of Thorough Technical Knowledge

The curriculum prescribed by the various Universities has been adequately framed so as to give
complete knowledge of both architectural and technical subjects to the students. Buildings of
multifarious nature such as fiats, factories, schools, colleges, libraries, offices, municipal buildings,
museums, art galleries. hospitals, theatres, hotels, public halls, stadia, aerodromes etc. which an
architect is called upon to design involve a lot of technology. He must avail himself of the most
modern method of construction and materials such as pre-stressed concrete, mushroom concrete,
shell concrete, aluminium. etc. We are passing through a mechanical age and days of bullock cart
speed are gone. We must move fast and future scientific discoveries pertaining to building trade will
compel us to move faster. Therefore we cannot segregate aesthetic considerations from technology.
Our creations should not be a prey to adverse criticism and if we claim to be experts in the building
profession, they should be such as would exhibit a happy combination of aesthetics and technology.

In these days of competition, an architect must be an all-rounder in his own professional field,
otherwise he cannot survive. “Survival of the fittest”. In the days to come when the supply of
architects will exceed the demand, they are likely to fall short of their reasonable average income.
Under such circumstances, there wilt be no alternative for them other than doing specialist’s work
also. It is a common practice in Bombay that a practising architect asks an R.C.C. specialist to prepare
R.C.C. calculations and drawings in respect of his work and that the specialist is generally paid 2 to
3% on the cost of R.C.C. work. In the case of those architects whose professional fees will not be
commensurate with the labour and time they spend, they can augment their income by preparing
their R.C.C. drawings and calculations themselves. Hence for this and many other reasons it is
necessary to become an all-rounder.

Post-Graduate Course
The Department of Architecture, Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, has been affiliated to the Bombay
University and the first batch of graduates came in 1957. Many others have obtained their degree
from other universities but no university has yet provided for a Postgraduate Course in architecture
for further development of individual geniuses. In absence of such facilities, candidates wishing to
specialise in certain technical subjects will be completely handicapped. Hence it is necessary to start
a postgraduate course to create a proper atmosphere for research work to enable gifted students to
enter into the field of advanced knowledge.

Suggestions for Improvement in Modern Education

There should be uniformity in education so that the quality of knowledge of the students should not
vary from State to State.

Educational tours should be arranged and works of both architectural and engineering projects in
progress shown to the students. They should not be mere sight-seeing tours.
Discipline which is expected to be observed by students is found deteriorating. Some college
students have gone to the extent of molesting Principles and State Governors. Such tendencies
should be curbed by instilling in them the moral obligations of a student. Cordial relations between
students and teachers should always prevail and to this end some casual talk be given to students in
an appealing manner during the course of various lectures.

Teaching staff should possess the necessary practical experience so that they can impart real spirit of
the knowledge to the students. It is the practical experience that really counts. Therefore, practising
architects should preferably be employed as part time visiting lecturers in all the colleges of
architecture in the country. Since the lecturers have to shoulder the great responsibility of imparting
education which is conducive to creation of efficient architects, they must be all-rounders. In ancient
times, while selecting a “guru” (a teacher) it was seen whether the person under consideration to
become a “guru” possessed all the learnings or not. To suit our requirements in modern times, a
lecturer should have sound knowledge of both architectural and technical subjects; but there is
something else which is still greater. That is the burning desire to teach. A lecturer cannot be perfect
unless his academic qualification is accompanied by this desire. It is this desire that takes a man to
the high pedestal of self sacrifice. Having been strained beyond the elastic limit due to pressure of
work in the office, the partners of the firm of Professor Batley requested him to give up teaching in
the school and to concentrate on his professional office work. Prof. Batley promptly replied, “I would
give up practice rather than giving up teaching in the school”. What a glorious example to be
followed!