Few days ago for while going through some references
regarding Architecture education, I once again referred to the Article of Prof.
Jaimini Mehta1 and Speech of Prof. Christopher Benninger2,
deliberating respectively about past and future of Architecture education in
India. Both raised in my mind many questions about the way Architecture
education has shaped over past century and also the relation of Architecture
profession and Engineering discipline, particularly as it has emerged in the
modern India. Thinking over it for a while gave rise to an assumption that I am
trying to put here as a kind of hypothesis.
Although Architecture as profession was in practice in
India for ages, in the comparatively recent past the community looked at it as
a craft (Kala) rather than a branch of knowledge (Vidya). As a result, it was
passed on from generation to generation as a skill set with craftsmanship as
its backbone and little knowledge about why and how that was particularly
evident in the ancient texts and treatises such as Samarangan Sutradhar,
Mayamata, etc. As the population grew and the power (political and economic) of
Indian kings and dynasties diminished during 19th century, the
Architecture profession akin to the way it is practiced now had its beginning
during British Raj.
However, the British rulers never wanted to start
Architecture education in India. Architecture is direct and most effective
expression of power and culture. Architecture is patron based art. Unlike other
arts, Architecture needs patron first before the architect can perform. As
such, historically almost all significant projects of Architecture were regally
commissioned. Sometimes, it was religion rather than the king, as in case of
Vatican. Many a times the edifice in making was related to religion (Temple,
church, etc.) As a result, the Architecture so produced strongly reflected
power and culture of the patron. It had its effect in making a lasting
impression on the community. Many a times such architecture, when secular in
nature, shaped the emerging building typology and also the social behavior.
For this very reason the British always wanted their own
Architects who through their works could project British culture and supremacy.
They inaugurated the course at Sir J. J. College of Art, Mumbai to train
architectural assistants to assist the British Architects. All the major
projects in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and New Delhi were assigned to British
Architects. In those times it took long to travel from Britain to India by sea
and it was not possible for the architects to frequently visit India. A few
architects settled here but many relied on trained draftsmen and assistants to
take care of minor day to day decisions required on site. Sir J. J. College of
Architecture served as a training base that produced assistants who understood
the language of drawings and faithfully able to produce details required on
site. Although, some Architects, particularly Claude Batley, were sympathetic
to requirements of Indian society, climate and architectural tradition, the
base of most of the architectural works remained European in terms of basic
form and its arrangement. Indian motifs and craft were only superficially used.
The training laid emphasis on Art and Craft of construction.
Till India became independent no full-fledged
architecture course was started in India. Just around the dawn of independence,
new schools emerged at Delhi, Vadodara, Kolkata and little later in Pune. Till
such time, if any Indian wanted to study Architecture, after due training at
Mumbai, he had to go to UK and appear for RIBA examination. The whole process
was time consuming, expensive and beyond reach of most of the aspirants.
Architecture education hence was reserved for few affluent people.
On the other hand, to fulfill the dreams of British
rulers and Architects they required platoons of Engineers. For this reason they
established engineering colleges, particularly to train civil engineers who
could supervise the architectural projects. Due to presence of these courses
good number of civil engineers got trained and
also started serving the common man and community in general,
as builders of the buildings that were required to be built and also as
designers in absence of Architects. Immediately after independence with change
in rule, British Architects were not wanted by the rulers and Indian Architects
were simply not there at all. That led to a vacuum in terms of architectural
service providers. Being closest to Architects, Civil Engineers who were
available in abundance and also working as builders for petty works, moved in
to fill the vacuum. All the positions that were actually required to be
occupied by architects were occupied by engineers as temporary measure. Till
today these posts remain to be occupied by engineers.
This has also led to another dilemma in the field of
planning. World over, planning in part of architecture and the training courses
in planning are often extension to architecture schools. Although
multidisciplinary in nature planning is considered as part and parcel of
umbrella discipline of Architecture. In India, due to the absence of architects
during initial years, planning was looked at as training course for engineers
(and few architects) in service of public works departments and local
authorities who required planners to create ‘Master plans’ for towns and
cities.
There is very well defined distinction in the training of
Architects and Engineers. The Engineering approach is basically of ‘Problem
solving’ nature, believing in Universal solution. Architecture approach on
other had is ‘Context based’ and therefore local rather than universal, taking
into account local climate, culture, materials, aesthetic beliefs and community
practices. In absence of such grounding in basic training, engineers planners
failed to deliver the proposals that could really lead to improvement in the
overall functioning and lifestyle of community.
The educationist, decision makers in government and the
community in general must realize and take steps to correct this situation soon
as possible.
Reference:
Benninger Christopher. Future of Architecture
Education, Ahmedabad 2012
