Build on your skills

SIMATS’s College of Architecture and Design will offer a holistic architecture curriculum with emphasis on allied skills

Once a student decides on his/her career path, it is only natural for him/her to choose the institute that offers the finest courses, to achieve that goal. However, in many cases, it is also highly likely that a student may not want to go the mainstream route. It would be ideal for such students if a course offers the opportunity to branch out into various, and perhaps less conventional paths, than initially thought.

Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS) in Chennai, is set to do just that by introducing the Saveetha College of Architecture and Design (SCAD) with a unique curriculum. The aim of the newly-designed curriculum is to not only teach students architecture, but also to give them an opportunity to explore other subjects which may benefit them.

SCAD offers a holistic architecture curriculum, with design studio and technological workshops at its core — a unique programme with emphasis on critical thinking, practical experience, creative explorations, liberal arts, innovative technologies, and quality research.

Wide range

The programme, with a flexible-credit system, offers an opportunity for students to choose their subjects and electives from a wide range of options such as film-making, journalism, liberal arts, interior design, product design, digital technologies, heritage walks, environment, theatre and music, and so on.

The idea to introduce electives such as journalism was to enable architects to evolve their skills in writing and communication, which will help those who would like to pursue something different from the mainstream architecture route. For example, architectural journalism is a growing field which focuses on articles or essays on future cities, environmental standards, heritage, and related subjects.

Film-making as an elective aims at encouraging students to explore new media to convey an idea, whereas the fascination for product design and interior design gives architects a wider perspective in allied fields for creative expression of their ideas and views.

Professor Durganand Balsavar, Dean of Research, says that the course was made interdisciplinary because it was felt that today, the architecture courses within the country are so focused only on buildings that when the student graduates, he or she tends to not be as well-rounded in different skill sets. “Nowadays, many architects don’t just stick to the norm; many diversify into things such as freelance journalism, which the usual college courses don’t equip students for,” he adds.

Saveetha University has international collaborations with Penn University, Arkansas State University, University of Sheffield, Curtin University, and many more. Collaborations with international universities provide the possibility of exchange studios, workshops and travel to experience new cultures.

Travel programmes have been proposed to universities in Europe and South-East Asia, as well as study trips to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and other states in the north, to expose students to the rich cultural diversity, contemporary developments and architecture heritage. The programme also looks forward to hosting faculty and students from international universities as well as to collaborate and work in the studios of Saveetha in Chennai. Recently, an international workshop was conducted by Professor Balsavar, with students from Braunschweig University, Germany. A lecture was also organised in collaboration with the Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Chennai.

Hands-on

“It is important to provide hands-on workshops in a school of architecture, where students are exposed to materials and innovative technologies as well as construction processes,” says renowned architect Dean D’Cruz, who has been invited to mentor students at Saveetha.

These workshops, which will give students the experience and knowledge of different cultures, cities, technologies and ecological themes, will also be open to students of all universities and practising architects.

The five-year B. Arch programme has an intake of only 40 students per year, and has received approval from the Council of Architecture, India. Admissions are open to students who have written the National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA).

The first semester commences in mid-August, this year. The eligibility criteria are as per the guidelines of the Council of Architecture, and is indicated on the website.

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