Building Dreams: Architecture is the art of creating a vision

Whether it is designing futuristic cities in the air or contemporary ones on the ground, or underground, every architect aspires to be a Le Corbusier or a Laurie Baker, a Charles Correa or a Frank Lloyd Wright. Everyone may not attain such heights of fame but one thing is certain — years after the building you have designed is built, when you see people talking about it, living in it and identifying themselves with it, there will be a feeling of contentment, fulfilment and achievement and above all, a feeling of having put your own indelible signature on many lives. An architect does not do routine work. His or her work is full of challenges.

Architecture is a judicious blend of art, science and business — the art of creating a vision, the science of breaking up that vision into fragments and putting them back together again into a practical form and shape, and the business of organising and managing this reconstruction within financial constraints.

What do I have to do?

Architects design and help create the buildings in which we live and work. They are responsible for the original concept and are also involved in each subsequent stage, from design through construction until the final completion of a building project. Some architects may concentrate on design work but this depends on the type of organisation one has worked for and the type of contracts undertaken.

Architects receive a set of instructions from their clients or employers, roughly indicating the type of building required and the estimated budget available. The building may be residential, commercial or industrial. Each building may be designed from scratch or alternatively, existing structures may be converted. For example, houses may be turned into flats. Some clients have a preference for building designs according to vaastu.

A building must be practical and ideally suited to the site and its environment. It must also fulfil the needs of the individuals who will live and work in it. Preliminary research may be needed to understand more fully the needs of a potential user. The architect produces sketches and plans which are detailed enough to show sizes from which estimates of the cost of building materials can be produced. Architects must take into account the nature of the building materials to be used, their strength and durability and the effects of environmental factors. After the plans are finalised and accepted by the client, it is up to the architect’s office or department to obtain planning permission from the local authority, prepare and negotiate contracts with building contractors, engineers and surveyors, and supply all the drawings and estimates. The architect visits the site to check the progress and quality of work, issuing instructions to the contractor and certifying payments. He may have to live on-site if the location of construction is in a remote area.

What should I study?

You should have passed Plus Two with physics and mathematics to take the All India Engineering Entrance Exam. You will have to qualify in the IIT-JEE to get into a five-year bachelor of architecture course at IIT Kharagpur and IIT Roorkee. For this, you should have studied physics, chemistry and maths at the Plus Two level.

The National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA) is conducted by the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Architecture, which is the academic unit of the Council of Architecture. All unaided schools / colleges of architecture or any department of architecture within a college, requires that its applicants take the NATA Test.

What next?

Architects are sought after by almost all government and private firms, design consultancies and institutions. With the real estate boom in India, there is an increasing demand for good architects. Architects can set up their own consultancy or enter into partnership with well-established firms. Forty per cent of all architects are employed in various private architectural firms. Companies like DLF, Omaxe and Parsvnath recruit architects.

For those who are academically inclined, a good bet is a masters course in architecture. You can specialise in urban designing, regional planning, building engineering and management, landscape architecture and architecture concerning traffic and transport planning.

where to study

• School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.
• Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology,Ahmedabad.
• Sir J.J. School of Architecture, Mumbai.
• Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
• National Institute of Technology, Kozhikode.