Indian Architectural Schools
All architectural courses in India are highly exclusive, and take on only students with high marks throughout their schooling. The maximum class size for architecture is 40, meaning that each student is able to benefit from close attention from their instructors. 5 years of intensive study later, the newly-qualified architect is able to begin work.
Prospective candidates to these schools are required to take the Joint Entrance Examination, widely regarded as being one of the world’s most difficult university entry examinations. Acting as a common entry exam for many Indian technical universities, competition is extremely tough - each year only 11,000 of around 1.2 million (or 0.92%) of candidates are admitted. These 11,000 places are split amongst 51 universities. The exam tests the applicants’ capabilities in physics, chemistry, mathematics and technical drawing across two papers. The results from this exam can then be given to universities by candidates in order to prove their success. Only those with the very highest scores can be admitted to India’s most prestigious architectural universities.
The School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi is India’s premier architectural school. Founded in 1941 by the Indian government with the goal of providing quality architecture education and now ranked 7th in Asia, the SPA has developed a reputation over the last nearly 80 years as one of the finest establishments for learning the discipline of architecture in the subcontinent and indeed throughout the world. This school is particularly prestigious and exclusive, having been granted special status by the Indian government as an “institute of national importance.” Some of the school’s previous alumni have included Eugene Pandala, Gerard da Cunha and Revathi Kamath.
Another famous Indian architecture school is the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, which has a rich and varied history dating back to 1946. Initially modeled after the world-famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the school opened in 1951, with an initial roll of 224 students and 42 teachers. The university has since grown to having 9000 students and 550 faculty members. The goal from the beginning was for the school to act as a bridge, as a way of bringing together India’s rich and varied culture and wisdom and exciting, modern technology. This university tends to trade places with the SPA every year for the spot of number one architecture school in India.
The Sir J.J. College of architecture is famous for its commitment to using modern technology and techniques in the architecture process. Originally founded in 1913 alongside the Sir J.J School of Art, this was the first architecture school to be founded in Asia. Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy (the eponymous Sir J.J.) was a famous businessman from Bombay, where the schools can be found, and wanted to train people in the same domain that had made him his fortune. He was also a great philanthropist, donating money to build hospitals, schools and other public infrastructure. Nowadays, the school is one of India’s most prestigious architectural universities, and in 2013 hit number one in the rankings, and never slipping below third since the rankings began in 2009.
Offering courses in architecture as well as other domains of engineering, science and technology, the Birla Institute of Technology produces graduates which are very highly sought-after, particularly those who have completed the master’s programme in urban planning. This university was founded in 1955, again by a philanthropist named B.M. Birla. Due to offering courses in science and technology as well as architecture, students of this university are able to take advantage of the very highly-developed IT facilities to help them with their research as well as their architectural design projects.
Established in 1955, the Jadavpur University in Kolkata is another of India’s prestigious technical universities. The architecture programme began in 1965 and was initially part of the engineering department, having 15 students and being headed by Professor Amiya Banerjee. The famous urban planning course began in 1981.The architecture department of this university takes pride in its community outreach programmes, providing consultancy services to the local community, and with many members of the architecture department being involved in volunteering their services to those less fortunate. There is also a students’ association of architects that allows students from less well-off backgrounds to thrive.
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