The 1988 curriculum is a substantial shift in terms of its emphasis and forthright intentions to understand the position of man in the society with respect to environment and the institutions that it creates. The curriculum reiterates the importance of our understanding of the environment and its interpretation as central to the discipline of Architecture. It emphasizes the realities on our country in terms of it ancient traditions and contemporary changes. The idea of an architect is one that is rooted in these realities of the land, committed to excellence and also relevance. The curriculum document is written in a manner emphasizing the context of the society and subsequently the goals of the profession.

The curriculum statement

A curriculum for Architectural education evolves from the nature of Man and of Society, and of its aims and aspirations and its expressional potentials. It states the relationships between Man, his institutions, his techniques and its interpretation in spatial and physical terms. A curriculum is a statement of intentions, which in its structure states the relationships between disciplines and courses, clarifying objectives, stating emphasis and points of view. The aim of Architectural education it is recignized is to train the mind to percieve the context of man and society in its best potential, to interpret it through developed skills of expression into a sustainable and qualitative living environment.

CONTEXT

The context of Indian society brings together the inheritance of an ancient culture, its history, thought, philosophy, arts and architecture and its varied and multiple expressions, and the challenges of a contemporary society with an evolving new social order, thought, philosophy, new techniques and potentials of new expressions. It demands continuity with the ethos of the past, its sense of place, along with the capacity for continual rethinking and the need for transformed expressions of the present time.

GOALS

The curriculum in stating a set of relationships and emphasis, and of methods, aims to develop an individual rooted in his/ her context of society and place in India capable of the disciplines and skills through which to interpret them into a qualitative physical environment. It aims at an individual committed to excellence and relevance.

THE CURRICULUM 1988

The curriculum states three major streams

Stream 1: The first is oriented towards Man, Society and Expressions, and deals with the development of culture, thought, philosophy, arts and science and their impact on the world. It deals with the Humanities and the Arts.

Stream 2: The second is oriented to Technology, and deals with the understanding of man, of the physical world, of materials, their properties, behaviour and techniques through which man has shaped his physical built environment of the elements of the physical world that he must control and harness to give physical comfort. It deals with Materials, Structural principles, Constructional systems and services and Environmental sciences.

Stream 3: The third the central discipline is oriented to Synthesis, of the forces of man and society, of the nature and needs of social institutions, interpreted through physical environment. This is the field of Design synthesis. It deals with the development of design sensibility and skills, principles of design, its history and theory, the development of design vocabulary and grammar, of its expressional skills, through a set of graded projects and programmes of increasing complexity.

From the First stream, knowledge is gathered about man, his needs and their myriad expressions, from the Second stream understandings are developed about the nature of the physical world, climatic phenomena, and building possibilities. The design studio brings these understandings together in developing expressions for the needs of human institutions in space and form that answer to the integrity between part and whole and conducive to a qualitative living environment.

COURSE STRUCTURE

The course structure and relative emphasis between sub disciplines vary depending on their position within the course.

The first 2 years emphasise the development of background, sensibility, skills and its disciplines, and are considered as the Foundation years.

The third and the fourth years emphasises the interrelationship between the disciplines and their resolution into integral totals increasing complexity and are considered the Developing years.

The final year emphasises the development of individual, his/her maturity, and establishment of directions and is termed as the Exposition year, during which the student develops his/her theoretical understanding and skills or design synthesis to personal choice of directions and to a high quality of manifested resolutions.

CREDIT LOADS

The course is of five years (ten semesters) duration. The year consisits of two semesters of approximately sixteen weeks each. Each semester carries a contact load of 24 credits, where 1 credit is equivalent to 1.0 lecture hour per week in theoritical subjects or 1.5 studio workshop or laboratory based courses.

Each semester consists of, in addition to the Design studio, of not more than six subjects and each subject is normally of atleast 2 credits. In addition to subjects that form the Core of the curriculum the course offers 12 credits out of the total 240, as Electives. These Electives are offered within each of the disciplines of Humanities, Arts and Crafts, History and Theory and Technology, so that a student can develelop his / her interests in these areas and design the emphasis / structure that he / she wishes to follow.

ASSESSMENT

Student performance is continually evaluated through programs, projects, tests, quizzes and periodic assessments of sessional work. Generally atleast 60% of the assessment is through this system and not more than 40% weight is assigned to end of semester examinations. All core subjects are examined at the end of the semester through juries or crits, viva voce or examination papers. Electives are normally assessed through assignments or papers.

In order to clear a subject, the student must obtain atleast 50% marks in all the assessments in the subject. While grading is done by the teaching faculty in all subject areas, the end of the Third Year and Fifth Year are examined additionally by an External exa