As part of the globalization process, India has witnessed a flood of developmental activities in recent years. With an ever-increasing number of people moving to urban centres, there has been an increase in construction projects. India, a developing economy, is likely to have a population of 1.5 billion by 2030. Managing the growth of urban cities and other development projects may become a challenging task in future. There stands the importance of architects, urban planners, designers and other professionals related to planning. Today, architectural profession in India is widening rapidly because there is tremendous scope of urban design in rural areas and infrastructure development in the country as a whole.
Architecture is an art of organizing any given space not only functionally but beautifully. Over the years, architectural education in India has transpired a lot due to the combined effort of the Indian government and architectural colleges. Most of the Architecture colleges in India offer education in Architecture at undergraduate level. Students, who are able to clear All India Entrance Exam or state-level entrance exams such as Uttar Pradesh State Entrance Examination (UPSEE), get admission into top architectural colleges in the country. Colleges providing architectural degree programmes are gearing up to innovate the architecture programmes and increase international links in order to improve learning experiences of students.
The India-UK nexus is particularly beneficial for architectural education in India. Both the countries have the potential for robust institutional partnerships due to shared models of higher education. Last year, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that it is planning to open a new Chapter in India in 2015 as part of RIBA’s growing network of International Chapters. RIBA Chapter will work collaboratively with the Indian Institute for Architects (IIA) for the enhancement of the architecture profession. This networking will provide a greater learning opportunity to future students.
There should be right balance of urban development alongside infrastructure growth for the overall development in India. This concept increases the scope of architecture profession in the country. Most of the jobs in architecture come up in government organisations such as Public Works Department, National Institute of Urban Affairs, Departments of Railways, the Archaeological Department and others. Whether one has specialization in interior designing, environmental design and landscape designing, there are ample opportunities for architecture graduates in terms of earning.
Growth prospect and international exposure are enticing elements to choose a career in architecture, planning and design. However, there is a need to improve the quality of architecture education in Indian colleges in order to make students graduating with architecture degrees become futuristic, research-oriented and competitive.