Engagement with Life!

There is just one phenomenon that is perpetually going on infinitely: conversion of space into manifested form and dissolution of form into space – the cyclic pattern continuous. On a cosmic scale, space, form, force (gravity), light, time (and therefore perception) are interrelated. Hence, can we say that space is different from form OR is the form only an expression of space and that too – which undergoes constant change?! The process of conversion of space to form and form to space can be regarded as “engagement” by the Creative Force.

At the human level of existence (in biological terms) – this cyclic pattern is demonstrated as space – body + mind (place/ form and time) – space again. With this logic, it appears that ‘we’ may encounter million lives, each with a different set of body and a unique mind, and each life will eventually meet the formless space.

At the human level of consciousness, the cyclic pattern can be realized as space – idea/thought – process or action – manifestation or product – decoding of product to imagine the process – decoding the process to imagine the idea – decoding the idea to experience space….and the cycle from space to product to space continuous. It means that thoughts are a part of the chain of events that lead to action and making of built environments. And conversely, by observing the built environments, we can imagine the processes behind those and the ideas that seem to be hinted/ revealed by observing the built environment. In two words, we are involved in thoughts that led to conception of a form and the perception of the form/space. Therefore, ANY kind of a thought can lead to a manifested situation and any situation can be interpreted to reveal many ideas or thoughts. Thus, we operate with intentions and perceptions.

Lets examine each step. Space is formless – that contains the potential to generate anything. Hence, it is the most potent element.

From space, we have ‘thoughts’ – which mean intentions, tendencies, concerns, values etc. All such thoughts are bounded by the body – mind construct. Because there is a body, there is a mind to address the issue of existence. Thoughts tend to materialize everything – from concerns to issues to fears to hunger to desires etc – that’s the nature of thoughts and therefore they generate a manifested built environment! We prefer those thoughts that exhibit dependence of Nature and express empathy and comprehensiveness of all creations. We prefer those thoughts that expand our own self created mind boundaries and attempt to include all. We prefer those thoughts therefore, that come from the understanding of geography, history and philosophy. Having known which thoughts need to be preferred, an individual can be trained to inculcate such tendencies of thoughts, because finally, they would be creating a subsequent reality!

Thoughts lead to processes – which means, thought will contain a necessity (or urge) to manifest into something. It is concerned with ‘how can I make this happen?’ It is concerned with ACTION. Hence, process becomes important. Pure thoughts necessarily will lead to pure action. Impure/ grosser thoughts will likewise lead to grosser processes. Just thinking is not sufficient; you will be ‘compelled’ to DO something about it! That’s the Force of creativity you are encountering!

Processes lead to manifestation – either as art, architecture or anything else. The quality of manifestation will therefore depend on previous steps of thoughts and processes.

Lets see the reverse case.

The manifestation (art, architecture or any situation of people or person etc) will be ‘perceived’ by us in multiple ways. The perception depends on our own desires, concerns, values etc. The manifestation will lead us to know the process (in order to understand the situation). The process or a pattern of doing things will lead us to realize certain values/ concerns – which are nothing but thoughts or ideas. Where are ideas coming from? Space!

In life, pain, happiness are the forms of engagement – thoughts trying to manifest something. Being involved with life – means to be engaged in the act of creation (from space to form and from form to space again). The emphasis on “control” of thoughts means to create sensitively and responsibly and to also transform responsibly. The emphasis on “control” of thoughts means to be aware of the compulsions of cyclic nature of thoughts to manifestations and being engaged with the world likewise!

The Hammer and the Peeler

There are two experiences that we can offer the students – 

We help them to develop their skill sets by what is known and required to be done. There is an ‘idea’ of what is right (thought, process, product) and we teach them to be right at each step as per the norms. This assumes that students obviously are some steps behind the master and therefore, require training to perfect themselves. I call this – “hammering” to create an idol out of pure stone or creating a pot out of mud and so on. We begin with the assumption that students are ‘raw’ by nature and our successive attempts would mould them into good individuals/ products. 

The second approach engages the students to question themselves – their thoughts, processes and the products they make or perceive. This question reveals the ‘connections’ they have made for themselves and they are made aware of the connections that may benefit in their way of conceiving products or for dealing with situations. Thus, the idea of questioning is not to doubt them, but to let them discover the meaning of knowledge for themselves – this places responsibility primarily in their hands and the teacher is required to only guide/ give directions to their confusions or attempts to gain knowledge. It can result in a healthy exchange of ideas for both. In this, both the students and the master is involved – both may have divergent view points and that is acceptable. The whole mode becomes a kind of discussion, explorative and interpretative. I call this – “peeling off” known layers of knowledge the student has gathered and relook the situation in a fresh perspective. This is a much more harder process and may also be painful, but the rewards are phenomenal.

We required a good mix of both the approaches for creating a good academic environment.

Changing world views

How is connection made by thought and felt as an experience? Present times begs us to consider this question. The nature of the connection has a reflection on the kind of spatial experience we create for people to live and the nature of connection also informs the manner in which a given space would be read by people. In short, connection informs our thoughts which, in turn, inform our ways of conceiving and perceiving spaces.

The nature of connection in contemporary times is influenced by onslaught of virtual environment, and the necessity to absorb large amounts of information in a limited time. We need to see what happens in this scenario - our responses are subjected continuous (and accelerating pace of) change because of micro level changes in virtual environment. Analysis and inferences are dependent on micro unit of data. It means micro control of situations (discussions, arguments, divergent views etc.) and inability to relate one bit of information or inference with the other. perhaps, even analysis and inferences are broken down to bits to data without a common thread. Thus, the experience is of complete fluidity of thought and no idea of how the larger picture seems to appear or how we seem to relate to the big picture of life? So, is it that the big picture is no longer relevant to be considered? As the world appears as a set of bits of data - unrelated to one another - we don't have a complete picture of ourselves or the people around us or even the idea of relationships. We don't know our own selves, we are filled with contradictions and we can't understand implicit signals that people send us or the environment seem to indicate.  Extending further, we seem to forget the experience of a continuous and refined memory collected over the generations to form cultural and social traits. We don't seem to consider the effect of geography on history and philosophy. in a nutshell, we can't visualize a "pattern" or "tendency" to design or conceive or relate to the phenomenon around us. Decisions taken with knowing the pattern have larger longevity and applicability than taken in response to bits of slices of time fragments.

Thus, we are referring to spaces which become highly personal, highly instantaneous and unrelated to the notion of what makes history, culture or society. We may as well forget how multi functional spaces seem to be used and how spaces acquire social, cultural, philosophical meanings born from considerations of geography and history. Thus, spaces, by nature, become fragmented/ unrelated/ bounded/ isolated/ disconnected  - architecturally, aesthetically and experientially.

The other approach is of being aware of the nature of comprehensiveness - everything being interrelated and because of which, a "pattern" is revealed behind the immediate Present. The bits of information, if connected or consolidated or analyzed - start to create connections. From connections, we perceive patterns and that results in generation of 'character'. The connections, may be informed by our associations with people, activities, climate (geography), ways of doing things (history) and the fundamental values that need to be cherished (philosophical). What we may be referring to is the experience of collective memory/ consciousness. Our gaze has to take into account a long term perspective of our actions and acknowledge the role of everything thing around us. We become aware of phenomena informing our thoughts and our boundaries of self seem to expand. In this experience of patterns, we create hierarchies, power equations, biases, preferences, relationships, cooperations and negotiations, attachments and other forms of connections. We tend to become  - more grounded and contextual in our response. This gets reflected in perceiving and conceiving spaces - which tend to become multiuse, multi functional, sensitive to environment, blissful or peaceful and subtle as an experience.

We operate in two such world views. We have societies that exhibit either of the two dominant traits and the architecture reflects these traits. We have societies that have both traits existing together.

From my experience of today's academic environment, the view of comprehensiveness gives us a promise to generate empathy towards each other and the environment. Can we transfer and evoke such values in the students, for whom the future is yet to arrive and who can engage in defining the nature of Future?

Which of the world views would you consider 'proper' to pursue?

Independence and Dependence

There is a lot of talk about ‘Independence’ worldwide and the constant need to keep expressing one’s existence – by actions, words, and products. Is there a place for ‘silence’ or contemplation? Anyways, let’s keep that question aside.

The ‘feeling’ of independence, I believe, is created on account of following scenario in contemporary times –

The slice of Time considered (or available at our disposal) is brought to a minute scale. We seem to concentrate only on events contained in that spec of time. This means, the rate of change is fast.

We are bombarded by billions of information from all directions and all appear fragmented or totally disconnected. It appears that there is little point correlating one information with another, since we have no time to condense what we are absorbing! In such a scenario, even the ‘same’ information of today may appear different tomorrow! In a nut shell – there is hardly a place for any thought or response to develop or properly sink in our consciousness. What we appear to behave – are fleeting memories or notional beings with feeble footings on the ground, because what is ‘ground’ any way?!

In present condition, everything may appear to be extremely ‘fresh’ and changing and therefore ‘different’ or unique! Since the idea of ‘connection’ seems to break down and as more and more fragmentation arises, “we” become islands in ourselves – and our consciousness too, becomes fragmented. Since island does not last long, we feel this urge to exert our existence forcefully – and from this comes the compulsion to constantly express. Whatever we do, our expressions are now believed to be independent (read disconnected) from anything else. My conclusion is that the feeling of independence is an expression of disconnection with everything around you. The expression of ‘creativity’ seems to take the form of ‘disconnection’ or fragmentation from the relationship with the context. In other words, perhaps the term context needs to focus on the fragment! In this world of fragments, anything remotely associated with memory – culture, society, nation, community, history, ecology – has very limited value. Our reactions (or responses) are short lived and we only seem to create a lot of ‘noise’ without any substantial change in our perceptions/ attitudes/ feelings/ actions. Of course, other pitfalls of culture such as biases, prejudices, hierarchical power structures etc. also don’t have much relevance here.

Let’s come to the notion of ‘dependence’. Another world view is felt when one starts to connect a single dot with another. A dot may have a link with more dots – forming lines, planes and spaces. Thus the identity or the relevance of dot is related to the entire volume! Here, we are talking of interrelationships or patterns or tendencies or movements of systems. For this, the scale of Time needs to increase to include generations or centuries or millennia. This world is of interconnections  - ecology to geography to history to culture to behavior to architecture to philosophy to existence and so on. In such a state of mind, we become ‘silent’ – for we understand that ‘we’ are not individuals, but represent a dimension of the cosmos. We may just appear different (in terms of manifestation), but we are all connected. In this world, we care less for individual identity and care more about connections – empathy. ‘Memory’ becomes collective or even transcends body-mind limitations. Of course, one should also guard aganst hierarchical power structures, prejudices, superstitions etc. – which are also a part of collective memories. In a nutshell, in this world, the idea of creation is of expressing or revealing a ‘pattern’ through a product. Every act is a realization of a pattern and our role in it.

Crossing Over: Master’s Education Abroad!

 There is an increasing trend to travel abroad for post graduate studies among Indian architecture students over the last 15-20 years. Education loans and a general rise in affluence have brought international post-graduate studies within the reach of many in the last few years. On what factors should this decision of international education be taken by an aspiring candidate? Is it dependent on affordability of education and living costs, or peer pressure, or taking the benefit of additional time to figure out one’s professional life ahead? The most sought after destinations for overseas education seem to be USA, UK and Australia; followed by Canada, Singapore or even New Zealand; and a small number have also ventured into European countries like Germany, Netherlands, Ireland and France. After concluding post graduate program, some students stay back while others return to India; some attribute their thriving careers and lives to their overseas education while others reconsider this decision entirely.

Having observed a number of cases of our contemporaries, having travelled this road ourselves and having advised many of our students in the past few years, we wish to offer some suggestions to prospective candidates, who choose to embark on this journey.

So how does one choose the course, the university and the country? The fundamental choice is based on understanding one’s own strengths, character and expectations from international post graduate education. Clarity regarding self assessment is required and considering one’s past experiences during undergraduate studies, internship and professional experience (if one has worked for some time in office) may help. The key issue is also the environment and opportunity of self growth that the program claims to offer the candidate. We recommend that the students should give as much time as possible for self evaluation and its relation to the program content. This is important as more and more international universities across the world offer a variety of programs that appear enticing and/ or glamorous but may not offer much value to the candidate in terms of his/her anticipated expectations. A case in point is regarding a recently offered four semester full time post graduate program conducted jointly by four European Universities which offers course work taking place in four different cities/countries in four semesters. If the intention was also to secure a job abroad after graduating, we doubt if such a program can assist the candidate to develop network ties with professional and faculty members, which are required to secure a job.

Thus, ideally, we are suggesting that the candidate is clear with his/her intention – followed by the program content that supports the intentions – followed by the university which offers this program – followed by logistical requirements of application procedures, visa rules, an idea of expenses and funding, etc.

 With the field of study decided based on one’s defined intentions, one is then faced with the next (and sometimes simultaneous) level of choices or parameters that define these choices. The prominent ones among them are mentioned below:

a.        Knowing the difference between professional degree and research degree - The primary choice one needs to make is between a professional degree course (such as M.Arch or equivalent) or a research degree program. The M.Arch course means that eventually one is in a position to practice as an architect abroad. However, in places such as North America, UK and Germany, the candidate is required to work in an architect’s office for a certain period of time after graduation, give a series of exams and only then he/she is eligible to use the title of a registered architect. This can take a minimum of 3 years after graduation. Similarly, time and the process required to be a registered architect after graduation should be checked for other places too. If involved in a research program, the degree is usually meant to develop your career in academics or one can apply as a research consultant in the professional industry. If interested in academics, the research graduate degree further extends to doing a PhD and consequently securing a permanent position in teaching + researching thereafter. Again, the methodology of research conducted under different programs in different universities situated in various countries differs significantly. The variation has a bearing on the progress of research, student to teacher interaction and the time required to complete the research program. Thus, this is also a long road to be considered. This would be elaborated in a separate article some other day but for now, it should suffice to say that professional opportunities in research are far less as compared to industry.

b.        Recognition of international post graduate programs in India – There are certain criteria under which, an M.Arch post graduate degree obtained overseas is recognized as being “equivalent” to its Indian M.Arch degree counterpart. The recognition of such international post graduate degrees in architecture are published in websites of Association of Indian Universities and/or Council of Architecture. This implies that not all international post graduate degrees that “sound” like M.Arch or are related to design skills will be recognized and accepted in India and that should not lead to a feeling of “time lost” and “money lost” in the long run, if the candidate hopes to return to India and intends to utilize internationally obtained degrees for his/her academic or professional advantage.

c.         Choosing by university ranking – All reputed universities are accredited and have established rankings which give an idea regarding the quality of education they offer. The ranking covers a host of parameters regarding education content, applicability in industry, faculty strengths, funding opportunities, international student strength, infrastructural support, placements and so on. In short, the ranking system gives an overview of the educational environment to be encountered. As is expected, higher the ranking, more the competition to get an access in the University and more education expenses to be incurred for the chosen program. Some countries, especially in Europe, may not have an official and elaborate ranking system like the USA. Then, there are private organisations like QS World University Rankings that give a comparative idea, but relate to an overall picture of the university based on all fields of study and not specifically architecture. At times, certain universities may have a low score based on certain parameters which may not be as important for you personally or for the field of architecture in particular. Therefore, a word of advice: rankings indicate a part of the picture of the University. More accurate information regarding program content, course structure, teacher support and other general things can be found by establishing contacts with current international Indian students enrolled in the University by facebook or twitter or such social media sites. Initiating contacts with teachers is also fruitful to clarify any concerns of the subjects or program content.

d.        Getting scholarships and tuition waivers– Different universities in different countries have different norms for sponsoring education. In Germany, education is free and you only pay for living costs. In case of USA, scholarships and tuition waivers is quite common. But this depends on federal and private/ industry funding. This funding subsequently percolates into various department programs. This will determine scholarships, tuition waivers, Teaching and/or Research Assistantships available for international students. It goes without saying that Statement of Purpose, entrance test scores, portfolio of works, recommendations, previous academic grading have to be excellent in order to be considered for any of the above options for subsidized educational expenses, as far as USA is concerned. In the UK, scholarships are offered by independent trusts or religious or political organisations directly to the student for a particular field of study irrespective of the university. The criteria for applying for universities in other countries would be very different. One needs to contact students from the proposed department program by facebook or other social media platforms to get to know the latest tendency of the department in giving tuition waivers or other options for offsetting expenses. This is more critical for USA, where the cost of education can range anywhere between $25000 to $50000 per year, besides living expenses. For Germany, one can contact the DAAD for similar information.

e.        Economic situation of the host country – This consideration is important, in terms of how the graduate degree can generate value in the industry. Persistent efforts are required for securing a good job in the industry after the completion of the program. These efforts start right from networking after completing one year of graduation and may continue well beyond 6-9 months after graduation. A program with a compulsory internship is thus always a better option. The transition from being a student to being absorbed in an industry should also take place within the given time frames allocated for changing visa status (from study permit/student visa or equivalent, to work permit/ employment visa or equivalent). In places such as United Kingdom, the students are currently not allowed to reside in London and work after completion of graduate degree This was not the case earlier. In Germany, the changes in the rules have been exactly the opposite, but the number of employment opportunities remain limited.

f.          Climate – The challenge of harsh climate can’t be underestimated. Extreme cold environments with longer nights and shorter days can be gloomy and a general awareness of the climatic conditions can be fruitful in preparing the candidate on what lies ahead.

g.        Familiarity or liking for a particular culture and/ or language – If a candidate chooses to undertake a post graduate program in Europe, one must be conversant in communicating in local language or at least be flexible towards learning it well. Despite the fact that the course is taught in English and most people would be speaking in English within the university, one needs to have some knowledge of the local language to carry out daily activities. Knowing the native language would open up a further source of knowledge and information through books and research papers especially pertaining to the issues in that country.  If one intends to continue working there after completing one’s studies, one would be competing for jobs with local candidates having local language skills.

h.        Friends and extended family/ network – Knowing as many Indians living in the proposed destination area has its benefits. Society and cultures outside India operate very different, think differently and it takes time to communicate effectively with local people abroad – even in English speaking countries. Besides academic life, assistance to orient oneself as a citizen of a different country is required many times. For such numerable instances, Indians do come to our rescue. Therefore, it is beneficial to look for locations where you already have some contacts as also actively pursue making new connections once you are there.

i.          Richness of student life – as an architecture student, one does not learn only at the university. Exchange programs, projects with partner universities outside the host country, internships, travelling and seeing other buildings especially by master architects is also a profound learning experience. This proves to be especially applicable in the European context. Equally impacting is the influence of co-students if they are from many different national and cultural backgrounds. Overseas education is also about exposure and values like open-mindedness besides improving ones technical skills. This deserves a mention because there have been cases where an Indian student studying at a foreign university has had only Indian and Chinese classmates and tutors. One needs to take care that post graduate studies abroad deliver a full international experience  and not just a degree certificate from an institute based outside India.

So far, we have been looking at the short term perspective in post graduate education that related to the choice of program or university. But it needs to be viewed in the long term as well and there are a number of scenarios that one may encounter as such.

 a.         As mentioned before, completion of a post graduate degree and applying for a job in that country necessitates a change in visa status (student to employment). Getting the first job requires dedicated efforts that may extend to a few months after conclusion of post graduation period. The route to sustained working in the industry leads one to apply for Permanent Residentship and again constitutes a change in visa status. Each of these steps (from graduation to employment to residentship) vary in terms of procedures, complexities and time frames across continents. Changing economy and visa rules due to current geo-political situations have an effect on how the job market responds to International Students and it is usual to find some kind of ‘preferential’ bias of some kind in the system. In short, from a long term perspective, the road of “settling” oneself in terms of subsequent job prospects and leading to Permanent Residence is dynamic and requires frequent self evaluations. Thus, the decision of undertaking a post-graduate program abroad has to be deliberated with utmost care, since it involves financial planning/ or education loan and commitment of time (ranging from minimum of 2 years and above).

b.         Factors such as the kind of climate one encounters, frequency of interaction with people, access to healthcare, changing economic conditions, opportunities of raising a family and health of parents residing in India alter/ revise our long term goals of settlement.

c.         The dynamic nature of points mentioned above may result in change of plans from settling in the foreign country to moving to another country to coming back to India with added repercussions on time, money, family etc. – all this a subject matter of some other article some day.

 Summing up, some hard thinking about one’s purpose is needed to make an informed decision of going abroad for a post-graduate program in architecture. One can look at it from an idealistic point of view, putting learning as the prime objective or one can look at it as a migration opportunity. A clear purpose and a clear goal would help in “creating the roadmap” but many of these parameters are bound to unfold as one encounters a changing situation. The experience, is nevertheless, worth it!

 Bon Voyage!!

Niranjan Garde completed his post graduation from University of British Columbia, Vancouver in Advanced Studies in Architecture in 2014. Currently he is an associate professor in PVP College of Architecture, Pune. His interests include history of architecture, research opportunities in architectural field. He can be contacted on niranjangarde@gmail.com

 Shubhashish Subandh is an architect with a masters degree in European Urban Studies from the Bauhaus-University Weimar, Germany. His interests include Urban Sociology and Real Estate Development. Currently he teaches Design at Dr. BN College of Architecture, Pune. He can be contacted on ashish.subandh@gmail.com

We wish to thank our colleagues who have offered their suggestions for this article. We are indebted to Mandar Puranik, Prajakta Sane and Reshu Gupta.

PS: Also published in A+D magazine, July 2018 issue