Definition
As per Govt. of India an Architect is a person who has completed the 5-year degree course of B.Arch. from a college which is govt. certified to carry out the degree course.
Misconceptions
- Architect provides JUST sanctioning/ signature services to get the plan approved from govt. authority.
- Architect is required for ONLY digital drafting of plans & drawings on computer (AutoCAD).
- Architect JUST drafts/ draws just lines.
- Architect is site supervisor.
- Architects do not design interiors. (designing interiors is just a small branch of architecture)
Layers that create an Architect
Apart from the technical qualifications required to be an architect, as stated above, an Architect undergoes many Layers to learn evolving design sense and learning about architecture to the core of it. Few of the layers are:
- 10 Design Projects, for eg: Residential project, Multi-Story Housing, Club House, Institutional projects, Commercial projects, etc
- Learning Building construction and Material (BCM) details in all 10 semesters. Focusing on the RIGHT techniques of building construction and material’s CORRECT usage.
- Architectural Design Theory (ADT), teaching the basic principles of architectural design based on the science of ergonomics and human psychology. Allowing to evolve the design which is most importantly functional and which appeals to the human eye.
- History of Architecture, teaching about the evolution, elements and different eras of all the architectural design styles, and how it evolved to the present design style and how it would evolve further making us eligible to peek through the window of the future architectural design.
- Learning and observing the development of urban and rural fabric of a city or a village, respectively.
- Structure design, teaching the basic knowledge and calculations of structure to design a building or a space.
- Building Bye-Laws, teaching the bye-laws for a building or a space to be built as per the laws set by govt. of India.
- A 6 months Thesis programme, to make a detailed functional project to construct a building and its interiors, under the guidance of Professional Architects practitioners, having professional experience of over 10 years in the field of architecture.
- A 6 months Training programme, to learn how to practically design and execute the design working as an Intern under a highly experienced Architectural practitioner of at least 10 years of experience in the field.
Why do you need an Architect?
- An architect understands the design taste, requirements and functionality of the user by understanding user’s psychology, designing for the user the kind of space which would be highly functional, visually appealing and mentally comfortable for the user.
- An architect provides the user/ client/ contractor set of detailed drawings which are good for construction. Similarly, architect provides details production drawings for interior works like, kitchen, wardrobes, furniture, etc as well.
- An architect provides, quality check and guidance visits at the site/ workshop, ensuring the right techniques and procedure are being followed and if the drawings are being followed correctly.
- An architect gets your plans sanctioned from govt. authority. Balancing the factors of state bye-laws, maximum usage vs. open spaces, achieving habitable space, functionality and aesthetics to the building and/or space.
- An architect designs building services like plumbing, electricals, drainage systems, HVAC, active and passive cooling or heating, minimising maintenance, avoiding any snags or future damages to the building and environment, minimising or omitting any future mis-happening that could happen due to wrong or improper techniques of work or wrongly chosen material grade.
