On architecture...

"Architecture is a journey. It has a beginning.. but it never ends." - Aditya Chandrasekhar, USD batch 2008


The beginning of every college life is similar, the joy of meeting new people, being in a new place, knowing what being independent really is like. Especially in my case - being someone brought up in Saudi Arabia - a very strict country with even stricter rules for women - there were many reasons to celebrate the beginning of my college life.

Studying architecture was not at all what I'd imagined it would be like. Actually, I hadn't really imagined much as to what was to come. But when it did, I loved it.

USD was soon my home. The space-framed studio with no barriers between classes and the mezzanine from which you can gleefully observe the entire college and its activities, the computer labs, the library… all became points of meeting new people, learning new things, exploring the world of architecture every day. Everyone knew everyone else here. The lack of walls or separations or boundaries also helped everyone with socializing and getting to know each other better. Seniors, juniors, super-seniors, all ate under one roof in the workshop area below where Chandru anna would serve hot coffees and delicious open masala dosas every noon.

We shared our thoughts, opinions and our lunches here. We talked about architecture; we gossiped, had fiery debates, laughed and suggested books and movies to each other here.

The space-framed studio would serve us as our classrooms, exhibition hall, display area, jury room and during NASA or on final jury eves as even our homes, for we have spent nights working here together, we have stayed up all night and not even realized that the sun had risen, together.

The first 2 years were the most informal or 'relaxed' study semesters. We enjoyed the most in these semesters, making models, doing slideshow presentations, sculpture classes, and sketching live objects and even people. We went on trips every year, we saw new things, we learnt even more.

One thing about architecture is that it’s not like any other course where you learn from text books or lab experiments with a fixed syllabus and you score the highest in class if you adhere to them. No, in architecture there is no end to how much you can learn and from whatever sources you can learn. It’s been five years since I have been in this field, and yet sometimes I wonder, how much have I really learnt? Learning architecture is an endless process, where you learn more from the talks in the corridors, canteens, libraries etc. with your seniors or juniors or teachers or just about anybody else, more than you would in a theory or lecture room.

I have always wished that our college would have had more open spaces where we could go sit to take a break from the work or deadline stress and just relax our minds and help regain our creativity level to a normal, when we have reached the saturation point.  Or that the small canteen downstairs wouldn't have closed down and it would've been like the good old days in first year.

And yet, I still find my college close to perfect in terms of how it does not restrict you, because architecture requires creativity, and it does not come from being pressurized or restricted. One needs to be able to work with an open mind.

In an architecture school, you may not learn a lot about technicality, or even come close to really understanding what architecture is all about. You learn through a series of failed or successful experiments which you perform, ultimately producing something amazing, something you created, something which reflects you in so many ways… and you proudly realize: your journey in Architecture has begun.