On 24th August of 2021 there was a talk by eminent faculty, Madam Kanaka Thakker, who was an ex Aryaan student and now is an architect and has core expertise in mass housing and design. Our director introduced her and described her academic qualifications including graduation from Singhad College of Architecture, University of Pune,Masters degree in Housing and Urbanism from the prestigious Architecture Association School of Architecture, London and post professional course in the field of lighting and interior decoration from the University of Arts in London. Describing her work portfolio, he highlighted her involvement in several prestigious urban design projects like rejuvenation of Marine Drive water front, research publication for ORF and reimaging the master plan of Mehergad Fort of Jodhpur.
She described Architecture as the Science of Building. She then added that it is a 5 year course with a 6th month internship and opined that the basic requirement for this was a creative mind. She said that one of the tasks given in these 5 years was to analyse a simple design, like a bungalow, made by famous architects and to detect the pros and cons. She said that they were told to design or sketch a bungalow of their own with the given information.
She gave an insight on the curriculum which included theory subjects like construction management, photography, creative art, history, colour theory, etc. and difficult topics like theory of structures which includes the gamut of structure learning from wood to stone to concrete. After the 5 year course they have a choice of taking forward an allied subject like landscape architecture or urban design/planning, etc. and then they can also do masters in such subjects. She hinted that it was not easy to manage with the meagre salary, but her undying passion for architecture helped her to reach where she is today. Though she was not exposed to computer software related to architecture, like auto CAD and had to do all her sketches using her hands and without any computer assistance, she could use the computer graphics in her 4th year.
In response to a a query by our Director,she highlighted the use of termite treatment just after the level of plinth and including booster shot every 5 to 6 years.
She said that building of any housing space is a combined effort of a consultant, architect, civil engineers, etc. and the main coordinator was the project management consultant. She added that the architects and the structural consultants have their own role to play depending upon the type of building design like for bungalow, the architects have a bigger role than the structural consultants, whereas in bigger and complex designs like auditorium and stadiums, it’s the structural consultants who have a bigger role.
Throwing light on the life of a practising architect she described it as a never ending cycle of creative designing. Her design style consists of adding and removing elements to refine that design till she is satisfied. Being a self-critic of her work, she tends to work long hours but aims on maintaining a work life balance. She highlighted the need of course on office management to deal with problems arising from financial/accounting aspects. The whole idea of research was instilled in her when she did her masters in art in London. She also setup her own design studio called ‘Katha Design’ which caters to produce user centric designs that prioritize the needs and aspirations of users over the whims of design.
At the end of the session, I was privileged to propose the Vote of Thanks.
This talk gave us, Aryaanites, an insight to the exciting field of architecture which is now considered as aninterdisciplinary branch involving structure, design, art, history, phycology.
Anshuman Prabhudesai – 11th REG.