Architecture may be defined as the art and science of designing and creating buildings and structures. It involves planning, designing and constructing of spaces in such a way that they reflect functional, social and aesthetic considerations. Coordination of material, technology, light and shadow as well as project planning, cost estimating and construction administration is very important.

Architectural works are given huge importance as they are instrumental in identifying historical civilizations. The trends in architecture have always been evolving ever since its concept came into existence from Classical to Medieval to Renaissance to Industrial to Modern to Post Modern.

The job of an architect is to plan, design and review the formation of structures by creative organization of components with regard to mass, space, volume, texture, form, etc. Other pragmatic elements like that of construction limitations, use of technology, economic factors, functionality and practicality of the project are also to be considered along with an artistic approach.

There have been many job opportunities coming up in the architecture sector and thus, this article introduces you to some of the important colleges in India offering courses in this field. All the architecture colleges should be approved by Council of Architecture, a body that ‘regulates the education and practice of profession of Architects throughout India’. It governs the standards of education imparted across 108 architectural institutes and colleges across India.

Architecture courses offered in India are:

 B. Arch - Bachelor of Architecture

This is an undergraduate programme of 5 years that includes both practical and theoretical training.

Architecture colleges in Delhi are:

• School of Planning and Architecture

• Vastu Kala Academy, School of Architecture and Interior Designing

• Faculty of Architecture and Ekistics, Jamia Millia Islamia

• T V B School of Habitat Studies

• Sushant School of Arts and Architecture, Gurgaon

These colleges offer Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch) courses, an undergraduate degree to the students which is also regulated by COA. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra especially have plenty of architectural colleges as compared to rest of the Indian states.

M. Arch – Masters in Architecture

One may opt for any of the post graduate degrees namely,

M. Arch (Masters in Architecture),

M. Planning (Masters in Planning),

M. Des (Masters in Design),

M. Tech (Masters in Technology), or

M.U.R.P. (Master of Urban and Regional Planning).

The duration of all the post graduate courses is 2 years.

Colleges offering M. Arch in India:

• IIT Roorkee

• M. Arch

• M.U.R.P.

• School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi

• M. Arch (Architectural Conservation, Industrial Design, Urban Design)

• M. Planning (Environment Planning, Housing, Transport Planning, Regional Planning, Urban Planning)

• Master Program in Building Engineering and Management

• Master’s Program in Landscape Architecture.

• IIT Kharagpur

• Master in City Planning

• M.S in Architecture and Regional Planning.

• Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

• M. Arch

• Guru Ramdas School Planning, GNDU, Amritsar.

• M. Tech (Urban Planning, Regional Planning, Housing)

• R.V College of Engineering, Bangalore.

• M. Arch (Urban Planning).

• Aayojan School of Architecture, Jaipur.

• M. Arch (Urban Planning, Landscape Architecture)

• CPMD, IISc Bangalore

• M.Des (Produc Design and Engineering)

• Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay

• M. Des (Industrial Design, Interaction Design, Visual communication, Animation)

• IDDC, IIT Delhi

-M.Des (Industrial Design)

• Design Program, IIT Kanpur

-M.Des (Industrial Design)

 Ph. D – Doctorate in Architecture

The duration of this course is 3 years and confers Doctorate on the student. Such courses ask for post graduation in architecture or some other allied subjects along with relevant work experience.

There are not many institutes in India offering Ph. D in Architecture except one in Hyderabad, Institute of Post Graduate Studies and Research.

The scope of architecture in India is growing and is expected to boost up in the coming years,