Feature

The profession has evolved a long way from this humble start. In this process of evolution the scope of services of an architect has transcended beyond functions to embrace the demands of engineering, public health and safety, aesthetics, and environmental and economic sustainability. Creative and visionary architects can analyze problems, innovate solutions, rationalize process, and optimize resources, capabilities that are more critically needed in Bangladesh.

Thus it is not only the cultural sector where architects enhance our visual and sensual perceptions, and improve our mental and physical environments, but also contribute in nation building. Architects, the leaders of the building sector, serve and influence the society by shaping its habitat. It is the only form of art, which we just not hang to enjoy, but also often build ourselves, use and live inside it.

And for this reason, an architect has to be an enlightened person, keen observant of the surroundings and the human behaviors, a sensitive and imaginative creator, a solution giver and a decision maker. Architects influence life style; discard alien culture and incompatible behavior, promote good living, and ensure living within your means. Architecture is a wholesome all round subject a combination of arts, crafts, humanities, social and physical science and engineering.

Architecture curricula is as diverse and as thorough as to include artistic skill, functional analysis and ergonomics, form, context and function, drawings and graphics, history of art and architecture, aesthetic appreciation, ethics and practice, urbanism and discourse, materials and construction, services and structure, climate and computer, economics and management, human geography and development, planning and landscape design. And above all design an accumulation and application of all the above knowledge in problem solving exercises, in a cauldron called 'studio'.

This is why till the middle of last century people would just study architecture not to become an architect per se, but to become a wholesome cultured person with good taste and an ability to appreciate anything that is beautiful, whether it is building or a movie, a piece of music or an object of art; and also to remain a critical thinker, and rational actor, a philosopher, a reformer, and leader of the (built) environment!

Architects are well recognized and in good demand in the country as leading building professionals, specially after the enactment of the Building Code and the new Building Construction Rules, which made it mandatory to engage architect(s) empowered to design, assemble other professionals, coordinate execution, and certify documents, and hence take all responsibilities. Thus an architect becomes a life long partner and friend of his client, based on mutual confidence and benefits, commitment and professionalism.

Architecture programs usually have a strong philosophical grounding, pivoted on (local) tradition and culture, building materials and modern means, state of the art and economy, context and relevance. The programs present a great expectation and promise, harness pedagogical learning, and respond to the social and professional needs. Steadfast in providing professionally relevant, socially aware, and environmentally sensitive directions to learning, good architecture programs actively engage with the changing needs of modern society. After all these will produce professional service providers who have to live up to the expectation, be competent and efficient, creative and intuitive, people with rational thinking and an ability to make good judgment, and give you a value for the money.

The programs are led and run by brilliant academics who can instill creativity, develop aesthetic sense, encourage hand-on learning, integrate theory and studio, and contextual response. They can espouse optimism (foster a positive confidence among students focused toward developing self-reliance through crits), encourage respect (value of time management, and democratic decision-making, diverse ideas), foster sharing (collaboration in design studios, exploring interdisciplinary connections, play a larger role within university communities, student and professional organizations), teach engagement (making critical decisions as leaders, interaction with architectural practitioners and experts in allied disciplines), and innovation (critical thinking to explore innovative ideas with confidence, alternative approaches relatives to each student's strengths).

This is why professional B.Arch. programs are 5-year long that meets all international norms and criteria, besides being relevant to the local context, and to provide an all-round grounding required to initiate and practice architecture, and above all, to be humane and useful to the society. The International Union of Architects asks for the following aspects to be integrated in the architectural education programs:

ability to create architectural designs that satisfy aesthetic and technical requirements and aim to be environmentally sustainable;

adequate knowledge of the history and theory of architecture and related arts, technologies and human science;

knowledge of the fine arts as an influence on the quality of architectural design;

adequate knowledge of urban design, planning, and the skills involved in these processes;

understanding of the relationship among people, buildings and their environments, and of the need to relate buildings and the spaces between them to human needs and scale; adequate knowledge of the means of achieving environmentally sustainable design; understanding of the profession of architecture and the role of architects in the society; understanding of the methods of investigation and preparation of the design brief; understanding of the structure, construction and engineering associated with building design; adequate knowledge of physical problems and technologies and the function of buildings so as to provide them with comfort and protection against climate.

Skills to meet the users' requirement within constraints imposed by cost and building regulations; adequate knowledge of the industries, organizations, regulations, and procedures involved in translating design concepts into building and overall planning; and adequate knowledge of project financing.

After undergoing the rigors of the Architecture Program the graduates would have a variety of options including the following:

* Most of the fresh architecture graduates do not take up employment; they prefer to be, and there is a scope to be, self-employed starting with a modest office and small assignments; however, it is encouraged that even if working independently, they are supervised by a fully qualified competent architect with several years of experience and membership of the professional Society to learn the trade;
* Interior design, media and graphic, among others, are also areas where fresh graduates or even architects with experience show great creativity and talent either independently or as employees of other firms, and they have already been able to create a niche for themselves;
* Some prefer entering Government service as an assistant architect and gradually climbing up the hierarchy, in organizations such as the Department of Architecture, City Development Authorities, Municipalities, Corporations, various Ministries, etc.;
* Working with the national and international consulting firms in preparing working and presentation drawings and gradually working up to design of minor and major buildings by dint of hard work of quality and merit;
* Working for property developers, currently one of the largest sector providing for architects, in the design, construction, sales and procurement sections;
* A few graduates may branch off into something very different. Architecture being a multi-disciplinary field, the graduates are exposed to creative media and social sciences too. This develops an ability in them to be able to adapt with relative ease to other disciplines, often with higher studies and specializations. There are architects who have made a career in regional and infrastructure planning and development, urban and landscape design, facility and construction management, as contractors, property developers or in business and trade, and with international aid organizations and NGOs;
* Architects have also excelled in allied areas of creative persuasion, like in graphics, photography, movie making, computer animation, web design, fashion and textile design, product design, etc. People with architectural background always seem to have an extra edge in such areas.
* Last but not the least, teaching; there are already more than a dozen architecture schools in the country, the growth of which may continue. Unfortunately though true many of these schools do not have qualified teachers with higher degrees, research experience, and publications to their credit. Finding competent and qualified teachers for these schools is no easy matter. For the brilliant and hardworking graduates with higher degrees and specialization, who would like to take up teaching as a profession, opportunities would be available.

Professor of Architecture, North South University