There were many reasons for initiating the Architecture Collegium. Perhaps the primary motive for this group to come together was a concern about the marginalization of the architectural profession in the day-to-day life of civil society.
If we examine our recent past we find that this was not always the case. In newly independent India, the Central Government invited Le Corbusier to design a whole new city, and this led to the establishment of the Capital Project Office, in which architects played a pivotal role. Throughout the 1950’s the building of Chandigarh became a model enterprise, and the very special role of architects in this endeavor was brought into the mainstream of public consciousness.
Up to the 1970’s architects were well-respected professionals in the public eye. The Architects Act was passed in Parliament in 1972. It may be noted that even up to date architects are one of only four professions which are governed by a Central Act; the other three being advocates, medical practitioners, and accountants.
Up to the 1980’s the most significant architectural activity was promoted and sponsored by the Central Government, and architects were well regarded as thought leaders in the building sector. Major public institutions were being established in all parts of the country, and architects were commissioned to design these projects. However, the number of architects who were nominated for such commissions was very small, and they belonged to a generation which has more or less passed away. They have left behind a legacy of architecturally coherent public buildings in different parts of the country.
It is in the 1990’s that the building industry begins to undergo significant changes. With the liberalization of the economy, the demand for modern infrastructure increased, and in the next decade or two this requirement has changed the face of the building industry. The quantum jump in public expenditure on infrastructure has clearly been outside the anticipation or imagination of the architectural profession. How many architects are aware that leading international market research organizations are projecting an expenditure of 1.2 trillion US dollars on urban infrastructure in India in the next 2 decades? The scope of such a magnitude of public works in urban areas has not been understood by our profession, since we do not see in print or hear on the airwaves the thoughts of architects on how such expenditure can be directed for the benefit of the built environment in human terms.
That we are not able to respond to the challenge and be heard in the public domain is a matter of grave concern. The opportunities in this sector have been seized by what can only be described as an invisible cartel of senior/retired bureaucrats and retired chief engineers of public undertakings, who have streamlined the process of selection of architects and consultants for public projects in such a way that the commissions only go to professionals of dubious merit who work under the sway of the job- awarding cartel. Whereas this ensures a closed loop for siphoning off public funds for private gain, it also severely limits the scope of good design which could benefit the general public.
During the last two decades there has also been greatly accelerated expenditure on building and infrastructure development in the private sector. In this sector the methodology for awarding work has been worked out to benefit the large transnational architectural firms at the expense of the national professionals, however brilliant or competent. Thus, for talented, serious and well- meaning Indian architects striving to share in the task of nation-building, the future is bleak.
Given this scenario, it is not altogether surprising that architects have lost their voice in the public domain. Those architects, who have the energy and enthusiasm to buck the general trend and try to rise above the grim reality, are forced to match the unequal competition by the use of hyperbole and caricature to claim their share of the public imagination. Such a response is bound to be counter-productive in the long run, and even in the short term can hardly be of benefit to the general public. Thus the architectural profession, or at least those members of it who can claim continuity with the architectural leaders of an earlier generation, are today rendered speechless while they labor like Sisyphus to push the rock of their creative talent to the peak, only to find that the rock rolls down the moment it reaches the top.
The challenge before us in this Collegium is to find the collective will and energy to make a concerted effort at bringing about systemic change in the infrastructure sector, however hard or impossible the task may appear to be. I believe we have enough talented and serious minded architects among our midst to take on this task. We have only to learn how to work together in a sustained manner. In any case it is time we made a start.
MN Ashish Ganju
February 2012
A paper presented at the meeting of the 10th February, 2010.
