The theme for the 2023 edition of the AYDA Awards India by Nippon Paint was Converge: Championing Purposeful Design. My project, The Universal School, aimed to diminish the boundaries of learning and create an all-equal platform to ensure quality education. Many students confine themselves within the boundaries of their assigned college, limiting their potential for growth and exploration. Not everyone has the opportunity to attend prestigious colleges. Many face challenges such as limited guidance, insufficient resources, and a lack of awareness during their formative years. This is further exacerbated by the allotted colleges with the basic type of education system with internal problems that remain unattended.
Sharing expertise
To bridge this gap, my proposal was to establish a network of colleges focused on sharing expertise and providing exposure to students. Reputed larger institutions would serve as central hubs, facilitating seamless connectivity within the network through both offline and online channels and offer expertise-sharing opportunities to students from smaller colleges and those studying remotely.
The design employs vibrant colours to accentuate the structure, with a focus on fostering student interactions to share experiences and gain exposure. Utilising a telescopic seating system, the open-floor spaces can transform into large interactive areas, enhancing engagement and improving retention rates. Incorporating the play of light and shadows, along with integrating elements of the surrounding landscape for a Nature-connected learning experience, the open layout and barrier-free spaces seamlessly merge and expand to create dynamic environments.
Media-centric interventions enable multidirectional learning experiences. A central spine traverses all existing buildings, featuring a vibrant red unified path that energises nodes and facilitates various activities such as demonstrations, plays, courtyard teachings, and spaces for discussions and debates.
Suraj Ighe at the AYDA Awards | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Technological advancements such as AR, VR, glass projections, and holograms are harnessed to enhance student connectivity with the remote world. A dedicated server room monitors student data across the network to identify shared ideologies and research interests, fostering collaboration and avoiding redundancy. Students seeking assistance in any field can access valuable expertise from faculty or peers and connect for guidance, both online and offline, at host centres. The digital learning centre includes an immersive psychedelic artistic space to engage students. Transforming the existing college setup, the central spine creates a vast linear space that facilitates the circulation of large crowds during periodic exhibitions, aimed at inspiring younger generations.
The primary objective is to attract renowned international faculty and provide training to students as well as faculty to enhance teaching skills in cutting-edge areas. The overarching goal is to establish a network of colleges where each teacher serves as a guide and each student as a companion, fostering a collaborative learning environment. This project represents a small but significant step towards a brighter future for India.
The experience of interacting with the best from the world and receiving reviews from during the AYDA Awards India was itself a big win. I am looking forward to representing India at the global level and the learning that awaits me there.
The writer is a student of the Academy of Architecture, Mumbai
