‘Let architects design buildings’

Building design is a specialised training imparted through schools of architecture, says Uday Gadkari, president of Council of Architecture.—Photo: By Arrangement

“Let building design be restricted to architects because it is their domain. Today, even non-architects design buildings. And this (the restriction) should be done by amending the Architects Act of 1972,” says President of Council of Architecture Uday Gadkari.

Building design is a specialised, five-year-long training imparted through schools of architecture.

“How can non-architects design buildings?” he asks.

It is a question of five years of learning versus no-learning, he says.

All other technical matters like structural design, services and advanced services must be handled by appropriate experts from technical engineering fields.

“This is the most important amendment being sought by the council,” he told The Hindu on Wednesday.

The Council of Architecture has been formed by the Government of India under the Architects Act of 1972 enacted by the Parliament.

Any changes should be made again by amendments to the Act. The council has submitted its proposals to the Ministry of HRD, its nodal Ministry, in October 2014. The views of the Law Ministry and other stakeholders are being sought now.

Requesting the government to expedite it, Prof. Gadkari, who was here for a programme at GITAM School of Architecture, said the Act was very old (passed in 1972).

“The practices not in existence then must come to our country immediately. There has to be total liberalisation and globalisation of this field. We cannot be narrow-minded,” he says. There were no interdisciplinary practices earlier. An architect is supposed to be the head of the team. But building activity has become so complex and technically advanced that it is the amalgamation of various experts from various fields. He is of the view that the Act and law should make the provision for their coming together and working.

More SPAs on the anvil

The government has plans to open a few more, about a dozen, Schools of Planning and Architecture, and a few of them may come next year, Prof. Gadkari says. Now, every State wants one school. Right now, Vijayawada, Bhopal, and Delhi have it.