DNA Sir JJ Architecture Awards 2018: Perspectives from the chief guest

Architecture is a very important component of the entire real estate sector and building designs have to incorporate the latest rules, technologies, they have to be energy efficient and meet the needs of the consumers and from that point of view any improvement in architecture is also dependent upon the teaching and how the profession is taught.

Sir JJ College of Architecture is the best architecture college in the country today.

It has consistently maintained that position and it is very good to know that they have designed this event to honour their alumni. After all, those alumni are key people in  the commercial and architectural landscape of the city, country and therefore of the economy.

So its important to keep a dialogue between them and educational institutions of which they are products.

Being environment friendly, green buildings are the need of the day and I feel increasingly it would be mandatory given the climate change and how it impacts the life of people, it is the duty of architects to see that the design of buildings reduces pollution and reduces energy consumption.Architecture is very important for shaping the human landscape. It is a very important determinant of the quality of life increasingly as India becomes richer and more prosperous economy.

We do need to felicitate important students who have made major contributions to the field of architecture and to the economy and the other important fields, the significance of this event is that it creates a forum for sharing of ideas and given the pace at which change happens,it is very important to be the change and we can say that about J J college of architecture that it is a change maker and pace setter.

Meeta Rajiv Lochan, Principal Secretary, Higher and Technical Education, Maharashtra

The architecture profession has really taken leaps and there is been quantum jump in terms of involvement of architecture profession in the growth of the country.Architects are so trained and the expectation of the public is also such that anything under the sun is  expected to be done by the architect. We must revise our syllabus in a way that we are not only able to meet expectations of our people but we are also able to compete globally. There are institutions of excellence as far as architecture is concerned but there is certain degree of mediocracy and we need to work on that. Architects and the institutions that shape them will be playing an even greater role going forward. It is very important to conduct such award functions because it is the alumni of an institution that make the institution, its not the infrastructure, building, faculty, students, it is the alumni finally makes the institution. The alumni should meet more often and engage themselves in constructive dialogue to create a think tank which can guide the profession in times to come.

Ar. Divya Kush, President, IIA

Architects are the creators of the city, of the country, of the nation. World over you say, architecture of any city or country is known by the architecture, being done by that. You say Eiffel Tower it means what France, say Statue of Liberty it means America, if you see Opera House in Australia you say look that’s Australia, Taj Mahal is India. So the architect always plays a very important role. This city has changed in the last 50 years, mostly through development done by the developers, builders and architects. Government has nothing established as a landmark. In the next 10 years time, the face of the city will change and for that change you require engineers, contractors,architects. Some of the best architects are from Sir JJ College of Architecture. International names, award winners are the products of this college.

Ar. Prem Nath, President, AAJJA