The Higher Education Review

An architect with specialization in Environmental Architecture, Aluminus of Sir J J School of Architecture,Mumbai. She has been heading the institute since its inception in 2011.

"Offering Bachelors in Architecture and Masters in Environmental Architecture with an intake of 120 and 20 students respectively, D Y Patil School of Architecture believes in sustaining an exemplary student-teacher ratio of 1:10"

A Padmashree recipient and former Governor of the Indian States of Bihar, Tripura and West Bengal, Dnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil, widely known as Dr. D Y Patil, who along with being a politician is also a philanthropist and an eminent educationist. His desire of improving the higher education scenario of the country made him devote himself to the cause of education and over the years has founded more than three deemed universities with over 150 independent institutions in India. D Y Patil School of Architecture, one of the many endeavors of the D Y Patil Group has been established in 2011 for creating global architects who will bring glory to the motherland and work towards the healthy survival and progress of humanity. The institute is nestled in the beautiful D Y Patil Knowledge City, which is spread over a 100-acre serene campus, comprising of world-class facilities.

"Three batches have been graduated from our institute since its inception and they are performing extremely well in the field of architecture. We believe this is the result of our students', faculty members' and management's collective efforts which helped in the upliftment of the institute's reputation and quality," says Shubhada Chapekar, Principal, D Y

Patil School of Architecture. The institute prides on having a team of faculty members consisting of both young and experienced educators, owing to which students get to access a comprehensive perspective to architecture education. Prof. Chapekar explains, "We have an exclusive faculty mentoring programme, wherein our teachers who are new to the teaching field are trained extensively. Moreover, we always keep on encouraging our faculty members to constantly enhance their knowledge and provide them with a decent work culture, which undoubtedly gets translated into a better teaching-learning process".

Offering Bachelors in Architecture and Masters in Environmental Architecture with an intake of 120 and 20 students respectively, the institute believes in sustaining an exemplary student-teacher ratio of 1:10. Because of this small class size approach, the students share a strong rapport with the faculty members. Due to the personal attention received in the classroom, the students feel free to get in touch with the faculty members and discuss on any academic or personal matters. Prof. Chapekar states, "Promising to instill positive learning experience and in-depth understanding of the architecture study, we annually welcome students from different corners of the country". Affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University and approved by the Council of Architecture, Delhi, and the AICTE, the institute apart from having 25 percent of visiting faculty members, also have developed a unique panel, called Design Chair, where three accomplished professionals are responsible for bringing in diverse aspects and contemporary trends in the architecture education.

For Sound Practical and Academic Knowledge

In an age of economic globalization, technological futurism and environmental fatalism, the role of architects have become quite essential, where they have to design and work on projects in a detailed way. To make the students learn how to plan and execute an idea with perfection, D Y Patil School of Architecture has developed Student's Research Centre where they are availed to go through the works performed by past

students and architects around the country. From the first year onwards, the students are taught the ways of doing research, so by the time they reach the final year are instilled with enough research methodologies' knowledge. "Our students are enabled to contribute in live projects, visit actual sites and design for the same project. The major research that is currently going on in the campus is on a newer city- its environmental aspects, correlating the plan and the real scene in the site," opines Chapekar.

At D Y Patil School of Architecture, the students are motivated to learn by doing. They are encouraged to utilize the state-of-the-art facilities present in the campus such as Material Testing laboratory, Material museum, construction yard where students actually experiment by building walls or small structure on their own, library with around 4000 books and around 50 international and national journal and so on. "Whether it is conducting varied kind of workshops or asking to undertake 6 months compulsory Practical Training in 9th semester and motivating for regular industrial visits, our students are ensured to gain optimum hands-on training," shares Prof. Chapekar. Along with organizing workshops by eminent architects, the faculty members of the institute emphasizes on studio-based learning which instills the students with practical sense.

For ensuring, each student gets to complete their internship with reputed firms and architects, the institute has set a Placement cell in the campus, which closely monitors the students on choosing the best office to work with. "Comprehending the skill and capabilities of our students, most of the time, they get appointed by the same organization where they undergo their internship," proudly says prof. Chapekar. However, the institute also enjoys a cordial relationship with numerous research institutes coupled with boasting of an MOU with Glass Academy that helps in conducting the elective courses in the campus. "Taking forward the rich legacy of the D Y Patil group, we have set many a long-term and short-term goals. Immediate plan is to expand our offerings in the master's programme," concludes Prof. Chapekar.