The Higher Education Review

RVS Educational Trust is a public charitable Trust set up in 1983 in fond memory of Master Rathnavel Subramaniam, the elder son of Chairman Lion. Vijayashree Dr. K. V. Kupusamy and Smt. K. Padmavathy. Since its establishment, the trust has been rewriting the status of education in the country. Ranging from schools to higher educational institutions, the trust has grown by leaps and bounds and today shelters number of entities classified into the varied domain of education. However, taking the plunge to improve the quality of architectural education and raising the overall professional standard, the trust in 2011 laid the foundation of the RVS School of Architecture. Affiliated to the Anna University Chennai and situated in the Coimbatore city of Tamil Nadu, the institute is determined to match with the global benchmark of architecture education and instills the region's aspiring architects with apt competencies and skills.

Architecture in the present day is not about only developing mere buildings, instead, the roles and responsibilities of an architect have multiplied into a manifold. They are now responsible to leave a noticeable imprint in a city. And for generating such a talented workforce of architects, RVS School of Architecture is offering a 5 years Bachelor of Architecture, which has been composed to render a balanced blend of theory and practical wisdom to the students.

"Our past students are already displaying their proficiency in the industry. Currently having an intake of 40 students, we are deliberating on increasing the intake capacity to 80 students in coming days," shares Ar. P. Jegan, Head of the Department, RVS School of Architecture. The institute also has further plans to commencing Postgraduate and Doctorate Programmes in architecture, so that the students who wish to go for higher education can complete their degrees under one roof. "We believe, the first year is one of the most crucial times for both the students and the institute. During that time our excellent faculty members try to mold the creativity of the students and teach them regarding the fundamentals of architecture," opines Jegan. The process of teaching at RVS School of Architecture is quite a unique one, which helps the students to attain a smooth transition in the professional world. While in the first year, students are introduced to fine arts studio, in which they get to learn all kind of art form, on the other hand from second year onwards, students are made to work and experiment in the laboratory. "We encourage our students to learn the sustainable way of building. Apart from the in-house faculty members, we welcome renowned practitioners from around the country to let our students understand the nuances of the architecture industry," pinpoints Jegan.

Staying Ahead of the Game

With an attempt to provide the students a substantial amount of exposure, the institute has collaborated with Noida International University, Delhi and Columbia University, New York. The institute also has a joint studio with Noida International University and owing to this, soon there will be a joint workshop going to be conducted along with both the institute's students and the paper

in Columbia University. "Throughout the year we keep on organizing diverse activities – from workshops to debate competitions with other institutes, which assists our students in accumulating dynamic experience and skills required in the field of architecture. To sum up, we prepare them for life at RVS School of Architecture," shares Jegan. The institute, in fact, enables the students to access all the materials for free that are needed to complete their practical tasks.

Jegan adds, "Our campus is packed with cutting-edge technologies and facilities, including well-equipped laboratories, model making studio, material museum, which is updated very frequently according to the introduction of any new material in the industry". The campus is also beatified with an exclusive Design cell, consisting of faculty members who act like mentors to the students. "1:10 is our faculty to student ratio and this helps us immensely in reaching to each student individually and monitor their progress," points Jegan. Apart from the thorough training in the institute, the students are boosted to undergo a minimum 6 months internship in India or abroad and gain some real-time hands-on experiences which they can apply in their professional works after graduating from the institute.

The research cell of the institute takes close account of all the activities occurred in the institute and include those in the newsletter which is released in every two months. "Considering our focus on offering a globalized and contemporary architectural education, we already are in talks with some Japanese and American institutes for signing MOU. We hope, in the next couple of years, RVS School of Architecture will be able to touch the highest standard of architectural education by sustaining meaningful collaboration with some institute of repute," concludes Jegan.