Set-up with the mission to create good Architects, with a complete personality that can do justice to all aspects of life, besides developing into good human beings, Dr. B.N. College of Architecture is a place that aims to nurture learners as trained professional architects whose design solutions would contribute to the quality of built environment and welfare of the society and the subsequent economic development of our country. BNCA functions under the aegis of the parent body, Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan Samstha MKSSS. The Samstha was established in 1896, by the great visionary and social worker, Bharat Ratna Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve to provide shelter to destitute women with the intention of 'emancipation of women'.
After 1990, a new thought emerged, to open up hi-technology education for women in the Samstha and so first the Engineering College and then Dr. B.N. College of Architecture was initiated in 1994. The Samstha offers education for women from Kindergarten to Higher Education. At present, the Institution runs higher education units like Engineering, Architecture, Management, Nursing, Fashion Technology, Vocational Training Institute, Laser Technology and Applications and Jewellery Design.
Offering Future-Ready Courses
Affiliated to Savitribai Phule, Pune University and recognized by the Council of Architecture and AICTE, BNCA offers five years Bachelor of Architecture program and two years duration Master of Architecture programs namely Environmental Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Digital Architecture. BNCA is India's largest PhD center offering Doctoral program purely in Architecture.
We also offer part time courses such as Garden Design and Development and Foundation training program on the practice of Ecological Restoration with international (SER) collaboration.
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE
At BNCA, we offer a unique choice based Architectural design studio from 2nd to 4th year B.Arch where students are given the opportunity to choose a studio of their liking. Our resources like the Digital Fabrication lab and woodworking lab, along with the exposure that bachelors students get through the hands on workshops and lecture series, infuses uniqueness into BNCAs bachelors course.
MASTERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHITECTURE
Initiated in 2006, it is the first Post graduate Environmental Architecture program for women in India under Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), focusing on building level interventions. The course aims to develop the knowledge and skills of the students to enable them to incorporate environmental sensitivity in the built environment thus helping to address the larger challenges of climate change, resilience and resource consumption with a focus on the design approach, technology and economics and is supported by a well-equipped lab with instruments to measure climatic parameters and a thermal imaging camera. Various software tools are also used for better visualization and understanding the environmental performance of the built form. The department has collaborations with many Government and Semi-government organizations. Our teachers have been guiding the Solar Decathlon India competitions and our students have secured second place consecutively in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
MASTERS IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Initiated in 2006, it is the first Post graduate Landscape Architecture program for women in India and the first in Maharashtra under SPPU. Our post graduate program equips the students to evolve functionally efficient, socially durable and ecologically sustainable landscape design and planning frameworks for projects of various typologies and scales ranging from a small scale house to an urban park to conservation of historic landscapes to scale of a degraded landscape of an abandoned quarry. The course engages the students with the current scenarios of scarcity of water and other natural resources, degradation of natural ecosystems, socio-cultural changes and future challenges to make life on earth livable for a longer period of time.The department has initiated 'Centre for Ecological Landscapes (CEL), under which training and capacity building programs are offered to strengthen the knowledge about ecological restoration in the context of 'UN Decade of Ecological Restoration'.
Architect, Planner and a PhD, Dr. Anurag Kashyap, the Founding Principal of BNCA has been at the helm in its 28 year journey. His insistence on keeping pace with 'current world trends' steered BNCA to be voted as 'Asia's Best Architecture Institution' in 2014-15 for its Global presence, State-of-the-art Infrastructure and Completeness in Education. In May 2019, Dr. Anurag was invited by the Academic Union Council of Oxford University, England, as an expert and Speaker of the 'Oxford Debate' 'University of the Future'. His speech was included in the Academy Union's "University of Future" periodical. His philosophy of 'Life is larger than Architecture' is practiced at BNCA to nurture Architects into good human beings capable of contributing to the society at large.
MASTERS IN DIGITAL ARCHITECTURE
The Digital Department at BNCA is fostering creative research explorations from its platform by facilitating a research cell, collaborating with industries as research partners as well as a comprehensive two years Masters program in Digital Architecture. At the core of this course are the notions, methods and skills of digital architectural design, understood not as a stylistic option but as a novel paradigm with a focus on pragmatic solutions. The BNCA [DFL] Digital Fabrication Lab has been a continued leader among academic institutions in India utilizing machine automation to perform both subtractive and additive manufacturing processes for architectural prototyping.
Having conducted 15 national and six international workshops as experts of the field, we intend to become a center for competence in computational design and fabrication for architecture. We have developed frugal end effectors in robotic fabrication enabling BNCA to bypass the monopoly of automation.
DOCTORAL PROGRAM AT BNCA
BNCA became a full-fledged PhD Center in 2011 under SPPU. To date, 21 PhD scholars have been awarded doctorates , 16 of them from BNCA which includes 10 in-house faculty, a formidable task achieved in a short time. Currently 16 students in the center are undergoing their doctoral research. Diverse topics have been studied at the center where the candidates are free to explore individualized programs designed to meet their specific needs and interests within the field. The institute encourages interdisciplinary research with the intellectual capital of our faculty being the distinguishing feature of our program.
EQUIPPED WITH THE BEST
BNCA has developed an excellent infrastructure as per standards laid down by the Council of Architecture - CoA, New Delhi, and the All India Council of Technical Education - AICTE, New Delhi, and the Savitribai Phule Pune University. Located in Pune city, the educational hub of Maharashtra, BNCA is a part of the 26 acre landscaped campus of the Samstha at Karvenagar, with about 30,000 sq. ft. floor area on four floors. BNCA has the largest intake in India at 160 for the Bachelors program and 20 each for the masters programs. There is a hostel facility, playground, basketball court, gymnasium, canteen, bakery, ATM, post office and dispensary, all within the campus.
"With the Digital Fabrication lab equipped with six axis Kuka robotic arm, 3D printers, CNC machines and Laser cutting machines, the woodworking lab with its high precision imported machines, the fully equipped environmental lab, we are able to offer our masters and bachelors students, maximum exposure to the current trends in Architecture. We have nationally and internationally renowned faculty, dedicated and highly qualified experienced teachers, majority of them being doctorate holders", says Dr. Anurag.
BNCA has made its presence felt globally through international collaborative studios and workshops with foreign Universities. Learning opportunities with foreign universities, international internships and international tours are a part of the learning and unique opportunities at BNCA. BNCA is a United Nations Academic Impact Hub (UNAI) since 2012, and has done commendable work in various countries under the umbrella of UNAI to date.
"Our students naturally get these opportunities to do 'hands on work in foreign countries' through UNAI and get very good exposure in addition to representing BNCA on the global platform. At BNCA we have established the Millennium Fellowship Campus and SDSN Youth Hub", shares Dr. Anurag.
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