Architects Social – AR. MOHSIN SHEIKH

Hello everyone!!

Welcome back to the blog. Today we are going to discuss some websites where you can learn about Architecture. Learning is a process which shouldn’t stop when the college stops. I call it a process, as it is an intrinsic aspect of our daily lives, that fuels holistic growth. Here’s my list of 10 websites catering to different aspects of architecture.

The video lessons on design and architecture cover all learning levels, from beginner to advanced levels. This makes it easy for students to start from scratch and become experts after completing the course. Many of the lessons feature theory and practical exercises that help students to apply the knowledge they have gained about architecture and design. It helps in gaining inspiration, creating ideas and being able to work with clients.

1. Design and Architecture Masterclass with Frank Gehry.

You are living under a den if you don’t know Frank Gehry, even if you are a first-year architecture student you should know him, read about him and his philosophies. You might have heard about this course as this already quite famous and I’ll recommend it to. This online course features 17 video lessons.

During this course the students learn about creativity, design philosophies, and the approaches to architecture that have worked for Frank Gehry. The course also covers essential areas as working with a team and the client, growing a business to deliver excellent design and architecture services.

Frank Gehry describes his design style and uses a case study from his past project – the Iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall, which remains an architectural wonder. At the end of this course, all participants will have best ideas on how to confidently explore talent and resources to create outstanding architectural designs.

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2. Udemy – Design and Architecture Lessons Online.

This website offers different types of lessons on a diverse range of topics to choose from. I recommend reading the description beforehand, as the IT based architecture courses are merged with the regular ones. Also while you enter the course you can see the rating, tutor detail, what you’ll learn, requirements (if any) and you also have a detailed description about the course which you can read and take a decision to take the course or not.

The website is quite user friendly and offers a video preview of how the course will be. You get a full lifetime access, and you can view this on TV and mobile. After completion of the course you also get a Completion Certificate. The beauty of these courses is that you can complete them at your own pace.

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3. Coursera – Design and Architecture Lessons Online.

Besides having a wide range of choices from courses to degree programs, this website is associated with leading websites. Hence, on completion you get a certificate from the University. They have courses for beginners to expert level of courses.

There are multiple details which are seen on the frontend when you open a course, like 100% online, flexible deadlines, beginner level, approx. no. of Hours of course, and language of course. You also have your instructor details and details of course offered by which University.

I personally feel that if they had a preview video of the course, it would have helped more. I liked it when they mention a start date of the course and also have a deadline, for a person like me if there’s no deadline it will be difficult to complete the course. I appreciate that they have subtitles in multiple languages which they have mentioned, so a wide range of students who don’t know English can also access the course.

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4. Skillshare – Design and Architecture Lessons Online.

Got 15 mins?! No problem. On skill share you can find a course, from where you can learn something important in as low as 15 minutes. A list of things I found interesting on Skillshare were ‘what you will learn’, ‘who is this class for’, and more stuff in these things many questions get answered and the user has a clarity of the course.

Along with sample video, in this class the best part is we have discussions. So, if you are someone who needs an opinion from the tutor you can ask them questions here and get your work reviewed. Also, you are given task to do, because of that you can gauge that how much you have understood.

This website user-friendly, simple and result oriented. If you have less time and looking something to learn then Skillshare is for you.

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5. Fiverr – Design and Architecture Lessons Online.

You get a wide range of courses covered in this website. But this is not a stereotypical format of college or school, slightly different format. On this website you have individuals who teach you a specific topic. They term every course as a “GIG” and according to the owner, price range and rating you can select the tutor. Each GIG has been rated on 5-star scale to reveal how much value other students have been getting from the course.

Now while selecting your tutor it depends on how expressive he/ she is while explaining the course to you. One down side I saw while visiting this side is how they’ll be teaching is not mentioned, if it is in video format or audio format or just notes from which you can refer and have to learn it on your own. Mostly the courses covered on this website are software oriented such as AutoCAD, google SketchUp and others.

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6. Lynda.com – Design and Architecture Lessons Online.

While using this website you’ll have the comfort of selecting from various different categories related to architecture. From skill level to subject to duration to the software you can select the course as per your convenience. These courses are mostly video lectures. There’s no certification, no timeline, and this website is associated with LinkedIn, so that when you login from your LinkedIn ID you get a ‘FREE MONTH’ in which you can access the courses.

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7. Take lessons.com – Design and Architecture Lessons Online.

This websites module is based on Teachers. You can choose particular teacher and in the area of his expertise you can select the coaching. When you enter the website, your location is asked and according to that you can view a list of tutors. You can read about their experience and according to it you can decide to choose them or not.

According to the tutor’s availability and timings in morning, afternoon and evening you can select your time.

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8. Superprof – Design and Architecture Lessons Online.

Quite similar to what we saw in “TAKE LESSONS” but in this the tutors teach Design and Architecture using a webcam. Based on your requirements you can take group or individual class. And pay the tutor on hourly basis. Most of the time these are individuals who have experience in the field. These courses can be taken in any part of the world.

First lesson on this website is offered for free. This will be an introductory class online to help student understand what the course or topic is all about.

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9. Creative Live – Design and Architecture Lessons Online.

This website offers courses which are not normal. I’ll term them as secondary courses available related to architecture. You can see the instructor’s background and experiences related to the course. These are HD video lessons and apart from your main class content you get certain number of hours of free content.

The best part about Creative Live is that you get a lifetime access, anywhere and anytime. This is one unique feature which we haven’t seen. Streaming of your courses on offline devices is one more interesting feature.

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10. Future learn – Design and Architecture Lessons Online.

This is a specialized course related to Modern Building Design where you can explore the trends influencing modern building design. This explores the trends of Climate Change, technology and regulation are changing modern building design and the professional practices of the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.

Any course can be done by anyone as there is no specific rule for doing this course. However, I would recommend not to do it if you are in your Under Graduate Architecture program. The difficulty level is intermediate and will be more suitable for fresh graduates which will help them professionally as well.

Basics of what topics will be covered, when to start, what you will achieve and who the course is for is given in the website and answers most of your questions. There are also learners review from which you can get an idea of how the course is and will help you take decision. You can choose from ‘FREE’ option to ‘UNLIMITED’ option in which they give different freedoms from just access for 5 weeks to unlimited access for a year with other benefits.

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The main reason for writing this blog is to educate people that even if you have 15mins time on a Sunday afternoon you can make use of it. These small courses might not be as big as a degree or a diploma but will certainly develop a skill to solve simple and technical problems.

I hope you liked this blog. These blogs take alot of effort, so a single like or a comment or a share might add a certain amount of motivation for me to keep writing. Don’t hesitate to share this with your friends as we don’t know who this will help and lead them to a better life. Also, if you like the blog you can donate to keep seeing such blogs.

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As we are stuck in the middle of the pandemic lockdown where even getting certain essentials is difficult. Ministry of Environment just gave a nod to the new parliament building.

An ambitious redevelopment project of the government that will strip away the Public Identity of an iconic National space. In October 2019 the BJP govt. approved the central vista project of which the Estimated budget for the project is 20,000 crores.

20^th March 2020: land use of 7 plots were changed in the Delhi Masterplan. Those spaces which were public/ semi-public are now changed to Govt office plots. 86.1-acre accessible public land is now converted to Govt office. A project of this size needs Public consultation. Round of studies are required in the public domain on topics like converting Public areas to Govt. office spaces, parliament as an Inadequate structure, consultation on demolishing heritage structures, and how the architect is being commissioned this project.

When asked to tell about the logic & studies (regarding the project) we were stone-walled, we just didn’t get any response – Madhav Raman

Transparency means that the due process really invests in getting as many questions before conclusions are arrived at. Anything that is done later is actually information sharing at its best – Amritha Ballal.

The ministry of Housing and Urban affairs notification clarified that the board of Inquiry and Hearing setup by DDA had considered all Objections & suggestions that had been raised. It added that the Central Government had carefully considered all aspects of the matter and had decided to modify the Masterplan.

Architects and civil society activists oppose to the project point out how land and environment permissions are been sought piece – meal for separate parcel of land. Rather than showing Central Vista project as a whole the New Parliament Building is shown as an individual stand-alone project.

The law very clearly says of this is a integrated project with 7/ 8 or even 4 components then you need to do Environment Impact Assessment for each of the project and do a Comprehensive Integrated Assessment for the entire project. Instead of doing that “THE” project has been broken up in 7-8 elements, what we only have before us is a Parliament Expansion. It is 9.5 acre, B2 category project. (over 50k sq. m but under 150k sq. m) doesn’t require EIA clearance and public hearing
The breaking up actually is a way around doing a full comprehensive assessment. Actually, discussing that the project is much bigger and its environment footprint is much bigger – Kanchi Kohli

“……Again, the correct way is to do a space audit to see whether things are being used efficiently before you enhance the space, sure technologically they all need a revamp, but none of the needs to mean fresh construction, cheaper and environment friendly to retro-fit” – Madhav Raman

While countries around the world are redeveloping to make cities more sustainable, eco-friendly those objecting to India’s Central Vista Project will end up creating more high security zones.

“its been a place for public expression of sorrow or happiness, that’s where we express ourselves and what better place to yourself as a people than in the forecourt of government. That’s the beautiful democratic reason of continuity in that space, what’s going to change is we going to be more reticent about expressing ourselves over there – Madhav Raman

The best way to leave a stamp on Delhi is by revamping the Central Vista. By this Modi Govt. will have a mark on the capital. The basic need for the development as mentioned by the government in the article were the reason given is to Renovate Outdated Infrastructure for Inadequate space. Nirman Bhavan, Krishi Bhavan, Vigyan Bhavan may be demolished under this project. North & South Blocks of Central Secretariat may be turned into Museums. No new Building will be higher than INDIA GATE.

In an article in January 2016, Dr. Bimal Patel wrote for daily newspaper about the need to break from the past and redesign the Indian Parliament. Soon after sometime Modi government announced the Plan for the Central Vista Project. In 2014 Modi commissioned KASHI – VISHWANATH CORRIDOR redevelopment project to Dr. Bimal Patel. In January 2019 government awarded PADMASHRI to Bimal Patel for his excellence of work in architecture. And in October 2019 HCP Designs was Awarded the consultation project of Central Vista Redevelopment Project.

Now as we go further deep in conversation of the discussing this project, I would hence like to you leave you pondering over the questions stated:

Bidding process wasn’t Transparent (total 6 firms were deemed eligible and all this happened in 7 weeks)
Why the rush? (be it clearance of new parliament building or conversion of public spaces to govt. office space, decision taken on Video conferencing to lift STAY ORDERS)
Changes of the Land use (80 Acre of changed Public to govt. office spaces)
Heritage won’t be protected
Trees being cut (No plans of how green cover will be replenished)
No public consultation (a project of this big level public consultation should be more entertained, rather we see much opposite response from the govt.)

Video reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSu71YXgGTY

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