The Impossibility of Bringing About Spatial Justice in Indian Architectural Academia

Formally trained architects in India participate in building habitation for less than 10 per cent of the Indian population. Even with such small participation, they are unable to provide just spatial configurations that do not perpetuate segregation and discrimination on the basis of class, caste and gender. On the other hand, most inhabitations across the country are built through small contractors involving various kinds of incremental developments. This form too has perpetuated discrimination and segregation and is often built poorly due to low quality construction, planning and infrastructure, affecting the dignity of life of its inhabitants. The ecosystem of architectural education in India is structurally, institutionally and pedagogically unable to address issues related to spatial justice. While it is structurally located within a political economy where education is a money-making enterprise, it is institutionally geared to reduce academia to educational organisations and pedagogically oriented to prepare students for the mainstream building industry. This ecosystem has historically evolved to produce an institutionalisation that is made to feed the formal building industry, dominated by the building of habitation and other structures for the elite or by real-estate developers.