History and Theory

The history and theory department of the school includes the study and research of the history of architecture within the socio-political and economic developments of that time and not only as a stylistic, religious or regional development. The KRVIA believe that architecture is an active force and also a result of such developments.

To inculcate criticality in students we conduct exercises that include papers on contemporary issues in the media, book reviews, reports on site visits and surveys on changing patterns of urbanism.

Parallel to these there is a studio on the Theory of Design which informs both the history and theory and the design course. The theory of design studio analyzes existing cultural forms and systems in our context. It studies the effects of colonization, modernity and globalization on contemporary architectural practice.

A course started by history and theory department is that of Research Methods in the 4th year, which aims at providing a strong foundational base to the year-long Architectural Design Dissertation programme that begins in the 2nd half of the 4th year.