School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi
| File:School of Planning and Architecture logo.gif | |
| Type | Deemed University |
|---|---|
| Established | 1959 |
| Dean | A. K.Sharma |
| Director | Ranjit Mitra |
| Location | , |
| Website | Official website |
School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) is a National Resource Institute of India. It is also one of the few premier 'Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTI)' under the Government of India. Currently there are 3 SPAs all over India, administered under the MHRD, Government of India. Other than the legendary SPA Delhi, the other 2 SPAs that have started functioning from 2008 at Vijayawada and Bhopal. The SPA Delhi is a specialized university imparting education and research in the field of Planning and Architecture. The SPAs are well-recognized among domestic and international fraternity for their quality education and alumunus.
History
School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi had a modest beginning in 1941 as the Department of Architecture of Delhi Polytechnic. It was later affiliated to the University of Delhi and then integrated with the School of Town and Country Planning which was established in 1955 by the Government of India to provide facilities for training in Rural, Urban and Regional Planning.The School was subsequently renamed as School of Planning and Architecture, and was affiliated to the University of Delhi in 1959. Recognizing the specialized nature of the fields in which the School had attained its eminence, the Government of India, through the Ministry of Education and Culture, conferred on the School of Planning and Architecture the status of 'Deemed University' in 1979.[1] This new status enabled the School to broaden its horizon by introducing new academic extension programmes, promote research and award its own undergraduate, post-graduate, and doctoral degrees. The location of the School in New Delhi, the national capital, offers opportunities for participation in the city's rich cultural life and for interaction with various national as well as international institutions, attracting students from all over India and from other developing countries.
Two more School of Planning and Architectures were sanctioned to be built and set up as CFTIs by the Government of India in 2008.[2] In accordance, School of Planning & Architecture, Vijayawada (AP) and SPA, Bhopal (MP), have started functioning. First batch of students were enrolled in these two CFTIs in August 2008. Construction of dedicated campus and infrastructure is underway and the building project is supposed to be completed by 2012-13. The two new SPAs will offer graduate, post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral education in architecture and planning, while also fostering research of a high order in these areas. All SPAs are also socially responsible institutions for providing research feedback to the government for physical development of human settlements
Campus
The current SPA Delhi campus is housed near ITO in Indraprastha Estate in New Delhi. The SPA Residential Campus and Hostels is located in New Friends Colony, Delhi. A site of 20 acres (81,000 m2) has recently been acquired south of JNU for developing a new campus.
School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada is currently at Gudavalli on NH-5 ,few kilometers away from Vijayawada main town, SPA Bhopal is functioning from the premises of Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) in Bhopal. .
Library
The two libraries of SPA together house an invaluable collection of 66,000 books, built up over a period of five decades. This library is reputed to be Asia's finest specialised library dealing with the architecture, design and planning fields along with their allied disciplines. In addition to SPA's own faculty and students, the library is used intensively by a range of visiting research scholars from various cities in India and abroad.
The architecture campus and planning campus libraries are also noted for their collection of Thesis Reports, Seminar Reports, Dissertation Reports, Technical Reports of various expert bodies and commissions, Census Reports, and so on.
Academics
The school offers undergraduate degrees, awarding Bachelor of Planning (four years) and Bachelor of Architecture (five year). Similarly, postgraduate programmes award Master of Planning and Master of Architecture. The school also offers doctoral level programmes leading towards a Ph.D degree.
Notable alumni
- Arundhati Roy, writer studied at SPA, completing the five-year undergraduate degree in six years.[citation needed]
In popular culture
- The movie In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989) directed by Arundhati Roy is based on the life of students of the college and was filmed at SPA.[citation needed]
References
External links
- SPA Delhi - Official Website