Sir J.J. College of Architecture, Fort

Introduction:

The very prestigious college, Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy College of Architecture was established in around 1912-13. The Architectural Section was once even recognized by the Royal Institute of British Architects and was the only recognized School not only in India but in the whole of Asia. Currently Bachelors and Masters Degrees are being offered under the University of Mumbai.

Infrastructure:

The infrastructure as mentioned by the students in unison, falls nothing short of whatever is required.  The Laboratories, computer facilities, library are all well-equipped and up-to-date. Campus being the best part of the college comprises 2 buildings for the various departments and workshops. Talking about the classes and the studios where most of the academic learning takes place, are also good, and you do not need to ask for more. The things not functional are replaced frequently, so no issues about the maintenance of infrastructure. The library at Sir J.J. College of Architecture is very Rich with some volumes dating back to the time the school was established, i.e. around a century ago. The environment of the library certainly makes you feel like studying there. And last, but not the least, the exhibition halls, the computer labs, are all air-conditioned.

Courses Offered:

Bachelor of Architecture (University of Mumbai)
Master of Architecture & Urban Conservation (University of Mumbai)

Fees:

Rs.17,000 per year, and Rs.8,000/year for those who fall under the reserved category.

Faculty:

The faculty is a nice blend of old and young professors. And the interesting part is that a lot a visiting faculties are invited at regular times to take lectures, in their area of expertise. The head-of-departments, are the permanent faculties, and needless to mention about their experience. Also they are good teachers, and can explain concepts well. Some of the faculty have been students from J.J. College itself, and are very flexible with handling things. In fact the faculty are even okay, if students get chai aur khaana, inside the studios provided work is being done or at the cost of learning, and thus work here is not really stressful.

Attendance:

With so much flexibility just so that learning remains at the highest priority, attendance is bound to be kept high, and by the university norms, 75% is compulsory. But as you establish rapport with your staff along with time, it becomes more performance based, and you’ll like it only if you perform well, and do your work on time. And for those who default the attendance list, letters are sent to their homes, at times, made to do extra assignments, and at worse; you can get a year drop.

Crowd:

Although a majority of students here are ‘townies’ (as they would like to call themselves), but still you see a wide variety of students, coming from other backgrounds too. And then there are the government reservations too, but fortunately, there are not a lot of nerds around.

Canteen:

The canteen is just okay, being shared with the school of fine arts. And also there’s one separate for the School of Commercial Arts, which is just okay. And a bad part about the canteen is that the food also has an artistic touch to it too…by that we mean, the food depends upon their moods, and is just okay at best. Students here keep canteen as the last option to eat when hungry, but a nice place to chill nevertheless. And for the real food freaks, there are a lot of places just outside the college which then gets us to the hangouts.

Hangouts:

Well, you don't really need to hang 'out' when you're at J.J. College; first you need to exhaust all the places inside the campus. If you keep exploring, you'll find a good number of nice, warm places in here. Once outside the gates, there's Sterling, New Excelsior, Eros, Regal, Metro for the movie lovers, Mc D's for Mc D's lovers and a variety of other places such as K Rustomjee for ice cream, Marine Drive, Gaylord, Relish, Shiv Sagar, subway at CST (yes people eat there and still survive), Cannon, Zaffran, Baadshah for Falooda and the list goes on...

Festival:

Celebrations are an integral part of studies which involve a huge amount of creativity, and to encourage that festivals are organised with a lot of zeal and students participate actively. ‘Parhelion’ is an intra-college cultural festival celebrated round the month of December.  Also apart from academic sessions in the college, study tours are also organised the time, and venue of which, depends upon the syllabus.

Performance in NASA:

Although NASA was born in Sir J.J. College of Architecture, for now it has deserted itself from participating in NASA.  A controversy four/five years back, urged the faculty members at J.J. back-out of NASA, since they felt that the learning involved was little. Students seem to oblige to this decision, and at times, the faculty also discourages, the ones who want to participate, by the way of internal and assignment work.

Placement:

At J.J. everybody gets a placement, so if that’s never going  to bother you, but not without proving your mettle.  20-25 architecture firms come to the campus every year. The students also get good 5^th year internship at these firms, and then a 6 month thesis follows. The purpose of the internship is thorough practical knowledge, before you actually become an architect. And around a small number of students, about 5% skip the placements, and look for pursuing their masters.

Contact:

78/3 D.N.Road,
Fort, Mumbai - 400001.
Tel: 022-22621649
Website: www.sirjjarchitecture.org

Verdict:

For a course, 5 year long, J.J. College of Architecture almost becomes your second home. Although the general attitude is laid-back but work happens nevertheless.
So basically, when here, you can’t not work and have fun.