Mumbai  : According to recent study by UN, by 2050, 68% of the world’s population is expected to live in urban areas. The very shape of cities is changing with newer challenges due to growing population, demand for infrastructure that is in sync with sustainable development. This has led to a growing demand for professionals specializing in Built Environment and Urban Infrastructure Management & Services besides plain architecture.

World University of Design (WUD) India’s first and only university dedicated to education in the creative domain, with one of the largest portfolio of design courses in India has partnered with School of Architecture of Oxford Brookes University, UK to offer a unique BA(Hons) course in Built Environment and Habitat Studies. 

Graduates of the BA(H) program will be able to gain direct entry to the Masters program in Applied Design in Architecture (MArchD) at Oxford Brookes. This two year professional master’s course allows one to add an area of specialisation to one’s degree. The course is accredited by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Architects Registration Board (ARB) with part II exemption. Also, the school is affiliated with ACSA (USA). The postgraduates will be able to practice in UK and work with Indian architectural firms after acquiring the qualification. The entry to BA(H) program is by open selection and does not require a NATA score/ eligibility conditions for admission. Admission details are available online at http://worlduniversityofdesign.ac.in. Forms can be submitted online as well as offline for the Entrance Exams scheduled for late June 2019.

Talking about the course Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Vice Chancellor, WUD said, “While we have an excess capacity in Architecture education, there is a huge gap between the supply of built environment professionals giving rise to a demand and supply gap. This course is designed to provide the skills and knowledge necessary to ultimately find a niche in the planning of a successful built environment system & profession that will address the needs of growing cities and their requirement for spatial designing. We see a huge potential for the course especially in India as well as globally as the unique inter disciplinary approach to the subject will ensure that challenges such as  supply of basic resources like water, air, food are synergized with  overall economic, social and environmental sustainability can be addressed effectively.”

The 3 year interdisciplinary UG course covers a range of subjects relevant to the professional disciplines’ that students may wish to follow in following years. The course introduces a wide range of relevant disciplines including study of human settlements, universal design, sociology, sustainability, spatial planning, art & culture, behavioral science and environmental studies that are relevant and in demand across careers like Architectural assistant, Built environment designer (in areas such as heritage),Project Management, Policy and Advisory, Urban and Rural Planning, Estate Management, Architectural/Built Environment journalist, BIM modeler, Architectural Renderer, Project manager, Quantity Surveying Consultant among others.

World University of Design (WUD) has one of the largest portfolio of design courses in India offering over  24 cutting-edge programs including transportation design, product design, game design, film & video, Digital Drawing & Illustration, design management, art education and curatorial practice among others; going way beyond the traditional offerings.