India Exchange Program

California Polytechnic State Unversity @ San Luis Obispo, California
&
Pune University, Pune India

 

 

India:

"India...the land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and dire poverty, of splendor and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of tigers and elephnts, the cobra and the jungle, the country of a hundred nations and a hundred tongues...these contradictions no less vivid and paradoxes no less puzzling than they ever were."

Mark Twain

It is a land of tremendous contrasts, mystique and adventure. To live in exotic India, to assimilate in Indian life, to understand its diverse and paradoxical culture, to be able to visit many far away places and observe the magnificent historic as well as the contemporary Architecture of India...is a once in a life time opportunity. Observing the people, their colorful costumes, their strong traditions, festivals, the arts and architecture, the Indian music, tasting the delicious cuisine...is a rich and rewarding experience that could change ones perspective on life.

It is this complexity and paradox that makes India very attractive and inviting for a traveler.

 

 

The Program:

India-Exchange-Program is a short, one-quarter long program, offered during Winter. It is one of the many alternatives to one-year long off campus programs available to students in the Architecture Department. Students can participate in maxium of four such short programs in a given academic year. The available short programs are - San Francisco Urban Internship Program (Fall); India Exchange Program (Winter); & Thailand Exchange Program (Spring) and Fontainebleau Program in France (Summer)

This program is offered durnig Winter quarter and is available to 4th year Architecture students. As an exchange program it facilitates Indian Architecture Students to visit Cal Poly campus during Fall quarter and the Cal Poly students to visit the Pune University in Winter quarter.

Credits : Students enroll at Cal Poly ; Receive 12 units for Design, Practice & Senior Elective.

 

Schedule:

  • Five weeks of staying in the city of Pune in  Maharashtra State on  central west coast of India, near Bombay. Pune is a an educational center in India known for its place in the history, for its cultural diversity, its beautiful location and the climate. At Pune students participate in studio/class work at B.N. College of Architecture of Pune University. 
  • Five weeks of extensive study-travel throught India to study Historic as well as  Contemporary  Architecture that includes a two week field trip in South-India   & a  three week field trip in North-India. Students experience beautiful examples of Hindu and Islamic Architecture, that consists of Temples, Palaces, Forts, Mosques, Monuments, Havelis (mansions) that are found  throughout historic old cities and remote places. Students also visit contemporary architecture of Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, Charles Corea, Bal Doshi and other notable Indian Architects in Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune.
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    For additional information, contact the program coordinator:
    Prof. Sharad Atré, Architecture Department
    Email: satre@calpoly.edu