Interview series - What after B.Arch? #18
Interviewee: Ar. Vipul Verma Post-graduation: Master's in Human Settlements | KU Leuven, Belgium
What prompted you to take up this particular program? I was and am interested in the functioning of cities, especially how it affects a building and vice-versa. It was about understanding the bigger scale that affects architecture.
I consulted a few professors that had been to this course and decided to take it up. Also, it was economical compared to other courses in Europe and offered good exchange opportunities.
When did you take up the master’s? I worked for 4 years before going for masters. I worked for 3 years and taught for a year. The 4 year period gave me clarity about what subject to do my masters in. Had I gone immediately after graduation, it would have been a mistake.
Not everyone knows what to do after graduation. Best is to take up a job in a multidisciplinary studio and expose yourself to fields related to architecture. Eventually, you understand what to do.
When did you start with the application process considering the time for application, scholarship/bursary deadlines, etc.? At least 6 months before the submission deadline.
What preparation did you do before starting the master’s? I looked at google map a lot, searched for all the nearby beer places.
I met people who had been to Belgium and understood about the climatic conditions and general things that help you settle down.
Did you have to give any entrance tests? How did you plan for them? GRE is not required for colleges in Europe and students don’t know this, but if your graduation is done in English medium, the universities do not ask for any English proficiency tests - both in Europe and the US. It is best to check with the university first.
How long was your program? 1-year program. Very intensive due to short duration. But, I recommend doing at least 2-year urban design and planning programs because that is the amount of time one needs to understand that scale of operation.
Did you have post-masters plans in mind when you took up masters? Only did a masters course. Attended several workshops after the course, to get a different point of view in the same thing.
Did you have to apply for a visa? Did the application myself. It is easy to get a Belgian study visa. Just follow the instructions online. Got a 15-month student visa, good enough to look for jobs and other opportunities.
How was the experience at the school? Amazing. The campus is an old castle. Hogwarts Style. Belgium has some best beers in the world. Stella was manufactured where I studied. We had a canal next to the building with ducks. Great place for lunch. The studios were open till late, we could keep them open whole night with permission. The building studio had a kitchen for eating and cooking. I have a lot of memories from that kitchen, that’s where we had the most amazing conversations, food is always the focal point of conversations.
How was teaching at your school? It is a much-grounded course and deals with the problems of today’s cities in a very realistic way, much more than some of the very big school in the world. It is focused on the environment, climate change, natural resources, society, culture, anthropology, urban discourse, people, with very intensive mapping and research on the ground.
European schools give a lot of group assignments for design subjects, which is good you learn from friends more than the mentors. Every discussion was a cultural debate, very enriching.
It was a university system, so different schedule every day, lectures were spread across the city because we were exposed to courses from other fields as electives. That gave a lot of time to do things in between and in the evening.
Tell us more about the mentors. The interaction with mentors is very informal everyone calls everyone with their first name. It is very important for a learning environment to be calm and relaxed. They never lose their anger. There is no visible hierarchy within the mentors, only less experience and more experience. They will push you to do something but never push it down your throat. Very contrasting to the Indian education practice.
Every semester there is a list of guest lectures both local and international, in sync with the studio projects. So, we got to know what people in practice are doing to tackle the same urban issues that we are attempting in the studio. Very good exposure and networking opportunities.
What kind of support system was available for students? We had the architecture department office, and the staff was very good. We could go there with any and every problem from printing to accommodation to a good place to eat. University also has a student services office, for help and queries.
Were you involved in research projects/competitions while studying? All the studio projects were either consultancy projects by the university or tied to personal research of the professors or the PhD students. So we got hands-on experience in real-time planning and urban design project.
Could you tell us in brief what your thesis was about? We travelled to Ecuador to do a design studio in the city of Cuenca. Our aim was to look at the current problems of the city and future problems. Look at demographics, infrastructure, ecology, transport, socio-cultural practices, and economics and how they are interrelated. My personal research was on ‘Rural Public Spaces’.
The challenge was to understand a different culture and communicate in Spanish while doing research.
The university has a set schedule, one mid review and a final review. So we knew when to do what. A lot of sleepless nights during reviews and a lot of beer and fries with mayo afterwards. Best time ever.
How did you manage the finances? I could pay the tuition fees with my savings and had to take a student loan for everything else.
I deposited a certain amount of money at the beginning of the course and would get back a certain amount every month. That was my budget. 660 Euros every month. I could save 100 euros for travelling every month.
Did you volunteer/work part-time job/intern while studying? Yes, after the course, coordinated an urban design workshop for the course and worked in the department office for a month. Saved enough to do a workshop and travel for 40 days straight.
How did you choose your accommodation? Did you have to commute to reach lecture halls? Leuven is a small town, so everything was within 15-minute reach by bicycle. I stayed in university accommodation just outside the city on the campus. The Heverlee campus is beautiful, green forest, playgrounds, gardens. Cost is the only thing when studying abroad. Not distance so much. We would go to Brussels, every week twice to do a studio project.
We were 11 students on one floor and shared a kitchen. One of the first-year students in chemistry became my best friend because of that kitchen. A guy from Delhi lived on the ground floor and another from Bangladesh lived above me. We cooked together.
Did you travel while/after studying? Yes, travel during and after study. In Europe, one gets a lot of breaks so you can travel a lot. Belgium is central to France, Amsterdam and Germany, so major cities are 2 hours away. Went to Barcelona to visit a friend during Easter break. Megabus and Ryanair are cheap travelling services.
Took a 40-day euro trip after the studies. Did hitchhiking most of the way, stayed and made friends with complete strangers. Did a workshop. Went to 4 countries and 9 cities. And made a video take a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cypSCDv_YxQ
Are there any notable anecdotes from post-grad studies that you wish to share? Hahaha… so many.
Don’t be shy to speak to anyone and everyone there, don’t intermingle only in our own community (even though we are so many of us everywhere). Make friends with local people, see and understand how they live, live like them, eat like them. Definitely make friends with Latin people, they know how to dance and party like mad.
Most important learning was to work in balance with people from different culture and temperament. Belgians are very polite, Germans have a tough mindset and timelines, Vietnamese panic too much, it’s a different negotiation every day. And travelling alone in Europe taught me a lot of things about myself that I would not know otherwise.
How do you think doing a master’s degree helped you? In the coming years, India will need a lot of professionals who know how to deal with the problem of our cities, if not then someone from outside India is going to do it, which is already happening. It’s a good time to be an architect and urban designer in India.
The course gave me an understanding of the development of human settlements in a holistic way. How cities function, how changes in society, technology, governments and climate influences a city. Also, how in India the architectural profession is devoid of the relationship between architecture and the city, and how we can make out cities better through our buildings. How climate change and technology are going to drastically change the way we live. It also improved my teaching methodologies.
Did the city/country you studied in play a major role during your postgraduate study? Studying in Leuven is great since it’s a small town you don’t have many distractions, that a city has. So, one can really focus on studies.
Could you please tell us about your current work and future plans. I am teaching and practising architecture as STUDIO141 in Jaipur. Working on small scale installations to large building projects, also a construction consultant for green building material and construction techniques. As my team grows I will work on urban scale projects in the future.
What advice would you like to give to those planning their post-graduate studies? Work for at least 3 years before you choose a masters course and be sensitive to the things and people around you, they will teach you the most.
Looking back, was there anything you would have done differently? Yes, do a two years master’s program.
About the interviewee… Vipul Verma is a Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at Aayojan School of Architecture and heads an individual architecture practice Studio141 in Jaipur.
He is a post-graduate from KU Leuven, Belgium in Human Settlements Development and is an enthusiast for spatial makeovers of the urban realm. His expertise also reaches the realm of working with digital design tools for form-finding.












