Art & Architecture Education

Text: Ar. Pervaiz Vandal

Part I

The purpose of formal education, since its beginnings in India in the Vedic age (ca 2000BCE), was to inculcate holistic thinking about existence in its interaction with Nature and the Unknown. Human inquiry was directed towards understanding the Self with all its physical and psychological layers and the context within which it operated as an integrated, interactive system. In the axial age,[1] (ca 1000-300 BCE) humanity discovered values, which transcended the simple struggle for physical survival. Compassion for others, appreciation and creation of beauty brought pleasures that made life worth the struggle and it was this innate quality that uplifted humans to a level higher than other animals[2].

In Europe, before the industrial revolution, education had no divisions of art or science disciplines; astronomers, mathematicians, physicists could be well versed, in logic, poetry, philosophy and the classical languages, Greek or Latin. Education was transferring of awareness and wisdom; in more advanced cases it meant a deeper knowledge of both the tangible and intangible natural phenomenon. With the advent of large scale production, specialized and trained labor was required.  Slave labor was undoubtedly used earlier to perform unskilled work, but for the first time human beings were reduced to usable skilled man-power through a deliberate process of education and training. The purpose of education began to be linked with production.