Working in India: Raffles Millennium International
I came to India from the UK to help set up a new campus for the Singaporean design school Raffles Millennium International (RMI) here in Bangalore. I was employed on the academic staff to run the Interior (Architectural) Design department on a two-year contract. But here I am with two visa extensions, a promotion to acting Academic Director, and a new contract - and I know I am lucky to be in a job I love.
As the first lecturer in the Interior Architecture department, I have had the opportunity to deliver all the subjects on both the Degree and Diploma courses. I am the Head of the Department.
The department has grown in staff (local and international, full-time and part-time) and students. I went from my first student to 3 students, then 10, and now we have hundreds.
It’s now mid-term and the studios, classrooms and corridors are buzzing with life, noise and creativity.
Yesterday, in the Creativity and Concept Development class, I was giving my second-term students a lecture on Presentation Techniques and I found myself getting motivated. I love this about teaching, it’s so rewarding and motivating; you are teaching something you are so passionate about you get caught up in it all. This often motivates me to do some personal design work but finding time to do design projects that aren’t related to my job here is challenging - I work full-time and prepare for lecturers in the evenings and weekends.
My student intake this year is packed; 4 intakes, each term is 3 months long and, unlike Universities in the UK, there are no summer holidays (and we work every second Saturday) so it is full on but I am enjoying it.
Here are some pictures from a recent workshop I ran on campus, and some of my degree students’ 3D work.
These pictures were taken at an open day for potential students looking to apply to study Interior Architecture. I ran a 2-day workshop where they designed and built a scale future city and then presented their concept to the class. It was a lot of fun and challenging too but look how well their work turned out.