JOIN USEthos’, an organisation focussed on architecture, has completed ten years since its inception. And to make the anniversary special, ‘Ethos’ organised all-India architecture quizzes for professionals from all over the country as well as students in South India.
The quiz for the professionals was very well-developed and of high quality. All the questions compelled the participants to put on their thinking caps and give their best analytical answers.
One of the questions asked was, ‘what is the name of a lane in Delhi that is dedicated to an architect? — the answer being ‘Joseph Allen Stein’.
The rounds got tougher as the quiz progressed. The participants were so enthusiastic that they pressed the buzzer even before the questions were completed. Finally, the two who walked away as the winners of the professional round were Vivek and Madhuri.
Vivek, speaking about his passion –—architecture — says, “Today, I feel really happy that
I participated. After the college years, our quizzing skills tend to get rusted. This competition reignited my quizzing passion. I did not particularly prepare for this. And I must say the questions were really tough — it was of a very high standard.”
Madhuri, the other winner, had travelled for 28 hours on train to be a part of the quiz.
She says, “I came from Ahmedabad only for this quiz. All my preparation were done in the train. Today, the experience was enriching — quizzing helps you grow and acquire knowledge to become a good professional. To me, this event was an absolute renewal of my knowledge.”
Another participant, Aparna from Venkata Ramana Associates, says, “Every time there is a seminar on architecture, the person who is presenting will be in the limelight — it becomes people-centric and everyone is curious to know how a particular person is presenting the paper. But in quizzes, it is all about the subject. Today, the limelight was rightly on architecture and not on any individual. Such events should happen more as it sharpens the minds of all the architects.”
On the joy of completing ten years, the founder of ‘Ethos’, Gita Balakrishnan, adds, “The journey has been memorable and joyful. In the last six months, 60 colleges out of 303 have opened architecture courses in India — but not all of them are up to the mark. There is a dire need to give a proper exposure to architecture students. Through ‘Ethos’, we are aiming at getting the contributors to fund stipends for the college students to do research in the NGO sector.”