Design Beyond Drawings: Goa’s Lesson for Architects

People tend to think of architecture in drawings on tracing paper, smooth 3D objects, and unending architectural debates. But as the students of Parul University realised from their practice learning excursion to Goa, architecture is not merely a question of what works on paper, but how those works are made effective in the world outside.

The Design Workshop was based on a fundamental idea: design is not the product. Real architecture requires practical skills and experience, skills and techniques, and flexibility to meet the demands at work. To draw a perfect arch is one thing; to fully realise how stone, mortar, and tools will actually form it is another.

The Craft of Building

One of the key takeaways from this session was the importance of learning to “build with hands.” For students, this was a turning point. Most of them came to the profession of architecture with the notion that design and creativity are the primary driving forces. But as the session revealed, technical skills and execution methods are equally important.

The workshop focused on practical exposure, how materials respond to the real world, how methods change with context, and how performance is the gap between imagination and reality. Students were taught that an architect cannot just sit inside and design; they need to know the tools and skills involved to make design happen.

A Fresh Perspective

The Goa tour provided students with a different perspective on architecture. They started regarding it as a form of art and craft, where creativity intersects craftsmanship. They did not just consider the appearance of a building; they also considered how it is constructed and the difficulties during its realisation.

This change of thinking helped them to be more certain about their future as architects. They knew that to win, they not only should design, but also start to master the tricks which enable the construction.

Learning in Goa’s Open Classroom

The Design Workshop became the ideal destination for such learning. The students were surrounded by heritage buildings, old Portuguese designs, and exclusive building styles, so they could observe how culture and tradition influence architecture. It was a lesson on every wall, on every roof, on every balcony. It was a wall-less classroom, where history, design, and execution all met in one room.

Lessons to Carry Forward

One lesson that the Goa tour gave to the students is that design is not all that is needed. Techniques and skills are also paramount to being a complete architect. The visit to the Design Workshop helped understand the thought that imagination and execution cannot be separated.

The students came back with better knowledge of their discipline, motivated to look beyond design and see the craft and methods that can create buildings.

Beyond Goa: Learning Through Journeys

The best thing about these kinds of experiences is that they are not restricted to architecture alone. At Parul University, education tends to go out of the classroom into the real world all over India.

In Mumbai, there is the Writers Tour, where students get to meet authors and storytellers. Their visit to the Robotics Tour in Chennai, where they learn about automation and AI. They meet changemakers in the Leadership Tours in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Biopharma Tour, a tour of healthcare innovations, in Hyderabad. And the Design Tour in Mumbai, the place where technology meets art.

All these tours provide students with a practical exposure to help them relate theory to reality. They are not mere visits, but they are the practical learning tours that define the way learners perceive their subjects and their future.

Schema Markup (for SEO)
Type: Article
Headline: Goa Diaries: When Architecture Gets Real
Description: Parul University’s architecture students turned Goa into their classroom, learning that design is just the start; true architecture lies in execution.
Author: Parul University
Publisher: Parul University
Sections: Education, Architecture, Practical Learning, Student Tours
Keywords: Goa architecture tour, architecture execution skills, practical learning in architecture, Parul University tours, Design Workshop Goa, architecture students India, hands-on architecture learning, beyond design in architecture, learning tours India, creative architecture education