The ICFAI School of Architecture
Where curiosity meets craft, and design meets purpose
- The ICFAI School of Architecture (ISArch), a proud constituent of IFHE Hyderabad, holds approval from the Council of Architecture — the apex body governing architectural education in India.
- ISArch offers a rigorous five-year, full-time Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) degree programme, structured across ten thoughtfully designed semesters
- The curriculum seamlessly integrates core and allied subjects as mandated by the Council of Architecture, ensuring students are grounded in both technical depth and creative breadth.
- Going beyond the prescribed syllabus, ISArch offers a rich portfolio of industry-oriented electives and MOOC courses that sharpen professional skills and keep students connected to the evolving demands of practice.
- At its heart, ISArch is driven by a single ambition — to expose every student to the full dimensions of architectural thinking, backed by cutting-edge technology and world-class infrastructure that empowers them to design, innovate, and express themselves with confidence.
Building excellence, year after year
- Since the successful launch of the Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) programme in August 2018, ISArch has grown steadily — with eight batches of students enrolled to date, each bringing fresh energy, ideas, and ambition to the school.
- The school is backed by well-established, purpose-built facilities — including studios, classrooms, workshops, and laboratories — all designed to support a hands-on, immersive approach to architectural education.
- ISArch takes pride in a faculty of dedicated professionals who bring with them rich, real-world practice experience, going well beyond classroom instruction to mentor students as architects-in-the-making.
What makes ISArch education different
Every semester at ISArch is shaped by a living curriculum — one that takes students to heritage sites, construction yards, national conferences, and remote villages. Here is what that looks like in practice.
Seminars & Design Dialogues
ISArch regularly brings leading architects, academicians, and cross-disciplinary thinkers directly to students. These sessions are conversations about practice, process, and the ideas shaping architecture today — not conventional lectures. In October 2025, Ar. Sirish Beri led a design dialogue on the architectural design process. In November 2025, Dr. Mahesh Daas delivered a seminar on posthuman pilgrimages and the speculative, philosophical dimensions of design. Earlier, in February 2025, industry expert Navin Pathuru spoke on the role of AI in architectural design and construction. Beyond individual events, ISArch also hosts an international expert architect every three months, who joins campus to share the latest global trends and emerging philosophies with students and faculty.
Workshops
Making is central to the ISArch experience. Students work with materials — bamboo, brick, clay, and paper — long before they work with software, because construction logic and design philosophy become real only when they are physical. In November 2024, a three-day Bamboo Furniture and Artefacts Workshop immersed students in sustainable craft and material thinking. In March 2025, students participated in a Tote Bag Painting and Caricature Art session at TRITI. August 2025 brought an Architectural Photography Workshop at the historic Paigah Tombs. Most recently, in March 2026, students engaged in a hands-on Brick Workshop at a live construction yard, working directly with masonry under faculty guidance. Earlier workshops in origami, clay modelling, and folded form have also been integral to the programme.
Building at scale
ISArch students do not just draw buildings — they build them. One of the school's earliest and most celebrated achievements was the creation of a Geodesic Dome constructed entirely from waste material on campus, which earned a Top 10 Commendation at the National Level Vowels Competition in 2018. More recently, in January 2026, students went further still — working hands-on to improve and renovate the ground floor of the ISArch Building itself, under close faculty supervision. These projects give students a builder's instinct that studios and software alone cannot teach.
Internships
ISArch students are encouraged to step into professional contexts early. In summer 2019, students completed a one-month Internship Training Programme focused on wood at the National Wood Research Institute in Bengaluru — gaining deep material knowledge alongside professional working experience. The school's placement cell continues to build pathways into practice, and in November 2025, ISArch organised an Entrepreneurship Awareness Programme titled "Exploring Horizons: Avenues After Graduation in Architecture," which drew over 75 participants from architecture colleges across Hyderabad to explore the range of careers open to graduating architects.
Rural & community study
ISArch students have visited and documented rural villages to study vernacular construction techniques, observing how local materials, climate, and culture shape built form — and incorporating these insights directly into their design work. Students have also visited Pochampally, the textile-weaving capital of Telangana, to understand the relationship between craft, community, and space. These experiences ensure that students graduate with a sensitivity to context that goes far beyond the studio.
Site visits & study tours
Architecture is best understood in person. ISArch takes students to live construction sites across the city to study RCC structures, brickwork, services, and technology in action. Students have visited the National Institute of Rural Development to explore alternative building technologies, and the Centenary Museum in Hyderabad for heritage and conservation study. In April 2025, students undertook a Heritage Walk at Charminar as part of World Heritage Day. In August 2025, the Dheeksharambh orientation programme for incoming students included an outdoor sketching session at Shilparamam. In February 2026, ISArch conducted an outstation architectural study tour to Tamil Nadu, visiting the Brihadeshwara Temple in Thanjavur, Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram, and the Maratha Palace — three monuments that span a thousand years of built culture.
Expert talks
Great architects are rarely only architects. ISArch regularly invites experts from beyond the built environment — from humanities, philosophy, law, photography, and psychology — to speak with students. These sessions widen the lens through which students see their work, helping them become observant, empathetic, and multi- faceted designers. Recent sessions have included a motivational screening event in September 2025 and talks tied to World Photography Day in August 2025, reinforcing that visual literacy and creative curiosity are inseparable from architectural thinking.
Conferences & symposia
ISArch positions itself as a platform for national architectural discourse — not just a school. In October 2024, ISArch co-hosted a National Symposium on 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing in Architecture in collaboration with the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing, Hyderabad. In October 2025, the school organised a one-day National Conference on AI in Architecture at Hotel Abode, Lakdi-ka-pul, Hyderabad, bringing together architects, educators, and professionals from across India to deliberate on the theme "AI in Architecture: Vision to Reality." The conference drew over 75 participants and examined both the technological and ethical dimensions of AI-driven design.