Director at Sasi Creative School of Architecture, Prof. Mohammed Ali Sharieff also holds other positions such as Principal Architect of M/s Chand Associates, Chennai, Honorary Joint Secretary, Indian Institute of Architects, Coimbatore Centre, and Creator of the people's initiative 'Urban Vision of India'.

At the World Architects Congress in Seoul held in September 2017, Architects across the globe gathered in search of 'Soul of the City' and commonly declared that Architecture should go beyond the conventional realms and expand out to social participation, the Sasi academic team was amongst the first to visualize urban dreams focusing on nature-culture-future. To foster more such dreams and introduce the younger generation to a unique world of creativity and innovation, Sasi Creative School of Architecture (SCSA) was started by the Sasi Group that is into Advertising, Education, and Real Estate.

"The Sasi Group is not an unknown name today. Over the years, it has earned a prominent reputation in the industry. One of the endeavors of the Group, Sasi Advertising is the oldest and largest advertising firms in Tamil Nadu, which was founded by Shri. R. Swaminathan and Smt. S. Rajalakshmi and the present managing trustee is Shri. Rajdeepan Swaminathan, a former faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University," shares Prof. Mohammed Ali Sharieff the Director of Sasi Creative School of Architecture.

Upholding the legacy and the strong vision of the management, SCSA is marching towards a journey of developing a campus that is solely focused on creative studies. Currently offering a 5 year professional B.Arch degree approved by the Council of Architecture, New Delhi and affiliated to Anna University, Chennai the institute believes in the philosophy that creativity is the single factor that distinguishes the leader from the herd.

Another feature that differentiates SCSA is the number of foreign collaborations that it boasts of and the beyond-the-curriculum programs that are organized routinely. "Our MoU with BITS UAE allows student exchange and faculty collaboration. On the other hand, owing to an association with University of Stadelschule, Frankfurt, our students got to participate in joint studios and workshops in Germany and Switzerland," claims Prof.Sharieff. Additionally, SCSA's students accompanied by the faculty members were the first Undergraduates from India to participate in the World Architects Congress conducted by UIA in Seoul, South Korea. The students of SCSA also got the opportunity to participate in a technical workshop on "Smart and Livable Cities" at the National University of Singapore. "There are several such instances where our students were given the scope to showcase their talents along with gaining treasured experiences," proudly says Prof.Sharieff.

"SCSA prides itself on having the highest number of qualified faculties who are from prestigious institutions such as IIT, NIT, CEPT, SPA, SAP and international universities"

A Paradise for Passionate Minds

Scientifically designed to aid and enhance one's creativity, the campus of the institute, which is located 18 km away from the heart of Coimbatore city, at Myleripalayam on the Pollachi Highway, is one of the many highlights that captivates the students' attention and interest. "This is not a typical campus with long corridors and rooms. The spaces here are planed with responsive human behavior at its core. Some of the touch points are the use of models room, whiteboard area as "walls of thought", which help in removing mental roadblocks and open spaces to facilitate social collaboration, and natural elements to soothe and get inspired," pinpoints Prof.Sharieff.

Apart from the state-of-the-art facilities like Digital Classrooms, Studios, CAD Laboratory, Workshop, Art rooms, Conference room, well-equipped library, hostels and so on, the campus is also endowed with 'iStudio' - an international twinning studio experience that SCSA offered in collaboration with architecture institutions abroad. Prof.Sharieff elaborates, "The existence of iStudio, enabled our students to visit UAE, Germany, South Korea and Singapore for collaborative studios, conferences, and workshops. This provides international exposure to architecture pedagogy and assists our students and faculty to obtain knowledge and skills essential for architectural practice and research."

The institute prides itself on having the highest number of qualified faculties who are from prestigious institutions such as IIT, NIT, CEPT, SPA, SAP and international universities. Experts in their respective fields, the faculty members train the students into applying varied kind of techniques such as case studies, presentation, organizing manifold workshops, to name a few. Students at SCSA are also taught the latest software viz. Sketchup, Autocad, 3DS Max, Revit, Ecotect, Photoshop, and Illustrator.

Raising the Academic Benchmark

"We feel honored to state that our ninth semester urban design project - 'futuristic redevelopment of race course Coimbatore as a responsive urban core' was upgraded to a research project and gradually into a people's initiative and national social mission as 'Urban Vision of India'," opines Prof.Sharieff. This project was showcased in a technical seminar and public exhibition that was held in May this year. A dedicated team of researchers are working to showcase the research work through a National level 'Urban Vision Conclave' that the team is currently planning.

Appreciating the tireless efforts made by the faculty members, a former student of SCSA, Mr.Gem Glinton. P says, "The 5-years tenure spent at SCSA was a lifetime experience. The faculty members, who were more like friends, helped me to explore new paths and discover out-of-the-box ideas throughout my stay". In order to let students sustain in the long run, the institute also renders personality and skill development classes coupled with inviting veteran architects to share their insights with students.

Marking another achievement, in 2016, Sasi hosted the ZoNASA panel discussion which was a huge success with over 600 students and 20 revered architects participating in the event over two days. "Aiming to understand academic, practice and research collaborations with eminent organizations worldwide in the next couple of years, we are clear with our vision to be not only at the forefront of Architectural education in the region but to emerge as leaders in creativity and design," concludes Prof.Sharieff.