Abstract

Though people continually interface with architecture, one finds among them a lack of awareness and a lot of misconceptions about the profession. This study aimed to capture public perceptions and awareness of architecture. A random sample of 98 people in the city of Pune, India, responded to a structured questionnaire. “Agree-Disagree” questions meant to capture on a five-point Likert-type scale people’s perceptions and attitudes towards architecture and also their sources of knowledge about architecture. Open ended questions were also included to qualitatively explore their understanding and awareness about architecture. The awareness about architecture was found to be independent of the respondents’ academic backgrounds. Varied popular perceptions were noticed with many considering the profession to be a service only for the rich. School curricula, media, and tourism sites came across as potential sources of awareness. Encouragingly, more than 89 percent respondents evinced interest in knowing more about architecture.