The Architectural Association School of Architecture in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in the world. Its wide-ranging programme of exhibitions, lectures,

symposia ''Symposia'' is a genus of South American araneomorph spiders in the family Cybaeidae, and was first described by Eugène Simon in 1898. Species it contains six species in Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic o ...

and publications have given it a central position in global discussions and developments within contemporary architectural culture.

History

The Architectural Association was founded in 1847 as an alternative to the practice of training aspiring young men by

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

to established

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. This practice offered no guarantee for educational quality or professional standards, and there was a belief that the system was open to

vested interests A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations in ...

, abuse, dishonesty and incompetence.Edward Bottoms
Introductory lecture to AA Archives
February 2010 This situation led two articled pupils, Robert Kerr (1823–1904) and Charles Gray (1827/28–1881), to propose a systematic course of training provided by the students themselves. Following a merger with the already existing Association of Architectural Draughtsmen, the first formal meeting under the name of the Architectural Association took place in May 1847 at Lyons Inn Hall, London. Kerr became the first president, 1847–48. From 1859 the AA shared premises at 9

Conduit Street Conduit Street is a street in Mayfair, London. It connects Bond Street to Regent Street. History The street was first developed in the early 18th century on the Conduit Mead Estate, which the Corporation of London had owned since the 15th centu ...

with the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

, later (1891) renting rooms in

Great Marlborough Street Great Marlborough Street is a thoroughfare in Soho, Central London. It runs east of Regent Street past Carnaby Street towards Noel Street. Originally part of the Millfield estate south of Tyburn Road (now Oxford Street), the street was named ...

. The AA School was formally established in 1890. In 1901, it changed premises to the former

Royal Architectural Museum The Royal Architectural Museum was an English museum, established in London in 1851 to educate architects and workers on architectural art. It closed during World War I, and most of its collections are now held in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Hi ...

in Tufton Street, Westminster. In 1917 it moved again, to its current location in

Bedford Square Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England. History Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many distinguished residents, inclu ...

, central London. It has since acquired additional London premises in John Street, property on Morwell Street behind Bedford Square, and a site at

Hooke Park Hooke Park is a 142 hectare woodland in Dorset, South West England located near the town of Beaminster and within the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The site is designated as ancient woodland and historically comprised a deer hunting ...

in Dorset. The AA is one of the world's most international and prestigious schools of architecture, attracting and selecting students and staff from more than 60 countries worldwide, with a long list of visiting critics, lecturers and other participants from around the world each year. The students of the AA have been addressed by many eminent figures, from

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...

and George Gilbert Scott in the 19th century, to more recently Richard Rogers, an alumnus of the school. In November 2017, the AA was reported to be planning to make 16 staff redundant, including the whole of its publications and exhibitions departments. Shortly before, the AA had announced it was seeking a new director, to be appointed by March 2018, following the departure of Brett Steele announced in December 2016. The first female director of the AA was

Eva Franch i Gilabert Eva Franch i Gilabert (born 10 December 1978 in Ebro Delta) is a Catalan architect, curator, critic and educator based in New York City who works in the fields of contemporary art, architecture, and public space. From 2010 to 2018, she was exe ...

, appointed in 2018 (succeeding interim director Samantha Hardingham). Following votes of no confidence in her leadership, Franch was fired in July 2020 for "failure to develop and implement a strategy and maintain the confidence of the AA School Community which were specific failures of performance against clear objectives outlined in the original contract of employment." Her dismissal came despite support from academics who wrote an open letter talking of "systemic biases" against women and of

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

, and accusing the AA of using "the

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

for anti-democratic purposes". Architectural magazine '' Dezeen'' reported tutor and alumni views that the failure to investigate allegations of bullying and sexism had damaged both the AA school and the architecture profession, leaving "a cloud over the school". The AA began seeking a successor to Franch in December 2021, shortlisting candidates in March 2022. In May 2022, the school announced Ingrid Schroder would be its new director from August 2022.

Women at the AA

Women were first admitted as students to the AA School during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1917, almost 20 years after the RIBA had admitted its first female member,

Ethel Charles Ethel Mary Charles (25 March 1871 – 8 April 1962) was a British architect, the first woman to be admitted to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1898. Early life Ethel Charles, her sister Bessie Ada Charles (1869–1932) ...

, who, with her sister Bessie, had been refused entry to the AA school in 1893.Lynne Walker, "Golden Age or False Dawn? Women Architects in the Early 20th century"
''English-heritage.org''. Retrieved 17 September 2021. Ruth Lowy,

Winifred Ryle Winifred Maddock (née Winifred Ryle, 3 February 1897 - 3 October 1987) was a British architect. She was one of the first women to attend the Architectural Association School of Architecture, and would go on to publish an article about ''Women a ...

, Irene Graves and

Gillian Harrison Edith Gillian Harrison (1898–1974), née Cooke, was a British architect. Early life and education After Roedean School, she trained at the Architectural Association School of Architecture from 1917 to 1922, where she was one of the first ...

(nee Cooke) were some of the first women to enter the AA, hitherto a solely male school. In the post

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

period several women architects, writers and journalists attended courses ("classes and sets") at the AA, including Su Brumwell (Susan Miller / Rogers), Eldred Evans, Margo Griffin, Zaha Hadid, Patti Hopkins, Samantha Hardingham, Sally Mackereth, Mya Anastasia Manakides, Janet Street-Porter, Carolyn Trevor, Susan Wheeler and Georgie Walton. The position of women at the AA was highlighted and investigated during a year-long programme of celebration in 2017, ''AAXX'', marking the centenary of the first women's entry to the school. A book, ''AA Women in Architecture 1917–2017'', edited by Elizabeth Darling and Lynne Walker, was published.

Curriculum

Courses are divided into two main areas – Undergraduate programmes, leading to the AA Diploma (RIBA/ARB Part 2), and Postgraduate programmes, which include specialised courses in Landscape Urbanism (LU), Housing and Urbanism, Sustainable Environmental Design, Histories and Theories, Emergent Technologies, Design Research Lab (DRL) Recently launched programmes include Projective Cities, Design + Make, and Interprofessional studio. Since its foundation, the school has continued to draw its teaching staff from progressive international practices, and they are reappointed annually, allowing a continual renewal of the exploration of architectural graphics and polemical formalism.

Independent status

The school sits outside the state-funded university system and

UCAS The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS ) is a UK-based organisation whose main role is to operate the application process for British universities. It operates as an independent charity, funded by fees charged to applicants an ...

application system. As an independent school, the AA does not participate in university rankings. The AA enrolls a higher proportion of students from overseas compared to other architecture schools in the UK.

Bookshop and publications

The AA Bookshop has a wide collection of architectural literature and is used as a platform for AA's own publications. AA Publications has a long tradition of publishing architects, artists and theorists early in their careers, as well as occasionally publishing figures who have already gained notoriety in other fields of expertise, such as

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...

. AA Publications produces the journal, ''AA Files'', and the AA Book, known as the ''Projects Review'', which annually documents the work undertaken by members of the school from Foundation to Graduate programmes. AA publications are designed and edited by the ''AA Print Studio'', originally established in 1971 as part of the Communications Unit directed by

Dennis Crompton Dennis Crompton (born in 1935) is an English architect, lecturer and writer on architectural subjects. He was a member of Archigram Archigram was an avant-garde architectural group formed in the 1960s ⁠that was neofuturistic, anti-heroi ...

Archigram Archigram was an avant-garde architectural group formed in the 1960s ⁠that was neofuturistic, anti-heroic and pro-consumerist, drawing inspiration from technology in order to create a new reality that was solely expressed through hypothetical ...

. The school had its own independent radio station.

Gallery

Notable alumni

Will Alsop William Allen Alsop (12 December 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a British architect and Professor of Architecture at University for the Creative Arts's Canterbury School of Architecture. He was responsible for several distinctive and controversia ...

(

Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The S ...

, 2000) * Stanley Amis (1924–2021) * Ron Arad *

Herbert Baker Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He wa ...

Geoffrey Bawa Deshamanya Geoffrey Manning Bawa, FRIBA (23 July 1919 – 27 May 2003) was a Sri Lankan architect. He was among the most influential Asian architects of his generation. Early life Geoffrey Bawa was born in Colombo on 23 July 1919, the young ...

* Elisabeth Benjamin *

Ben van Berkel Ben van Berkel (born 1957) is a Dutch architect; founder and principal architect of the architectural practice UNStudio. With his studio he designed, among others, the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, the Moebius House in the Netherlands, the Merced ...

Susanne Bier Susanne Bier (; born 15 April 1960) is a Danish filmmaker. She is best known for her feature films '' Brothers'' (2004), '' After the Wedding'' (2006), ''In a Better World'' (2010), and '' Bird Box'' (2018), and the TV miniseries ''The Night Man ...

* Christopher Bowerbank *

Margaret Justin Blanco White Margaret Justin Blanco White OBE ARIBA (11 December 1911 – 1 November 2001) was a Scottish architect. Early life and education Margaret Justin Blanco White was born at 30 Pembroke Square, Kensington, London, on 11 December 1911. Her father ...

* Peter Blundell Jones *

Habib Fida Ali Habib Fida Ali (1935 – 7 January 2017) (Urdu: حبیب فدا علی) was one of Pakistan's most prominent architects, working in the modernist architecture, modernist tradition. Early life Fida Ali was born in Karachi and attended St. Pa ...

(architect) 1935-2017 (

Sitara-i-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...

, 2017) *

Neave Brown Neave Brown (22 May 19299 January 2018) was an American-born British architect and artist. He specialized in modernist housing. Brown is the only architect to have had all his UK work listed:Elizabeth HopkirkNeave Brown becomes first architect ...

(RIBA

Royal Gold Medal The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is gi ...

2018) * Elizabeth Chesterton *

David Chipperfield Sir David Alan Chipperfield, (born 18 December 1953) is an English architect. He established David Chipperfield Architects in 1985. His major works include the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (1989–1998); the Museum ...

(

, 2007) * Nigel Coates * Sir Peter Cook *

Edward Cullinan Edward Horder Cullinan HonFRIAS (17 July 1931 – 11 November 2019) was an English architect. Life Born in central London to Joy, an artist mother, and Edward, a doctor, Cullinan was educated at Ampleforth College, Queens' College, Cambri ...

* Minnette De Silva * Carmen Dillon * Jeremy Dixon *

Sir Philip Dowson Sir Philip Henry Manning Dowson (16 August 1924 – 22 August 2014) was a leading British architect. He served as President of the Royal Academy from 1993 to 1999. Early life Philip Dowson was born in South Africa. Having moved to England, he ...

Jane Drew Dame Jane Drew , (24 March 1911 – 27 July 1996) was an English modernist architect and town planner. She qualified at the Architectural Association School in London, and prior to World War II became one of the leading exponents of the Modern ...

* Frank Duffy * Robin Evans *

Kathryn Findlay Kathryn Findlay (26 January 1953 – 10 January 2014) was a Scottish architect. Early life and education Findlay was born in Forfar in Scotland, the daughter of a sheep farmer, and studied fine arts at the Edinburgh College of Art. She moved to ...

Mark Fisher Mark Fisher (11 July 1968 – 13 January 2017), also known under his blogging alias k-punk, was an English writer, music critic, political and cultural theorist, philosopher, and teacher based in the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsm ...

Kenneth Frampton Kenneth Brian Frampton (born 20 November 1930) is a British architect, critic and historian. He is the Ware Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, New York. He has b ...

* John Frazer *

Tony Fretton Tony Fretton (born 17 January 1945) is a British architect known for his residential and public gallery buildings, as well as other British and international design work. He graduated from the Architectural Association (AA) and worked for vario ...

Stephen Gardiner Stephen Gardiner (27 July 1483 – 12 November 1555) was an English Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I and King Philip. Early life Gardiner was ...

Marco Goldschmied Marco Lorenzo Sinnott Goldschmied (28 March 1944 – 7 July 2022) was a British architect best known as co-founder and managing director of Richard Rogers Partnership. He was latterly involved with running the Marco Goldschmied Foundation and ...

Frei Otto Frei Paul Otto (; 31 May 1925 – 9 March 2015) was a German architect and structural engineer noted for his use of lightweight structures, in particular tensile and membrane structures, including the roof of the Olympic Stadium in Munich for ...

Ruth Gollancz Ruth, Lady Gollancz (née Lowy; 1892–1973) was a British artist and wife of Sir Victor Gollancz. Life and work Ruth was the daughter of Ernest Daniel Lowy, a stockbroker. Ruth Gollancz studied art at the Slade School of Art from 1909-12 under t ...

Hansjörg Göritz Hansjörg Göritz (English: Hansjoerg Goeritz; born 5 June 1959) is a German-American architect, professor, author and designer associated with pure and minimalist architecture that emphasizes place, space, light and material. For his early works ...

(

Kunstpreis Berlin The ''Berliner Kunstpreis'' (Berlin Art Prize), officially Großer Berliner Kunstpreis, is a prize for the arts by the City of Berlin. It was first awarded in 1948 in several fields of art. Since 1971, it has been awarded by the Academy of Arts ( ...

Baukunst, 1996;

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects, ...

Affiliated Fellow, 2013) *

Piers Gough Piers Gough (born 24 April 1946) is an architect in the practice CZWG. His younger brothers are the composer Orlando Gough and Jamie Gough, the University of Sheffield's senior lecturer in Town and Regional Planning. Gough was born in Brighton, ...

* Johnny Grey *

Sir Nicholas Grimshaw Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, CBE, PPRA (born 9 October 1939) is a prominent English architect, particularly noted for several modernist buildings, including London's Waterloo International railway station and the Eden Project in Cornwall. He was Pre ...

* Dame Zaha Hadid (

Pritzker Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produ ...

, 2004;

, 2010, 2011) * Timothy Han *

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

* Frank Harmon *

Ranulph Glanville Ranulph Glanville (13 June 1946 – 20 December 2014) was an Anglo-Irish cybernetician and design theorist. He was a founding vice-president of the International Academy for Systems and Cybernetic Sciences (2006–2009) and president of the Amer ...

Fergus Henderson Fergus Henderson (born 31 July 1963) is an English chef who founded the restaurant St John on St John Street in London. He is often noted for his use of offal and other neglected cuts of meat as a consequence of his philosophy of nose to tai ...

* Michael Ulrich Hensel *

Manuel Herz Manuel Herz is an architect with his own practice in Basel, Switzerland and Cologne, Germany. He was educated at the RWTH Aachen in Germany and at the Architectural Association in London. He has received numerous prizes and awards, published wid ...

* Steven Holl * Michael Hopkins *

Patty Hopkins Patricia Ann Hopkins, Lady Hopkins (née Wainwright, born 1942) is an English architect and joint winner, along with her husband Sir Michael Hopkins, of the 1994 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture. Early life Hopkins was born in Stoke on Tre ...

* Bill Howell (1922-1974) *

Gillian Howell Gillian Margaret "Jill" Howell (née Sarson, 1927–2000), was a British architect. Early life She was born Gillian Margaret Sarson, on 3 November 1927 in Multan, in the western Punjab, British India, the daughter of Colonel Edward Vipan Sarson, c ...

(1927–2000) * Dorothy Hughes *

Maxwell Hutchinson John Maxwell Hutchinson (born 3 December 1948) is an English architect, broadcaster, and Anglican deacon. He is a former president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Early life and education Hutchinson was born in Grantham, Li ...

Louisa Hutton Sauerbruch Hutton is an international agency for architecture, urban planning and design. It was founded in London in 1989 and is now based in Berlin, Germany. The practice is led by Matthias Sauerbruch, Louisa Hutton and Juan Lucas Young. Arch ...

A. R. Hye Abdur Rahman Hye ( ur, ; 17 December 1919 – 18 September 2008) was a Pakistani architect and a pioneer of institutional architectures in Pakistan. Early life and training After graduating from Sir J.J. College of Architecture, Mumbai, Bomba ...

Mazharul Islam Muzharul Islam (25 December 1923 – 15 July 2012) was a Bangladeshi architect, urban planner, educator and activist. He is considered as the Grand Master of regional modernism in South Asia. Islam is the pioneer of modern architecture in Ban ...

* Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe * Edward Jones *

Robert Furneaux Jordan John Robert Furneaux Jordan ARIBA (10 April 1905 Birmingham – 14 May 1978 Burcombe, Wiltshire) was an English architect, architectural critic and novelist. He worked as an architect from 1928 to 1961, after which he became an academic, broadcas ...

Gerhard Kallmann Gerhard Michael Kallmann (February 13, 1915 – June 19, 2012) was a German-born American architect and academic. Together with Michael McKinnell, Kallman is best known as the lead designer of Boston City Hall, which was constructed in 1968 b ...

Shiu-Kay Kan Shiu-Kay Kan (Hong Kong, 1949) is a British architect, industrial designer, and lighting designer. After making a successful start as an architect in the 1980s he turned his attention to designing lights. He has sold his design to some clients ( ...

* Ram Karmi (

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

, 2002) *

Ada Karmi-Melamede Ada Karmi-Melamede ( he, עדה כרמי-מלמד; born 1936) is a noted Israeli architect. Biography Karmi-Melamede was born on December 24, 1936, in Tel Aviv, in Mandate Palestine (now Israel). She studied at the Architectural Association S ...

(

, 2007) * Rem Koolhaas (

, 2000) *

Nicholas Williams Nicholas, Neco, Nico or Nick Williams may refer to: Sportsmen *Nick Williams (fullback) (born 1977), American NFL football player, a/k/a Nick Luchey *Nick Williams (rugby union) (born 1983), New Zealand rugby league and rugby union player *Nick Wil ...

Denys Lasdun Sir Denys Louis Lasdun, CH, CBE, RA (8 September 1914, Kensington, London – 11 January 2001, Fulham, London) was an eminent English architect, the son of Nathan Lasdun (1879–1920) and Julie ('' née'' Abrahams; 1884–1963). Probably his ...

* Judith Ledeboer *

Steffen Lehmann Steffen Lehmann (born 19 June 1963 in Stuttgart) is a German-born architect and urban designer. Biography Lehmann held the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Urban Development for Asia and the Pacific from 2008 to 2010. He now advises UNESCO ex-offi ...

* Amanda Levete * C.J. Lim * Edward Prentice Mawson * Ann MacEwen * Sally Mackereth * James MacLaren * Mary Medd * Edna Mosley *

Mohsen Mostafavi Mohsen Mostafavi (born 1954 in Isfahan) is an Iranian-American architect and educator. Mostafavi is currently the Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. From 2008 through 2019, Mostafavi served ...

Herbert Muschamp Herbert Mitchell Muschamp (November 28, 1947 – October 2, 2007) was an American architecture critic. Early years Born in Philadelphia, Muschamp described his childhood home life as follows: "The living room was a secret. A forbidden zone. ...

Nicolai Ouroussoff Nicolai Ouroussoff (russian: Николай Владимирович Урусов; born October 3, 1962) is a writer and educator who was an architecture critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''The New York Times''. Biography Born in Cambridg ...

Neri Oxman Neri Oxman ( he, נרי אוקסמן; born February 6, 1976) is an American–Israeli designer and professor at the MIT Media Lab, where she led the Mediated Matter research group. She is known for art and architecture that combine design, b ...

John Pawson John Ward Pawson , (born 1949, Halifax, England) is a British architect whose work is known for its minimalist aesthetic. Architectural Registration Board (ARB) of UK asked Dezeen magazine not to refer him as architect although this was criti ...

* Marian Pepler * Philip Powell * Janet Street-Porter *

Cedric Price Cedric Price FRIBA (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture. The son of an architect (A.G. Price, who worked with Harry Weedon), Price was born in Stone, Staffordshire ...

Keith Raywood Keith Ian Raywood is an American production designer best known as ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) Art Director since 1985 and its Production Designer since 1990. He has designed music videos and live performances for major recording artists, interna ...

Raj Rewal Raj Rewal (born 24 November 1934 in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India) is a leading Indian architect. Education Rewal lived in Delhi and Shimla from 1934–1951. He attended Harcourt Butler higher secondary school. Between 1951-1954 he attended the De ...

* Richard Rogers (

, 2007;

, 2006, 2009) * Diana Rowntree *

* Elisabeth Sakellariou *

Peter Salter Peter Salter is a British architect and academic, born in 1947. In 1962 he began a course at the Shoreditch College of Furnishing Trades, in preparation to become a furniture designer. In 1964, he worked as a junior draftsman for a patent glazi ...

* Matthias Sauerbruch * Ole Scheeren * Elisabeth Scott *

Denise Scott Brown Denise Scott Brown (née Lakofski; born October 3, 1931) is an American architect, planner, writer, educator, and principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates in Philadelphia. Scott Brown and her husband and partner, Robert Venturi, ...

Dennis Sharp Dennis Sharp (30 November 1933 – 6 May 2010) was a British architect, professor, curator, historian, author and editor. His obituary in ''The Guardian'' stated that he 'was well-known as an architectural historian, teacher and active defender o ...

Quinlan Terry John Quinlan Terry Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 24 July 1937) is a British architect. He was educated at Bryanston School and the Architectural Association School of Architecture. He was a pupil of architect Raymond Erith, with whom ...

John F. C. Turner John Francis Charlewood Turner (born 27 July 1927) is a British architect and theorist known for his work on informal self-help housing and neighbourhood building in Peru, the United States and the United Kingdom. His work on housing in the 19 ...

Jaqueline Tyrwhitt Mary Jaqueline Tyrwhitt (25 May 1905 – 21 February 1983) was a British town planner, journalist, editor and educator. She was at the centre of the transnational network of theoreticians and practitioners who shaped the post-war Modern Movement ...

Michael Ventris Michael George Francis Ventris, (; 12 July 1922 – 6 September 1956) was an English architect, classicist and philologist who deciphered Linear B, the ancient Mycenaean Greek script. A student of languages, Ventris had pursued deciphermen ...

Eyal Weizman Eyal Weizman MBE FBA (born 1970) is a British Israeli architect. He is the director of the research agency Forensic Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London where he is Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures and a founding director t ...

Clive Wilkinson Clive Wilkinson (born 1954, Cape Town, South Africa) is an architect and interior designer. Acknowledged as a pioneer in workplace design by thIIDA Wilkinson is perhaps best known for designing the interior of one of the buildings in the Googleple ...

* John Winter * John Worthington * Roger Zogolovitch

Former directors

* Howard Robertson (1929–35) *Alvin Boyarsky (1971–90) *

Alan Balfour Alan Balfour (born 1939 in Edinburgh, Scotland) is the former dean of the Georgia Tech College of Architecture. He has also held research and/or faculty positions at MIT, Rice University, Architectural Association School of Architecture, and Rens ...

(1991–95) *

(1995–2004) *Brett Steele (2005–2017) *Samantha Hardingham (interim, 2017–18) *

(2018–2020)

Notable current and former teachers

Abalos & Herreros Abalos & Herreros is an architectural firm founded by Inaki Abalos (b. 1956) and Juan Herreros (b. 1958) in Madrid, Spain. The founders were involved in the last throes of La Movida Madrileña and later produced a 1997 monograph called ''Areas of I ...

Virgil Abloh Virgil Abloh (; September 30, 1980 – November 28, 2021) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. He was the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection beginning in 2018, and was given increased creative responsibilitie ...

David Adjaye Sir David Frank Adjaye (born 22 September 1966) is a Ghanaian-British architect. He is known for having designed many notable buildings around the world, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D. ...

Wiel Arets Wiel Arets (, born ) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist, industrial designer and the former Dean of the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, in the United States of America. Arets was pr ...

Tatiana Bilbao Tatiana Bilbao Spamer (born 1972) is a Mexican architect whose works often merged geometry with nature. Her practice focuses on sustainable design and social housing. She founded Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO in 2004 and has completed projects in China ...

Alison Brooks Alison Brooks, (born 29 December 1962) is a Canadian-British architect. She is the founder and creative director of Alison Brooks Architects, based in London. Her awards include the RIBA Stirling Prize, Manser Medal, Stephen Lawrence Prize, an ...

Reg Butler Reginald Cotterell Butler (28 April 1913 – 23 October 1981) was an English sculptor. He was born at Bridgefoot House, Buntingford, Hertfordshire to Frederick William Butler (1880–1937) and Edith (1880–1969), daughter of blacksm ...

* Nigel Coates * Mark Cousins *

Keith Critchlow Keith Barry Critchlow (16 March 1933 – 8 April 2020) was a British artist, lecturer, author, Sacred Geometer, professor of architecture, and a co-founder of the Temenos Academy in the UK. Biography Critchlow was educated at the Summerhill ...

* Robin Evans * David Greene * Terry Farrell *

Jane Hughes Fawcett Jane Fawcett MBE (née Hughes; 4 March 1921 – 21 May 2016) was a British codebreaker, singer, and heritage preservationist. She recently became known for her role in decoding a message, which led to the sinking of the German battleship ...

Earl Flansburgh Earl R. Flansburgh (April 28, 1931 – February 3, 2009) was a Modernist architect known for his extensive work in the Boston area. Early life and education Earl Robert Flansburgh grew up in Ithaca, New York. His father, Earl Alvah Flansburgh ...

* John Frazer *

Mike Gold Michael Gold (April 12, 1894 – May 14, 1967) was the pen-name of Jewish American writer Itzok Isaac Granich. A lifelong communist, Gold was a novelist and literary critic. His semi-autobiographical novel '' Jews Without Money'' (1930) was a bes ...

James Gowan James Gowan (18 October 1923 – 12 June 2015) was a Scottish-born architect known for his post-modernist designs of the "engineering style" which influenced a generation of British architects. Life Gowan was born in Pollokshields, Glasgow in ...

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ar, زها حديد ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centu ...

* Michael Ulrich Hensel *

Charles Hutton Charles Hutton FRS FRSE LLD (14 August 1737 – 27 January 1823) was a British mathematician and surveyor. He was professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich from 1773 to 1807. He is remembered for his calculation of the ...

* Jeff Kipnis *

Leon Krier Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

* Rem Koolhaas * Arthur Korn *

Daniel Libeskind Daniel Libeskind (born May 12, 1946) is a Polish–American architect, artist, professor and set designer. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect. He is known for the design a ...

Farshid Moussavi Farshid Moussavi (born in 1965, Shiraz, Iran) is an Iranian-born British architect, educator, and author. She is the founder of Farshid Moussavi Architecture (FMA) and a Professor in Practice of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate S ...

Gordon Pask Andrew Gordon Speedie Pask (28 June 1928 – 29 March 1996) was an English author, inventor, educational theorist, cybernetician and psychologist who made contributions to cybernetics, instructional psychology, experimental epistemology and ed ...

Alberto Pérez-Gómez Alberto Pérez-Gómez (born 24 December 1949) is an architectural historian and theorist known for taking a phenomenological approach to architecture. He lives in Montreal. Biography Born December 24, 1949, in Mexico City he graduated as an eng ...

Philippe Rahm Philippe Rahm (born 1967) Dipl. EPFL - Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - Switzerland 1993 is a principal architect in the office of ''Philippe Rahm architectes'', based in Paris, France. His work, which extends the field of architecture ...

Jasia Reichardt Jasia Reichardt (born 1933) is a British art critic, curator, art gallery director, teacher and prolific writer, specialist in the emergence of computer art. In 1968 she was curator of the landmark ''Cybernetic Serendipity'' exhibition at London's ...

* Ian Ritchie * Nathalie Rozencwajg * Makoto Saito *

* Matthias Sauerbruch *

Patrik Schumacher Patrik Schumacher (born 1961, Bonn, Germany) is a London based architect and architectural theorist. He is the principal architect of Zaha Hadid Architects. Education and early career Schumacher studied Philosophy and Mathematics at the Friedr ...

Bahram Shirdel Bahram Shirdel is an Iranian architect internationally known as one of the most influential architects dealing with the interdisciplinary field of architecture and science as well as Fold/Folding Architecture. Jeffrey Kipnis, Greg Lynn, Peter E ...

* Peter Smithson *

John Summerson Sir John Newenham Summerson (25 November 1904 – 10 November 1992) was one of the leading British architectural historians of the 20th century. Early life John Summerson was born at Barnstead, Coniscliffe Road, Darlington. His grandfather wo ...

Bernard Tschumi Bernard Tschumi (born 25 January 1944 in Lausanne, Switzerland) is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated with deconstructivism. Son of the well-known Swiss architect Jean Tschumi and a French mother, Tschumi is a dual French- ...

* Leon van Schaik *

Dalibor Vesely Dalibor Vesely (19 June 1934 – 31 March 2015) was a Czech-born architectural historian and theorist who was influential through his teaching and writing in promoting the role of hermeneutics and phenomenology as part of the discourse of archit ...

Ken Yeang Ken Yeang (6 October 1948) is an architect, ecologist, planner and author from Malaysia, best known for his ecological architecture and ecomasterplans that have a distinctive green aesthetic. He pioneered an ecology-based architecture (since 1 ...

Alejandro Zaera-Polo Alejandro Zaera Polo is a Spanish architect, theorist and founder of Alejandro Zaera-Polo & Maider Llaguno Architecture (AZPML). He was formerly dean of the Princeton University School of Architecture and of the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam. ...

Elia Zenghelis Elia Zenghelis (Born 1937, Athens, Greece) is a Greek architect and teacher. He studied architecture at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London, completing his studies in 1961. From 1961 to 1971 he worked for architects Dougla ...

References

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External links

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Bedford PressAA Publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Architectural Association School of Architecture Educational institutions established in 1847 Education in the London Borough of Camden Professional education in London 1847 establishments in England Independent schools in London Architecture schools in the United Kingdom