Archinect - News

The AA announces five shortlisted candidates to replace ousted former director Eva Franch i Gilabert

2022-03-29T18:34:00-04:00

The search to replace ousted Architectural Association director Eva Franch i Gilabert has made some progress after the organization named its official list of shortlisted candidates on Monday.

The Architects’ Journal is reporting that five names are being taken into consideration by the AA, which has been without a leader since the sacking of Franch following a close series of no-confidence votes in July of 2020.

Among the names are current AA faculty like Mark Morris and joint candidates John Palmesino and Ann-Sofi Rönnskog; the University of Cambridge’s Ingrid Schroder, Clancy Moore director Andrew Clancy, and Berkeley CED’s Jill Stoner.

The candidates are now subject to a vote that will produce an “advisory” set to be presented to the AA’s steering committee before a final name is announced in May. The winner will step into the role at the onset of the next academic year and serve a five-year term.

Previously on Archinect: Architectural Association has fired Eva Franch i Gilaber...

Architectural Association has fired Eva Franch i Gilabert

2020-07-13T13:28:00-04:00

The Architectural Association (AA) in London has announced that it has terminated the employment of its Director Eva Franch i Gilabert due to Gilabert's "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."

Previously on Archinect: "AA leadership row is getting messy."Image courtesy of the Architectural Association.

The dismissal comes after weeks of speculation over Franch's future due to a recent "no confidence" vote that has taken place within the AA community in opposition to Franch's five year plan for the school. In addition, allegations of workplace hostility have been made against Gilabert.

Previously on Archinect:"The Architectural Association in London faces leadership crisis." Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Kaihsu Tai.

Last week, a pair of open letters were published online that commented on the leade...

AA leadership row is getting messy

2020-07-08T14:24:00-04:00

In the week since news broke over the leadership crisis taking place at the Architectural Association in London over the direction of the school under Eva Franch i Gilabert, dueling open letters have been circulated within the architecture community commenting on the episode.

"A power-grab fueled by less-than-progressive emotions"

First, a letter began to circulate early this week offering support for Gilabert from elite members of the global architectural community.

The letter, signed by at least 187 high-profile academics, designers, and architects who sit outside the AA community, is accessible here and explains that "every new administration, particularly those very few who have only recently come to be led by women or people of color, deserves patience and support as the inevitable realignments unfold. This need is made all the more urgent during a pandemic and a time of reckoning with social inequity." The text goes on to cite sexism and the stresses of the pandemic as pote...

The Architectural Association in London faces leadership crisis

2020-07-02T15:21:00-04:00

The Architectural Association (AA) in London finds itself in crisis this week as students, staff, and leadership express a lack of support for a proposed strategic plan crafted for the institution’s future by AA Director Eva Franch i Gilabert.

Further, as The Architect’s Journal reports, 52% of the nearly 900 people surveyed at the AA indicated that they did not have confidence in Gilabert’s leadership moving forward. The same poll found over 80% disagreement within the “school community” over the 2020-25 strategic plan Gilabert has crafted for the institution. The nature of the disagreements over the plan are unclear, though The Architect’s Journal shared an anonymous letter it received last year detailing concerns that the school “will favor ‘theory’ over ‘design,’ to the detriment of both, as well as some types of architectural thinking over others” under Gilabert’s leadership.

In a welcome address published in late 2019, Gilabert espoused a vision of openness coupled with resp...

'The question is not how we can educate architects but how can we make world citizens'

2019-04-23T17:16:00-04:00

“Yeah,” she says “the first woman director, I know, I know. But if we keep talking about it, this will never become natural [...] Gilabert is visible and audible in a way that previous directors of this chaotic little architecture school with an outsized global influence have not generally been. Mostly quiet men, they have managed the school through a repeat loop of terminal-looking financial, academic and intellectual crises, yet it has somehow survived.

After taking on the position as the new director of the Architectural Association in London back in March 2018 the exuberant and relentless architect, educator, and director recently shared her plans in an interview with the Financial Times.

Traditionally the AA School has been rooted in radical design as it continues to foster discourse and critical thinking towards the evolving pedagogy of architecture. The school's long list of notable alumni only adds to its rich history and direction as an institution. With Eva Franch i Gilabert leading the charge her tidal wave of ideas, opinions, and stimulating thoughts towards what the future of architectural education will look like is quite inspiring. A fan of bureaucracy and procedures she has dedicated much attention to creating a study of understanding the "internal business practices of architectural practices." Eccentric in her thoughts yet precise in her execution Gilabert does not shy from blending her disciplinary interests of ar...

AA annual report shows upwards of $1M loss last year

2018-04-04T14:08:00-04:00

The Architectural Association made a loss in excess of £800,000 last year, its annual report has revealed. The cash-strapped school – which made nine redundancies this winter – posted net expenditure of £819,732 for the year ending 31 July 2017, according to accounts due to be filed at Companies House. This compared with a net income of £244,551 in the previous year.

The AA's annual report stated the "Expenditure increased in the year due to one-off costs in governance reform as part of preparation for the TDAP application, together with increased costs of compliance monitoring and property rentals at Bedford Square."

The report also states an income issue with student numbers not meeting their target resulting in a tuition fee income of around $22M for last year.

On a positive note the AA's gender pay gap report showed the school's median female staff salary way equal to its median male salary.

Applications are now open for Emergent Technologies and Design (M.Sc. / M.Arch.) 2018-19

2018-03-22T13:50:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by AA EmTech

AA Emergent Technologies & Design (EmTech) Graduate Programme investigates new synergies of architecture and ecology through the critical intersection of computational design and fabrication.

Emergent Technologies and Design Programme (inaugurated in 2001) is open to graduates in architecture and engineering who wish to develop skills and pursue knowledge in architectural design science that is located in new production paradigms.

Our focus is on exploring experiential and social potentials of new material and spatial configurations for architectural and Ecological Urban Designs situated in the dynamic contexts of emerging biomes. The programme is designed to stimulate critical thinking through experience of research driven design projects that are developed in an intellectually rigorous and creative studio environment. Our projects are pursued by multiple iterations through hypothesis, material and computational experimentation, robotic fabr...

Eva Franch i Gilabert has been announced as the new Director of the Architectural Association

2018-03-05T14:16:00-05:00

After winning 67% of the vote by the AA School Community (comprised by students, academic and admin staff, and members of Council), Eva Franch i Gilabert has been selected to be the new Director of the Architectural Association in London. Final contractual negotiations still need to be made and a formal announcement of the appointment will come later this month.

Franch, who beat out two other short-listed candidates for the title, comes from the Storefront for Art & Architecture in New York, where she served as Chief Curator and Executive Director. She has taught at Columbia University GSAPP, the IUAV University of Venice, SUNY Buffalo, and Rice University School of Architecture. She has been running her own solo practice, Office of Architectural Affairs, since 2004 and has represented the U.S. at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

The AA has been without permanent leadership since the departure of their former director Brett Steele in 2016. Since, the school has undergone a period ...

Three candidates shortlisted in AA School of Architecture's search for its new director

2018-02-15T18:55:00-05:00

The last few months have been full of uncertainty for the prestigious AA School of Architecture, which currently does not have a permanent director (Samantha Hardingham has been interim director since Brett Steele left the position in 2016). In the school's ongoing search for a new leader, they recently revealed a shortlist of three finalist candidates. They are:

Pippo Ciorra, Senior Curator of MAXXI Architettura in Rome, architect, critic, and professor
Eva Franch i Gilabert, Chief Curator & Executive Director of Storefront for Art & Architecture in New York, architect, curator, and educator
Robert Mull, Head of Architecture and Design at the University of Brighton, architect, educator, urbanist, and activist

After receiving 73 responses to their call for applications, the AA selected 26 candidates for their initial list, which was then narrowed down to 15 candidates for the first round of interviews. The first round of interviews included individuals from Australia, North and South A...

Deadline to apply for AA Athens Visiting School is approaching!

2017-05-22T03:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by AA Athens Visiting School.

AA Athens Visiting Schools will be hosting their workshop, Symmetry Sentience, from June 12th through the 22nd and the deadline is approaching—you have until May 29th to submit your online application form and fees!

Our world has been enriched by numerous interactive means that connect us across the different continents. These amplifications take place through various media that in turn estrange people from their surroundings. Our built environment continues to evolve, into an interconnected hyperspace where architecture can be fluid, flexible and vivid. In 2017, AA Athens Visiting School, will address architectural themes involving active engagement and participatory design through prototypes that are characterized by action.

Action-designed structures enabled by technology today, begin to timidly move beyond the utopian proposals of the 20th century’s manifestos and hold a place in the world of realized designs. The AA Athen...

Deadline to apply for AA Istanbul Visiting School is approaching

2017-05-22T03:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by AA Istanbul Visiting School.

ROBOTIC MEDIATIONS
Wednesday, June 28th-Friday, July 7th, 2017

AA Istanbul Visiting School, in collaboration with Istanbul Bilgi University, is a unique learning and making experience. The program continues to build on its expertise on generative design methodologies and large-scale prototyping techniques from previous years, while bringing together a range of experts from internationally acclaimed academic institutions and practices, Architectural Association, Zaha Hadid Architects, among others.

AA Istanbul Visiting School will investigate the inherent associations between form, material, and structure through the rigorous implementation of innovative design and fabrication techniques. Computational methods for design, analysis, and fabrication will be coupled with physical experimentation, fostering ‘learning-by-experimentation’ in an active collaborative studio environment. Throughout the design and fabrication processes, ...

Brett Steele, current director of the AA, appointed Dean of the UCLA School of Arts and Architecture

2016-12-14T12:44:00-05:00

Brett Steele, current director of the Architectural Association of Architecture (AA) will soon be heading to sunnier shores. Scott Waugh, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost of the University of California School of Arts and Architecture (UCLA), has just announced that Steele has been appointed dean. In that role, Steel will oversee the school’s program in architecture, as well as its programs in urban design, visual arts, design, media arts, world arts and cultures, and dance. Moreover, he will be in charge of the school’s two prominent museums, the Fowler and the Hammer.

“Chancellor [Gene] Block and I are confident that Brett will provide outstanding leadership as dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture,” said Waugh in a press statement.

Steele has served as the chief executive and academic leader of the AA since 2005. He will start his new job at UCLA in August of next year, succeeding interim dean David Roussève. While at the AA, Steele launched a visiting school in...

Students go above the double-curve in “InFlux”, from AA Summer DLAB::RED

2016-07-27T18:49:00-04:00

Contrasting against the greenery of Hooke Park is “InFlux”, a brick-red wall prototype that 18 students and their tutors assembled for the AA School of Architecture's Summer DLAB::RED 2015 program. Taking place from July 27 to August 8, the RED-themed agenda explored the phenomenal process of decay in nature.

InFlux builds upon the material behavior research that began in 2014, with further investigations that connect geometry, material, and structure. During the first two weeks, students investigated the fabrication and construction of double-curved complex geometries in applying generative design techniques and robotic milling strategies. Students then applied their skills in constructing the 1:1 working prototype during the last seven days of the program. Since then, InFlux has become a permanent installation at Hooke Park.

Also be on the lookout for more from 2016 Summer DLAB::ORANGE, which just started earlier this week.

Keep reading for more about InFlux's fabrication process:

Ph...

AA Summer DLAB :: RED is now accepting applications until July 20

2015-05-15T13:03:00-04:00

Summer DLAB from London's AA School of Architecture is gearing up for its 2015 cycle. Starting July 27 through August 14, the summer workshop emphasizes the integration of algorithmic / generative design methodologies and large scale digital fabrication tools. Student participants get to explore natural formation processes and interpret them as innovative architectonic spaces.

Continuing its yearly color-based agenda with RED, the 2015 Summer DLAB will investigate the process of decay in nature.

The program is open to all current architecture and design students. The application deadline is July 20. (Application form below)

More details below:

By investigating the process of decay across various scales in natural organisms, DLAB participants will formulate rules of generating decomposition as their design research area. These rules will then evolve into design strategies for the creation and fabrication of a large-scale prototype. The design and fabrication process will be informed by t...

AA Athens Visiting School 2014 challenges the static built environment with “Kinetic Haze”

2014-09-12T21:03:00-04:00

Students and professionals had another opportunity to take part in the third cycle of the AA Athens Visiting School program, "Cipher City: Revolutions". Taking place at the National Technical University of Athens this past spring, participants focused on addressing the roles of change, adaptation and interaction through scripting and digital fabricating techniques at large scale models.

The program set out to challenge the motionless built environment in the collaborative creation of a kinetic pathway prototype called Kinetic Haze. Participants applied the basic design elements from their own proposals in creating the project in less than five days.

Here's a glimpse of the project

Find more project photos and details on Bustler.

LAST REMINDER: Application deadline for AA Greece Visiting School - Folded Force is Sept. 15!

2014-09-10T13:22:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by AA Greece Visiting School:

There's less than a week left to apply for the AA Greece Visiting School - Folded Force fall program. All current architecture and design students, Ph.D. candidates and young professionals are welcome to apply.

Starting September 22 to October 1, this year's installment will feature a series of traveling, mobile workshops that will begin in the Western Greece capital of Patras.

Apply now before the deadline next Monday, September 15! You can apply online here or email visitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk for instructions.

More details below.

"AA Greece Visiting School is a mobile workshop series which travels and reaches cities outside the country’s capital. It functions as a ‘satellite’ of education that promotes the Architectural Association’s exclusive, intensive form of teaching and learning around the country. AA Greece VS aims on visiting a different city each year and construct a single large-scale model which will act as an activ...

Apply now for the 2014 AA SUMMER DLAB :: WHITE - Registration ends Monday, July 14

2014-07-10T15:22:00-04:00

The final registration deadline for AA SUMMER DLAB :: WHITE is quickly approaching: Apply by July 14 for your spot in this exciting summer workshop. Presented by London's AA School of Architecture, the program focuses on the integration of algorithmic / generative design methodologies and large scale digital fabrication tools.

The workshop will take place in London between July 21 until August 2, 2014 and from August 2 onwards, will be located in South England's Hooke Park until August 8, 2014.

All current architecture and design students are invited to apply.

Find more details below or click here.

"One of the major objectives of Summer DLAB is to demonstrate the continuity of the workflow between computational software and digital assembly procedures leading to physical fabrication. In this respect, the programme is formulated as a two-phase process. During the initial phase participants benefit from the unique atmosphere and facilities of AA’s London home. The second phase shifts to A...

Apply for the 2014 AA SUMMER DLAB :: WHITE now until July 14

2014-05-15T17:11:00-04:00

Summer DLAB from London's AA School of Architecture is back again for its 2014 cycle. The summer-long workshop emphasizes the integration of algorithmic / generative design methodologies and large scale digital fabrication tools.

Continuing its color-based agenda with White, this year's Summer DLAB will highlight White as a starting point to investigate natural formation processes and interpret them as innovative architectonic spaces.

The application deadline is JULY 14! The program is open to all current architecture and design students.

Get Lectured: AA School of Architecture Fall '13

2013-10-30T12:48:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2013

Here on Archinect we recently launched "Get Lectured", where we'll feature a school's lecture series--along with their snazzy posters--for the current season. (UPDATE: We've added international schools!) Check back regularly to stay up-to-date and mark your calendars for any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Today's poster comes from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. By looking at the poster alone, the AA School of Architecture is packed with events for the current term including public exhibitions, book launches, roundtable talks, symposia, and of course, lectures.

There are plenty of lunchtime and evening lectures to look out for. A few notable speakers this season are Greg Lynn, Patrik Schumacher, and Charles Jencks in addition to upcoming lectures from Mark Wigley, Mark Cousins, Keller Easterling, Beatriz Colomina, Smout Allen, and Pier Vittorio Aureli.

Last but not least, ...

"The Life Aquatech" by thinkTANK fuses aesthetics and performance with hydronics

2013-10-01T17:37:00-04:00

After 16 months of computational and fabrication research into building system technology, a team of students known as thinkTANK created "The Life Aquatech" for their thesis project at the AA Design Research Laboratory (AADRL). Prioritizing human comfort in terms of temperature, the structure has a self-regulating hydronic system that behaves more like a biological mechanism instead of the standard HVAC system. Additionally, the water-based system easily fuses with the building's contoured aesthetics and doesn't compromise performance.

Here's the project description and images that thinkTANK sent to us:

"The Life Aquatech investigates the relationship between the building systems that mediate between interior and exterior and architectural design by shifting from air-based systems to a water-based system.

Human comfort is one of the main drivers of the investigation, seeking an ideal relationship between the user’s comfort in relation to temperature and how the building can sel...

AA DLAB Visiting School 2013: Light Forest

2013-10-01T13:22:00-04:00

Every year, London's Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA) hosts collaborative workshops that challenge an international group of student participants at different levels of architectural experience [...]. The AA DLAB VIsiting School 2013 marked its completion with the recent installment of its final prototype, "Light Forest." This year's workshop took place at AA London and AA Hooke Park from July 22-Aug.4.

You can check out previously featured AA DLAB projects here and here.

RIP Mark Fisher: We Will Rock You.

2013-07-02T19:20:00-04:00

Anyone who has been to a Stones, U2, Queen, Pink Floyd Concert during the 80s 90s will certainly know the work of Mark Fisher who died 25 June. One of those special folks going through the AA and finding a place called home. We will miss you.

He was known not only for his brilliance but the rapid deployability of stage/concert design logistics.

Editor's Picks #281

2012-09-11T12:33:00-04:00

For the latest Student Works feature Elif Erdine a PhD in Architectural Design Candidate at the AA, researching on ‘Generative Processes in Tower Design: Algorithms for the Integration of Tower Subsystems’, profiled Fallen Star an installation set between biomimetics, interaction, and perception.The project led drewjmcnamara to think "I am always amazed at the resources available to students at some schools. And then to see those resources actually being put to good use".

For the latest Student Works feature Elif Erdine a PhD in Architectural Design Candidate at the AA, researching on ‘Generative Processes in Tower Design: Algorithms for the Integration of Tower Subsystems’, profiled Fallen Star an installation set between biomimetics, interaction, and perception.The project led drewjmcnamara to think "I am always amazed at the resources available to students at some schools. And then to see those resources actually being put to good use".

News
Last weekend Michael Graves penned an opinion piece for the NYT on Architecture and the Lost Art of Drawing. Graves categorizes three types of architectural drawing and argues that while at least 1 of them (the 'definitive' drawing) have moved with good reason to digital, the other other two ('referential sketch' and the 'preparatory study') are perhaps better suited to paper/hand...

Chris Moody basically agreed commenting "Regarding speed ,accuracy,and the ability to edit quickly, yes computer-aided dr...

Haiti Simbi Hubs Wins AA School and Foster + Partners Sustainability and Infrastructure Prize

2011-07-01T18:40:48-04:00

This year’s prize has been awarded to Aditya Aachi, of Diploma Unit 7, for his project 'Haiti Simbi Hubs'. The project proposes sanitation infrastructure for Haiti and draws on the unprecedented need for cooperation between the Haitian Government and NGOs to combat cholera outbreaks.

Call for applications- Unknown Fields design workshop in Chernobyl and Baikonur Cosmodrome

2011-05-17T20:27:31-04:00

Liam Young and Kate Davies, leaders of the Architectural Association’s award winning Unknown Fields Division, have announced an international recruitment drive for their new annual nomadic studio which will run from 11-22 July 2011. Applications are open to all and you can sign up now to join them on an extraordinary design research expedition through the unknown fields that lie between nature and technology. Participants will collaborate with a collection of international artists, photgraphers, filmmakers, writers and workshop partners Phillips Technologies Design Probes, Volume Magazine and Storefront for Art and Architecture to develop projects and produce an annual publication and touring exhibition. This year to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster and the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s Baikonur space launch the workshop will travel on a cross section through landscapes of obsolete futures from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, through the Ukraine and the C...