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."
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.
Last week, a pair of open letters were published online that commented on the leadership crisis taking shape at the AA.
One, signed by nearly 200 architectural luminaries, offered support for Gilabert in light of the now former Director's historic tenure as the AA's first female director against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A response letter from within the AA community painted a fuller picture regarding the leadership crisis, explaining that Franch's leadership represented a continuation of underlying issues at the school. The letter, written by AA tutors , explains: "The AA has long suffered from systemic problems at the level of managerial transparency, inclusion of diverse voices, and extreme exploitation of labour. In this, it is an ordinary architecture school. That these issues are causing a break now and not earlier reflects the radicalisation of some of these problems over the last few years--a tendency that is longer than the current director’s leadership, but which she has nevertheless worsened rather than improved."
A message shared by the AA with Archinect describing Franch's termination follows in full:
It is with regret that AA Council has terminated the employment contract of its Director, Eva Franch i Gilabert.
At the heart of the decision is the 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.
Following the meeting and vote of the School Community on June 29, Council undertook a series of meetings and consultations with Ms Franch i Gilabert to give her the opportunity to outline her plans to rectify these issues. Unfortunately, the discussions did not provide Council with the confidence that she could fulfil her role as School Director of the AA, one of the leading architecture schools in the world.
Council recognises how difficult this period has been for many people within the AA School Community and thanks them for their heartfelt and thoughtful feedback. Council will now work closely with the senior management team, staff and students to manage the school in the short term and to clarify the role of the School Director going forward before a new search process begins.
*EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a developing story, Archinect will continue to report on the events in London as they take shape. Follow Archinect's "Architectural Association" tag to stay up to date.
65 Comments
Not knowing the intricacies of the situation, or how employment law works outside of the US, I'm going to assume she chose *not* to resign quietly and instead made them fire her. Which I applaud her for; forcing someone to resign is a weenie move (I know, I've done it).
It can simply be a money thing, by getting fired you won't be risking getting sanctioned and therefore can collect maximum benefits. But I think she honestly believed she was doing a good job, so why resign at all?
For the past two years the AA students have been complaining a lot about how the new tutors she hired can't teach or barely showed up to teach. Most of them only survived one year and then she hired again, with no improvements.
Kenta that sounds like a legitimate concern but not a significant failure sufficient to fire someone after only two years. What else ya got?
Creating a hostile work environment, especially for women?
^It is interesting when you look at Kenta's comment, and compare that to the reference point for this noting of hostility. Obviously only part of the problem, but still.
I'm curious about this whole tutor thing, is that common at schools in the UK, or elsewhere? We had teaching assistants at my schools, but i'd hardly call them tutors... and they were just students.
I think "tutors" here means professors in the US? I had one semester in grad school of a visiting professor who travelled in from NYC for 3 days a week and was not reachable (this was pre-internet) the rest of the week and wasn't a great communicator, to put it gently. It was a bad semester for everyone in my studio.
Sounds like the A-A should loose their accreditation, if they do not have an ability to survive leadership transitions and internal disagreement without devolving into public scandal. I can't imagine students, rich or poor, wanting to study in such an accusatory milieu - on the other hand, maybe participatory anarchy is the coolest school. I'd be applying elsewhere.
Or maybe it's just democracy, who knows...
This would not happen at a real university.
they finally have real bachelor's and master's degrees for the first time in their history!
Shocking - I always thought they were a professional school. So it is true, based on their drawings, that they are really an art school.
my personal feeling is that architecture schools, like law schools, and medical schools, should be part of universities - because there is more to it than joining a gang.
Did someone from the AA hate on your design Ubu? You seem like you have real strong opinions on the matter. Did you go to one of these types of schools, or do you hat them on some sort of weird principle?
Also, there are plenty of independent law schools...
well - if that's true, I'm against those too...
well, your "personal feelings" obviously goes against the reality of many successful people who graduated from this school: Rem Koolhass, Zaha Hadid, Ole Sheeren, Eyal Weizman, Nicholas Grimshaw...... and so on.
the star system is a problem - and isn't that what this "struggle" is about?
there are plenty of stars that graduated from boring mondain architecture universities, let's cancel every institute that ever brought forward somebody successful!
there is no such thing as a mundane university
let's hope the A-A community (if it is not a gang) can learn to look beyond the myopic horizon of petty power struggles to see the world needs smart architects, and smart architects also need the world. Right now, the world is not impressed.
"the world is not impressed" lol
Ubu, the architectural education became part of academia (the academies) only in the late 17th century with the Beaux-Arts system in France, before that we had the guilds that were professional groups and the education of the architects was based largely on apprentices. The AA was founded in 1847 as an association of equal members and eventually evolved into an independent school. Its educational system has been a combination of the Beaux-Arts system (with the strict academic structure) and the Bauhaus system. The fact that the AA is not part of a large university is actually a blessing for me, as it makes it possible to operate on democratic principles, listen to students, adjust on the needs and avoid as possible the managerialization and bureaucratization of higher education that we see in most large institutions around the world. For me, this contributes to a better quality of teaching and learning.
Also, just to add that the AA community is constituted by all students, members of staff, administration, and all AA workers (facility people, kitchen, library, etc.). I don't know why you would consider this a gang.
From the previous article
“In the two years since Gilabert assumed the helm of the AA, she has helped rescue the school’s dire financial situation, revived its beloved AA Files journal, and has overseen the final stages of the school’s accreditation such that the 172-year-old institution is now able to grant bachelor's and master's degrees for the first time in its history.”
And they ousted her for ‘failures’?
Sounds like she had accomplished quite a lot in a short time. Not unlike her tenure at storefront. Seems AA doesn’t know what they want since this same committee overwhelming chose her.
Godspeed to the next unfortunate soul to take the role
I understand Eva stopped the aa files in the first place and only Reinstate them after backlash. The school Accreditation been in the works for the last seven years. It’s like a new government, in the work for years and then coming in at the very last moment and taking credit for it. My understanding is that it was already ready for submission for accreditation to the government when she entered the school
For anyone to back someone who made studentS and staff every unhappy and in some cases bullying, think first before backing
Anonymous forum user checks out .
How has she made students and staff unhappy? Care to describe the cases of bullying?
I mean, there is litereally a letter attached from one of the teachers saying that there are multiple cases of
.... good lord, I hate this forum's posting method. The article states issues of workplace hostility, and includes a letter from employees stating issues with workplace hostility and bulling. What do you want, personal testimony sent to your inbox? it doesn't make it true, but also shouldn't just be dismissed.
The "enter key submit" functionality for replies does leave a lot to be desired.
I always think a soft return works.... it does not.
the way i do it.....return
then edit the comment. you have five minutes.
Shift + return, my friends. Works for me.... sometimes. But yes, I agree that the posting system isn't the best.
not only the posting system, also the moderating system leaves a lot to be desired...
natematt - I see no such letter from any teacher. The only links are to letters defending Gilabert, and one say in a broad overview why she was terminated. I'm simply looking for more information
sad randomised is sad
had a great day actually
Chad, there is a letter from two of the teaching assistants. More information would be great, but realistically, as we are presumably not part of that community, it is unlikely that we will ever hear much in the detail.
Shift+Return does not work for me, that's what always messes me up. It just submits.
I did not realize the nature of the limit on the edit! Thanks! I always just thought the edit feature was messed up too haha.
Where is the letter from the two TA's?
Ah there it is. For some reason I was only getting the 'support' letter. Odd.
randomised: as soon as I said shift + return I immediately regretted it because of course it actually posted my original comment
open mouth insert foot.
back to typing out all my comments on text edit first.
it helps me work out my first inclinations toward rage posting which I always immediately regret
I also regret the absence of a moderation system, unless you count Orhan berating you in the comments and then liking them himself as “moderating”.
It’s also especially telling when users whom I have never seen posting on the forum suddenly chime in when a hot-button issue arises.
I think there’s a word for that in the modern lexicon… triggered perhaps? *shrugs*
Hi new users, welcome.
….anywho… on the whole subject of Eva getting canned, well, I have no opinion really on the matter and I would feel silly weighing in on the topic without any thorough understanding of what the fuck actually happened. She’s certainly intelligent, charismatic, and is very opinionated and a woman…. not things the establishment usually does a good job at digesting unfortunately... she was definitely a far cry from the days of Shirdel/Kipnis, Mostafavi, or Brett Steele running the show and maybe I don't understand why that wouldn't be a good thing. maybe because it's not really my place to have an opinion on the matter.
I’m really not surprised there were some ideological clashes. I wish Eva well. I hear the MAK center is hiring…. she might be a good fit? maybe a bit of a step backwards from a director of a school but hey… I just me spouting off again.
I think most of the posters here miss the point: 'The meaning is obvious: under present neoliberal conditions, consent is impossible. If managers and employers are subject to democratic oversight, or resistance on the part of their workers, then no architectural school—or office, presumably—could continue to function. Exploitation and intimidation are a necessary part of the job. The open letter effectively defends the culture of intimidation within architectural pedagogy, which is itself only a preparation for the enormously widespread systemic exploitation of architectural and design labour. Its message is “there is no alternative.”'
Most academic institutions force their graduate student bodies to rack up huge debts (there are encouraging exceptions!!!) and then feed the large corporate profession that then fawns back upon the school. Deans at places like UVa, IIT, UIC, et al. make $$$, hire their sycophants and meanwhile students pile up large debts to keep faculty in privilege and a regular paycheck. It's quite the marketing feedback loop. The fanzines then publish pious assertions of progressive virtue weaving them into a vigorous hagiography and the beat goes on:
'Unsurprisingly, Ivy League dignitaries are unaware of such actions; like so many other “leaders”, they systematically inflate their own role in bringing about positive progress.
Two years ago, the school community thought it could elect a director, and entrust that director with undertaking progressive reforms. Now, two years on, it has realised that the school community itself, its students and its workers, must undertake and lead that process. This shift is what makes the no confidence vote so threatening to institutional authority figures in the architectural world, who, as the 1% of the discipline, circulate in a lucrative and elite stratum. Indeed, it is threatening to the point that they write and sign a letter of managerial solidarity against the rights of workers and students to take ownership of their own problems, and of the very process to achieve progressive goals—not from above, guided by progressive elites— but from below.
The current crisis at the AA, which concerns both the current director and the long term need for reforms, implies a crisis of the institutional figure of the director itself. From our perspective, this defense of the current director reveals a deep anxiety felt by an elite cartel fearing that the crisis of neoliberalism in architecture and academia puts their institutional positions of privilege at risk. Their defense of the current director of the AA is a defense of their own jobs, against the fear that similar uprisings could happen in their schools, departments, or offices.'
'the school community itself, its students and its workers, must undertake and lead that process' Is this so? Can the topling of a leader be unambiguously chalked up as a 'win' for a bottom-up process of reform and leadership? This kerfuffle seems to be about leadership style (maybe a bad style, at that) rather than about an incipient revolution and the overthrowing of all kinds of systems of 'oppression' (even though the response letter throws its net ambitiously far & wide...)
Such a good letter, the privileged Ponce de Leon’s of this world should pay attention!
^ I'm curious what you are bringing Ponce de Leon into this for?
One trick pony, one note singer.
This is a business, not a democracy.
I was referring to rando, not anyone being discussed.
natematt
"This shift is what makes the no confidence vote so threatening to institutional authority figures in the architectural world, who, as the 1% of the discipline, circulate in a lucrative and elite stratum."
That's why
...also maybe check what's recently been posted here on 'nect:
https://archinect.com/features...
https://archinect.com/news/art...
sad rando
I'm not sad, you're pathetic
aw, poor rando
Ever thought of getting a hobby Pete?
I have plenty of hobbies. Pointing out your inadequacies is super easy. Barely an inconvenience.
What inadequacies? Whenever confronted you're copping out.
And you get so upset when I don't dance to your tune. It's adorably pitiful.
The Free School of Architecture was (is) really onto something. How many people on this board have or had more $50k in student debt when they left school? Eva Franch i Gilabert is more of a marketer/networker than a subject matter expert and the situation is similar to what happened at Taliesin and did not happen at SOAT. School is not a business and needs to be better funded and/or free. It would remove a lot of pressures that would create more diverse and democratic outcomes. There's a lot to unpack in that letter. There has never been an examination of the Dean's posts on archinect through that lens. There needs to be. Archinect should critical rather than just a place for press releases. How do we make the profession better? It begins in academia...
There's a more robust discussion around her dismissal on Dezeen, but one of the takeaways from it and the subsequent commentary by students of the AA is that they comprised the majority of their community who voted 'no confidence'. And this was an 80-20 vote amongst their academic community.
Biggest complaints - as alluded to in the letter attached to her dismissal - is that she had issues following through on promises she made during her selection process. And clearly, their community felt like that was enough of an issue (which led to a lot of other issues) to call a vote of confidence and to overwhelmingly vote the way they did. From the cheap seats, this seems far less about her age, gender, etc. and a lot more about her abilities as related to this particular job. If you've ever taught, there's always factional infighting and clearly she's going to have her supporters. But 80% voting against is really hard to dismiss.
I haven't read the Dezeen comments, but when I first heard reporting of the no confidence vote the article said that a majority of students had voted that they didn't feel confident (or something similar) in the direction of the AA no matter *who* was leading it. I tweeted about it.
comments at the bottom: https://www.dezeen.com/2020/07/13/eva-franch-i-gilabert-fired-architectural-association-director/
Just to clarify it was a 54-46 no confidence on the person, and 80-20 on the strategic plan drafted
which is interesting because the actual dismissal seems to have come after she was given a subsequent chance to talk through the plan with their governing council and it was that group which said they really didn't have confidence she could make the adjustments to the plan or to how it was being implemented.
"At the heart of the decision is the 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.
Following the meeting and vote of the School Community on June 29, Council undertook a series of meetings and consultations with Ms Franch i Gilabert to give her the opportunity to outline her plans to rectify these issues. Unfortunately, the discussions did not provide Council with the confidence that she could fulfil her role as School Director of the AA, one of the leading architecture schools in the world.
Council recognises how difficult this period has been for many people within the AA School Community and thanks them for their heartfelt and thoughtful feedback. Council will now work closely with the senior management team, staff and students to manage the school in the short term and to clarify the role of the School Director going forward before a new search process begins.”
mostly, and perhaps a bit sadly, it just doesn't sound like the right match for either party.
Or perhaps she just didn't put the milk in before adding the tea...
Even mighty Eva French couldn’t unfortunately save the AA from its slow decline and eventual demise since the departure of great director, Alan Balfour 20 years ago.
From the new millennium onwards, German alt-right racist and Nick Land wannabe, Patrik Schumacher exploited his power as the associate of Zaha Hadid and picked up a lot of incompetent DRL graduates and his entourages, notably Aussie, Robert Stuart-Smith and NJIT alumnus, Theodore Spyropoulos. Eventually he turned the school into the subpar training ground for a tea boy at ZHA.
To add insult to injury, those fellows from Forensic Architecture and particularly Adam Nathaniel Furman don’t have a clue what architectural pedagogy is about. Only hope we have is that some old dogs with substantial experience like Robert Mull, Shin Egashira and Carlos Villanueva Brandt could save the school from its crisis.
From the outset, the AA is catered for A-level rejects and untalented Asians with rich parents. So the school’s credibility as an architectural institution is dubious at best.
if you seriously consider being a professional architect, go to UCL. Avoid the ever-declining AA at all cost.
Or you could go to one of the other 100's of accredited architectural programs throughout the US . . .
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.