Architectural Association School of Architecture

The Architectural Association (also known as AA School of Architecture) is the oldest independent school of architecture in the UK. It was founded by two dissatisfied young architects (Robert Kerr, 19, and Charles Grey, 24) in 1847 to provide a self-directed, independent education at a time when there was no formal training available. Its students were addressed by many eminent figures, including John Ruskin and George Gilbert Scott.

The School was formally established in 1890. In 1901, it moved premises to the former Royal Architectural Museum. In 1920, it moved again, to its current premises in Bedford Square, central London (it has since acquired additional London premises in John Street and a site at Hooke Park in Dorset). After 150 years, the AA attracts students from more than fifty countries worldwide.

Courses are divided into two main areas - undergraduate programmes, leading to the AA Diploma, and postgraduate programmes, which include specialised courses in housing and urbanism, energy and the environment, history and theory, design, as well as day-release course in building conservation, garden conservation, and environmental access. 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 architecture.

Former students

• Will Alsop
• Peter Cook
• Piers Gough
• Sir Nicholas Grimshaw
• Zaha Hadid
• Thomas Hardy
• Rem Koolhaas
• Cedric Price
• Richard Rogers

Former teachers

• Daniel Libeskind
• Cedric Price
• Peter Smithson

External link

• Official website