AA Summer School

About
WELCOME
The three-week, full time AA Summer Architecture School presents a challenging programme of design studios, field study, seminars and lectures that emphasise the importance of both practice and theory in contemporary architecture. Based on the AA’s unit system, it offers … Read more→
STUDIO SPACE & THE AA SCHOOL IN BEDFORD SQUARE
The AA’s facilities and studio spaces will be available for use throughout the programme. Summer Studios are located in 16 Morwell Street (behind Bedford Square). Opening hours are Monday through Friday 10:00 – 21:00. Saturday & Sunday 10:00 – 20:00 (closed … Read more→
AA LIBRARY
The collection in the AA Library, founded in 1862, contains almost 46,000 volumes, including rare and early works, books, periodicals and journals, CDs/DVDs including access to online indexes and JSTOR. Library services are open to all members of the AA. Founded … Read more→
MATERIALS WORKSHOP
The Workshop is well equipped with machine and hand tools for working in wood and metal. Facilities are available for working in steel and some nonferrous metals, and for precise working in hardwoods, softwoods and panel products. We have a … Read more→
MODEL WORKSHOP
The Model Workshop is a space where the making of small-scale objects can take place. It encourages exploration and experimentation with materials and techniques and is equipped with a kiln, a vacuum former and some casting facilities. Tutorials are available … Read more→
PHOTO LIBRARY, FILM LIBRARY & CINEMA
Our fully searchable website currently features 8,000 images representative of the broad scope of the main collection, which holds approximately 150,000 slides of historical and contemporary architecture. For educational use, the website includes low-res watermarked images available for downloading (along … Read more→
COMPUTER ROOM
In the Computer Room we aim to provide students with equipment and software they may not have access to at home. We have software such as 3DS Max, Rhino, Maya, AutoCAD and Digital Project on high-power computers. We also provide … Read more→

Agendas
Bits, Bytes, Fragments in 2018
Bits, Bytes, Fragments, Scraps, Shards and Moments. I guess I’m just hopelessly fascinated by the realities that you can assemble out of connected fragments. – Junot Diaz It’s like this puzzle. You spend ages putting things together – things … Read more→
2017 NOW!
What is architecture NOW, today? What is contemporary? We architects spend so much of our critical and intellectual efforts looking either to the past or the future, we often have little left to reflect on what architecture is now, and … Read more→
2016 LONDON-TIME
Monday 4 – Friday 22 July In the summer of 2016, when you land at one of London’s airports, most of you will change your watches while still on the runway to London-time, GMT 0:00. But what is London; beyond … Read more→
2015 ECCENTRICITY
Monday 6 – Friday 24 July 2015 Like many global cities, London is defined by its unchanging institutions and familiar, iconic imagery. The 2015 AA Summer School will challenge the ordinary and ask participants to design and re-describe London as … Read more→
2014 UNBUILT LONDON
The further backward you can look, the further forward you can see. – Winston Churchill From Cedric Price’s Fun Palace, to Winston Churchill’s War Room, and the hundreds of spaces, buildings, and years in between and since, London is characterised by … Read more→
2013 WATERWORLD
You can’t trust water: Even a straight stick turns crooked in it. – W.C. Fields London has a wacky relationship with water. It turns its back on the very river that runs through it. It has just survived one of … Read more→
2012 APRÈS CITY
“The after-party’s always better than the main event” As the Olympic Games draw to a close next Autumn 2012, London will be struggling with the question of what to do when the party’s over? Do we all just pick up … Read more→
2011 – STORIES FROM THE CITY
“Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.” Ralph Waldo Emerson As construction remains stagnant following the global-economic-meltdown, fabrication of an entirely other kind – one of stories – is implanting itself firmly within our architectural culture and tools of production. Architecture … Read more→
2010 TENDER IS THE NIGHT
The three week full-time AA Summer Architecture School offers an exciting approach to architectural design for anyone interested in exploring architecture as a profession or as an extended field of research.The AA Summer Architecture School presents a challenging programme of … Read more→
2009 MINICITY
Is the age of bigness over as the world scales back its architectural and urban ambitions? After years of what seemed like incessant growth taking place from Bahrain to Bangalore, a radical slowdown sets a new pace of activity. This … Read more→
2008 LONDON EVER AFTER
Look out. Life is imitating art. What was once the domain of the disaster movie is fast becoming the real-life plot of our collective futures. From The Day After Tomorrow (eco-Armageddon) to I Am Legend (man-made viral pandemic); cities have … Read more→
2007 LIVE IT UP!
At the start of the 21st century, dreams of tall living are again the height of fashion. But this time around, it’s not the West leading the new wave, but the Middle and Far East. From Dubai to Shanghai, super-skyscrapers … Read more→
2006 RECIPES FOR A FAST-FORWARD FUTURE
We may live in the present, but we dream of the future. Even though we know it’s a time elastically located ahead of us, The Future is also a place that is constantly re-drawn and re-imagined. Though nothing may date … Read more→
2005 QUICKSPACE / SLOWTIME
At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, mechanization firmly took control. The world was forever changed, and with it, our experience of space and of time altered irrevocably. Manual labour was too slow: so, let it die! Machines emancipated man, … Read more→
2004 SHINY and NEW
Looking back on the history of the future, two tendencies stand out the most. We were either hurtling forwards to worse times, in 1984 or Blade Runner, where the sun would never shine and we’d choke on the toxic air. … Read more→
2003 GLOBALLY YOURS
2002 SUBLIME OBJECTS IN MOTION
The design studios will explore the Sublime Object In Motion as a supple body that effects and is affected by change. Using London as an experimental laboratory of effects, participants will investigate relationships and strategies; speeds and resistances; abstractions and … Read more→

Applications
APPLICATIONS
The deadline for applications is 21 June 2018.

1) You can make an application by completing the online application here:
Summer School 2018 Application | Bits Bytes Fragments
If you are not able to make an online application, email visitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk for instructions to pay by bank transfer.

2) Once you complete the online application and make a full payment, you are registered in the programme. A CV or portfolio is not required.
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All participants travelling from abroad are responsible for securing any visa required, and are advised to contact their home embassy early. After payment of fees, the AA School can provide a letter confirming participation in the workshop.
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An AA certificate will be awarded on completion of the programme. Credit for the course should be organised by students at source. Please note that you must be 18 years of age at the start of the Summer School to be able to attend.
FEES
The AA Visiting School requires a fee of £1950 per participant, which includes a £60 Visiting membership fee and a deposit of £350 which is deducted from the total fee. The deposit will reserve your place, but the full fee is required to participate.

This fee also includes lunch Mon-Fri in the AA Restaurant.
If you are already a member, the total fee will be reduced automatically by £60 by the online payment system. Fees do not include flights or accommodation, but accommodation options can be advised. Students need to bring their own laptops, digital equipment and model making tools. Please ensure this equipment is covered by your own insurance as the AA takes no responsibility for items lost or stolen at the workshop.
CONTACT
For more information please contact the Visiting School Office.

Visiting School Coordinator
Architectural Association
36 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3ES
Tel: +44 (0)207 887 4014
email: visitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk

Director Summer School
Natasha Sandmeier

Director Visiting School
Christopher Pierce

Visiting School Coordinator
Andrea Ghaddar