Architectural Association Prospectus 2020–2021

School of Architecture Academic Programmes

Contents

5 38
Welcome Research

6 42
Introduction AA Visiting School

12 48
Spaces of the AA How to Apply

16 53
Academic Resources
Programmes

34
Professional
Practice
 Welcome
The Architectural Association (AA) is a global community that
spans from Bedford Square in London to Hooke Park in Dorset.
Historically we have used a vast array of places, locations and
time zones as our testing ground by inputting co-ordinates
to travel and learn about the built environment in all its forms,
visiting vibrant and complex cities, planned and rural towns
and sometimes harsh otherworldly landscapes or virtual
realms. The year 2020 has presented global-scale challenges,
and with them the opportunity to review and adjust how we
deliver our distinctive architectural education.
The 2020–21 academic year will be unique in the long history
of the AA. For the first time, a significant proportion of the

AA Terrace, 2020. Photo: Max Creasy

teaching that would typically happen on-site will occur online.
Since all of the academic programmes migrated online in
March 2020, our school has been dispersed across the world
with learning taking place in living rooms, bedrooms, cafés
and on virtual platforms. The school continues to enhance
resources, formats and methods of learning, as well as means
of communication to deliver an AA education that is new, but
no less exciting.
The incredible changes to the world around us have not
been limited to Covid-19. Environmental instability and racial
inequality require action at every level including within educa-
tional institutions. What has been demonstrated during this
tumultuous period is that at the AA there exists a congenial
spirit that will continue to bring its members together in adver-
sity and ensure that each person feels supported, respected and
heard. We look forward to continuing this collective effort dur-
ing the 2020–21 academic year as we navigate the unknown,
uncertain and vast terrain that will provide a glimpse towards
a better future for all the different worlds that we now inhabit.

4 5
Introduction
The Architectural Association (AA) is the oldest independent
school of architecture in the UK. The school was founded in 1847
as a student-centred collective that aspired to radically transform
architectural education. The outcome of this is an environment
that encourages students to speculate without limitations, to
take risks with confidence and to cultivate individual, radical
research agendas that will shape the future of the architectural
discipline. We are a school that is constantly on the move, pro-
gressively redefining the nature of architecture both in academia
and in practice worldwide. As a participatory democracy, this
endeavour relies on the students to continuously contribute to
the identity of the school and to critically engage with the broader

Experimental 4 jury, 2020. Photo: Max Creasy

cultural discourse in London and beyond.
Today, the school is comprised of approximately 800 full-time
students, over 7000 members, 250 tutors and 100 administrative
staff from across the globe. It occupies eight Georgian houses
in the centre of London, as well as a 350-acre woodland site at
Hooke Park in Dorset, and an ever-expanding number of digital
spaces. Quite unlike any other institution operating today, the
school offers a broad range of flexible, self-directed programmes,
courses and curricula that empower students and staff to chal-
lenge the accepted methods within contemporary architectural
education and professional practice.
Prospective students are now able to apply for the
Foundation Course (AA Foundation Award in Architecture),
the Experimental Programme (Years one–three of the five year
course in architecture leading to the award of BA(Hons) (ARB/
RIBA Part 1), the Diploma Programme (Years four and five of
the five year course in architecture leading to the award of
MArch, the AA Diploma (ARB/RIBA Part 2), and nine Taught
Postgraduate Programmes leading to MA, MSc, PG MArch,
MFA and MPhil awards as well as the PhD Programme.
Additionally, applications are taken throughout the year for

6 7
 the two RIBA Part 3 courses and a range of Visiting Schools that
take place around the world, as well as the Summer School,
which operates each July. With the establishment
of the AA Residence last year, long-term research is possible
outside of the diverse array of academic programmes that the
institution offers. The collection of courses, programmes and
initiatives aim to achieve plurality of topics and agendas allow-
ing students from different backgrounds with varied interests
and ambitions to find their own individual and unique path
through the school.
The AA curriculum is enhanced by the Public Programme,
which focuses on the unique opportunities and challenges of
the present through a series of lectures, exhibitions, studio visits,
symposia and book launches; and the Print Studio, a media,
publishing and graphic design studio. This year’s events, which

First Year Studio, 2020. Photo: Max Creasy

welcome all staff and students, as well as the general public,
will include lectures on New Models that disrupt the existing
structural inequalities and socio-economic and political forces,
exhibitions showcasing the work produced by AA Residence
Labs, and a series of virtual studio visits to learn more about
what happens behind the scenes in the making of artwork.
Dedicated to disseminating and communicating architectural
writing and digital content, the AA will re-launch a redesigned
aa Files, the school’s journal of record, continue the student-led
aarchitecture pamphlet, publish a series of books and ebooks,
and generate podcast episodes and social media initiatives.
Collectively, the courses, programmes, public events and
publications exist alongside spontaneous discussions, unexpected
encounters and vibrant exchanges that take place throughout
the academic year. This confluence of activity keeps the AA in
a constant flux of transformation that does not allow the status quo
a moment to engrain itself into the walls, floors, stairwells and
digital worlds of the school or the laptops, projects, ideas and
ambitions of the students. The AA invites anyone to join our
school as an active participant in this perpetual motion of archi-
tectural thought, design and dialogue in which the word

8 9
Taught Degree Awarding Powers (TDAP)
and Office for Students (OfS)

The Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA) is

a private Higher Education Provider with Taught Degree
Awarding Powers. The AA is an Approved Provider registered
with the Office for Students (OfS) and a Tier 4 Sponsor
Institution registered with UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI).
The AA is an Approved Institution and Affiliated Research
Centre of The Open University (OU), UK. The OU is the award-
ing body for research degrees at the AA. Find out more

John Ng (First Year tutor), Graduation Tableau (fragment), 2020

10 11
Spaces of the AA
The AA is critically reliant on the collision of productive and
social space. Constant interaction between the many different
academic programmes at the school and the engagement of
students and tutors with diverse, critical agendas permeates all
of the spaces within which it operates. Housed in Georgian
bedrooms, bathrooms, attics and crawlspaces, the AA is used to
working from home; to squeezing into odd spaces for some
peace and quiet; to perpetually re-organising the furniture to
find the optimum arrangement; and now, to connect via a variety
of online platforms for anything from morning coffee and tuto-

The door to 36 Bedford Square, 2020. Photo: Max Creasy

rials to lectures and exhibitions. The physical and digital reality
of the AA thus represents a domestic, non-institutional form
of architecture that is entirely unique.

Bedford Square

In London, the AA resides in a row of Georgian terraced houses

on Bedford Square that form the core of the association and
its operations, as well as a set of spaces on Morwell Street, which
would once have been a mews behind the main dwellings. The
school retains many of the unusual, idiosyncratic qualities of
the spaces throughout these buildings that generations of
students and teachers have embraced, transformed and appro-
priated. Much of the character, tradition and diversity of
the school can be found within the stately rooms and domestic
spaces of our home in London.

12 13
 Hooke Park

In Dorset, the AA resides within a 350-acre working forest, which

is owned and operated by the school. Hooke Park is a growing
educational space that combines forest, studio, workshop and
building site, and is located in a designated Ancient Woodland
that forms part of the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty. The trees inside the park provide the primary source of
timber for student-led construction projects that are manufac-
tured and assembled on site. It is occupied year-round by the
students and staff of the Design and Make programme, and
hosts short residential workshops for visiting groups of individ-
uals from throughout the school.

Woodland Cabin at Hooke Park, 2019. Photo: Design and Make

Digital Worlds

In response to the requirements for remote learning as a result

of the Covid-19 pandemic, the AA currently operates from within
the domestic rooms of its students and staff. A series of secure
and robust online teaching platforms provide spaces for intimate,
one-to-one tutorials, as well as larger seminars and lectures. A
broad range of online cultural, historical and technical resources
are also provided by the school in order to facilitate the highest
level of contemporary architectural education and discourse.
Collectively, these platforms constitute a series of digital worlds
in which our School Community can interact, teach, learn, listen
and talk about architecture in all its diverse forms.

14 15
Academic Programmes
The AA offers a diverse range of full-time academic courses
and programmes. For the 2020–21 academic year, prospective
students are able to apply for the Foundation Course (AA
Foundation Award in Architecture), the Experimental
Programme (Years one–three of the five year course in archi-
tecture leading to the award of BA(Hons) (ARB/RIBA Part 1),
the Diploma Programme (Years four and five of the five year
course in architecture leading to the award of MArch, the
AA Diploma (ARB/RIBA Part 2), and nine Taught Postgraduate
Programmes leading to MA, MSc, PG MArch, MFA and MPhil

Or Naeh, When Solid Becomes Hollow. Foundation Course, 2019–20

awards as well as the PhD Programme.

Foundation Course

The Foundation Course (AA Foundation Award in Architecture)

is a one-year introduction to an art and design education.
Students are encouraged to develop their conceptual ideas
through experiments with a wide range of media in an intimate,
studio-based environment. Through being exposed to the
wealth of academic offerings and intellectual resources at the
AA, from the first year of the Experimental Programme to the
PhD Programme, Foundation Course students are given access
to the tools, strategies and methodologies that are developed
within the school at large. Drawing on a number of different
educational practices, in tandem with the knowledge and
experience of numerous highly experienced tutors and visiting
consultants, the course offers dynamic, cross-disciplinary
teaching within the context of a specialist architectural school.
Over the course of the academic year, students explore ideas
and techniques such as observation, documentation, survey,
inventory, scale, materiality, interpretation, representation, site,
scenario and inhabited structures.

16 17
 Experimental Programme

The Experimental Programme BA(Hons) (ARB/RIBA Part 1)is

a three-year, full-time course. The first year is characterised by
its shared, open studio, and is defined by a learning-through­
making approach that gives students the academic and technical
tools that are essential to fostering an exploratory and intellec-
tual interest in architecture. Young architects are encouraged to
focus on the challenges of the 21st century, while learning about
and interrogating the foundational principles of architecture.
Composed of a range of media and informed by various modes
of argumentation and representation, the end-of-year portfolio,
successfully completed, forms the basis of each student’s pro-
gress into the second year of study.

Riyad Yassine and Seonwoo Kim, Plot. EXP 10, 2019–20

Years two and three introduce Experimental Programme
participants to the AA unit system, within which small design
studios (12–14 students) are comprised of both second- and
third-year students. Innovative approaches to the study of
architectural form, typology, programme, site and fabrication
sit side-by-side with the analysis of critical theory, environmen-
tal issues, structural design and different modes of professional
practice. Overall, the Experimental Programme empowers
inquisitive students to question how architecture is physically
manifested in the world, to holistically consider how we design
our cities and to imagine a better future together.

18 19
Matthew Ka Kiu Lin, Highway House. EXP 6, 2019–20

Chia-Cheng Ng, Back of House. EXP 1, 2019–20

Diploma Programme
The two-year Diploma Programme MArch and AA Diploma
(ARB/RIBA Part 2) introduces successful AA students from the
Experimental Programme, as well as eligible new students to
the school, to the study of advanced research, developed design
practices and speculative thinking. Long acknowledged as a
global innovator in architectural education, the AA Diploma
Programme has, throughout its history, fostered some of the most
innovative, challenging and progressive thinking in architec-
ture. Highly plural in nature, the range of studio units, each of
which is led by different tutors, offers students a broad spec-
trum of learning opportunities that are driven by a diverse set
of agendas and specialisms.
In pursuing projects that are intimately developed within
the studio environment over the course of a full academic year,
each student is afforded the chance to not only improve their
technical proficiency, but also to deeply engage with a critical
agenda and the broader societal issues with which architecture
intersects. Lively, informed debate permeates life in the Diploma
Programme, inspiring students to hone research skills and
develop design proposals into high-quality portfolios. This pro-
cess allows for students to not only find their voices as architects,
but also a means of articulating ideas that they can carry with
them into their professional careers.
AA One Year Abroad
Students enrolled in schools of architecture that are overseas,
who wish to participate in the activities of the Experimental
Programme as a year away from their home institutions, can
apply to the AA One Year Abroad – Visiting Student Programme
(VSP). Students are accepted into the programme at either
second or third year levels.
22
Core Studies and Electives
Core Studies, part of both the Experimental and Diploma
Programmes, is a suite of courses that are central to the study of
architecture. Through lectures, participatory seminars and work-
shops, they are designed to develop expertise in five key areas:
• Communication and Media Studies (CMS)
• Environmental and Technical Studies (ETS)
• History and Theory Studies (HTS)
• Professional Practice (PP) /
Architectural Professional Practice (APP)
Communication and Media Studies (CMS) introduces students
to the media used by architects such as drawing, physical model
making, 3D modelling, film, photography and many more.
Environmental and Technical Studies (ETS) offers a complete
and coherent technical training that provides students at all
stages of their architectural education with the capacity to
materialise their ideas, concepts and ambitions. History and
Theory Studies (HTS) includes courses that develop historical
and theoretical knowledge related to architectural discourses,
concepts and ways of thinking through the skill of writing.
Professional Practice (PP) prepares students in the final year
of the Experimental Programme (BA(Hons)) for their year of
practical experience typically undertaken following the com-
pletion of RIBA Part 1, while Architectural Professional Practice
(APP) develops and expands on the themes encountered in
practice. The elective courses, available to Diploma and
Taught Postgraduate programme students, allow participants
to access courses at different levels of the school, providing
insight into broader creative practices, interdisciplinary processes
and new technologies, fostering an extended range of knowl-
edge for individual development.
23
Jane Ling, Hostile by Design: The Policy of Weaponised Environments. DIP 3, 2019–20
Christopher Kokarev, Vertical Asclepeions. DIP 1, 2019–20
Buster Rönngren, Passage to a City When. DIP 11, 2019–20

Russell Royer, The Choreum. DIP 12, 2019–20

Matthew Ho, Urban Nomadism: The City as a Space of Exclusion. DIP 16, 2019–20
Efim Leonov, Farmorama. DIP 15, 2019–20
Taught Postgraduate Programmes

The AA offers nine full-time Taught Postgraduate programmes

– advanced courses of study for students with prior academic
and professional experience. The degrees offered include an
MA/MSc (12 months), MArch (16 months), MFA and MPhil
(18 months) for a range of topics.

• Architecture and Urbanism (DRL) MArch

• Design and Make MSc/MArch
• Emergent Technologies and Design MSc/MArch
• History and Critical Thinking in Architecture MA

Design Research Laboratory (DRL) Studio, 2020. Photo: Max Creasy

• Housing and Urbanism MA/MArch
• Landscape Urbanism MSc/MArch
• Spatial Performance and Design (AAIS) MA/MFA
• Sustainable Environmental Design MSc/MArch
• Taught MPhil in Architecture and Urban Design
(Projective Cities)

Architecture and Urbanism (DRL) interrogates the broader rela-

tionships of architecture by considering the futures of living,
work and culture through advanced methods in design, compu-
tation and manufacturing. Design and Make explores design at
the point of physical production, demonstrating a vision for
architectural education in which making is central to the act
of design itself. Emergent Technologies and Design investigates
new synergies of architecture and ecology through the critical
intersection of computational design and fabrication. History
and Critical Thinking in Architecture is a platform for engage-
ment with the contemporary through critical analysis of history
and the politics of historiography. Housing and Urbanism
addresses the complexities of urban transformation through design
learning and investigation, focusing on the politics and practi-
calities that are shaping todays cities. Landscape Urbanism
investigates the role that designers can play when confronted with
policies and regulations that are currently rethinking landscapes

30 31
 and territories across the globe. Spatial Performance and Design
(AAIS) engages with alternative methods of collaboration
between multiple creative professions. Sustainable Environmental
Design engages with real-life projects aiming to improve the
environment in cities and develop environmentally sustainable
architectures. Taught MPhil in Architecture and Urban Design
(Projective Cities) examines multi-scalar questions arising at the
intersection of architecture, urban design and planning.

PhD Programme

The PhD Programme at the AA is a full-time, three-year course

that aims to train scholars and researchers in the fields of

Aiman Tabony, Ecological Superblock. PhD, 2019–20

architectural history and theory, urban studies and technology.
The ambition of the programme is to learn from architectural
knowledge in order to understand the built environment at large.
The programme thus encourages risky, rigorous and specula-
tive dissertations that ultimately question architecture itself
and its history, as well as its professional and disciplinary man-
date. Parallel to the development of their individual theses,
candidates are provided with a background of intense historical
and theoretical thinking through weekly discussions with their
director of studies and supervisor, monthly seminars with guest
scholars and a yearly symposium that gathers invited guests
and current candidates in a collective discussion. The AA is a
Partner Institution and Affiliated Research Centre of The Open
University (OU), UK. The OU is the awarding body for research
degrees at the AA.

32 33
Professional Practice
Professional Practice is a RIBA Part 3 course and examination
that allows successful candidates to register as Architects with
the Architects Registration Board (ARB). It is open to both AA
graduates with RIBA Part 2 and eligible non-AA graduates.
Accredited by the ARB and the Royal Institute of British Architects
(RIBA), the course is offered in two formats, each of which takes

Design Management Workshop run by Plan A Architects, Professional Practice Part 3 course, 2019.
place once during the academic cycle. Pre-registration for both
course formats is highly recommended, and the examination
process and syllabus are the same for each format. Part 3 exami-
nations take place at the end of each session and are registered
for independently from the course itself.
The autumn session each year constitutes a full-time course,
which is conducted intensively over two weeks. Alternatively,
for candidates who would prefer to take more time to study
or for whom weekday attendance may be difficult, the spring
session is taught as a part-time course on Saturdays over a ten-
week period. The course covers all topics that are central to
professional practice, including business management, build-
ing legislation, planning and building regulations, running a
small business and communication skills. It is also available to
registered professionals who may wish to refresh their knowl-
edge of architectural practice through Continuous Professional
Development (CPD).
Prospective students must read the Part 3 Handbook,
which provides all course and exam details. Candidates who
are ready to sit the examination must establish their eligibility
by submitting their Initial Assessment (IA) documentation
for consideration. This includes their Professional Experience
Development Record (PEDR) or the AA’s Certificate of
Professional Experience (CPE). An optional two-day course,
the Building Contract Game, involves teams working together
to devise strategies for overcoming contract issues and practical
problems during project negotiations.

34 35
 LAWuN
LAWuN (Locally Available World unseen Networks) purposely
sits peripheral to the school’s academic programmes in order
to make connections between Experimental students and Taught
Postgraduate programme students, as well as Foundation stu-
dents and Diploma students; or mixing all of them up at the same
time. Critical and inclusive, LAWuN is committed to providing
a space for students to detach themselves from the programmed
curriculum. Methods are undefined but include the instigation
of conversation, sparking positive conflict, asking unexpected
questions and hosting impromptu events. Gatherings are
unscheduled, work is unassessed and participants can join for

Fibonacci assemblage for any New Year, LAWuN, 2020.

a fleeting moment, an afternoon, an entire day or not at all.
Everything is open to everyone and the work is only as good as
you, the students make it.

Observations about LAWuN:

1. Augments assessed student driven projects outside of

the unit structure
2. Dedicated to asking questions, but not necessarily
giving answers
3. There is no right or wrong, just an interest in the ‘what if ?’
4. Affirms that design is explored through human behaviour
and not a body of knowledge
5. Being both inside and outside the curriculum, LAWuN
can act as a daily itinerant to the educational structures
while still embedded within the school’s everyday fabric
6. A cross-school zone for curiosity

A final observation about LAWuN is a place where a diverse

array of students can find community and support.

37 38
Research networks and the spatial impacts of policy-making that imagine
alternatives to standard design practices.

The AA Residence was established last year as a physical and

intellectual space for the development of new ideas and forms of AA Wood Lab
practice at the intersection of architecture, art, technology, pol-
icy and design. Comprised of a series of independent research In the face of imminent, global environmental concerns, trees
groups (AA Labs) and an incubator with a shared workspace, the are the source of an essential building material for the future.
programme aims to support visionary individuals, projects and The AA Wood Lab advances the role of the school’s woodland
practices in pursuit of novel and experimental forms of research. site at Hooke Park in Dorset to educate architects in the sus-
AA Labs draw from the expertise of an interdisciplinary tainable use of forest produce to both build projects and drive
cohort of fellows including architects, artists, policy-makers, new forms of research. Working with leading thinkers and
engineers, scientists and creative entrepreneurs. Lasting between practitioners, and collaborating closely with scientists, the lab
six months and three years, each is driven and supported by is developing a research programme beyond conventional
grants and partnerships that facilitate significant and meaning- architectural thinking. Integrating the latest science, as well as
ful relationships with leading organisations in order to generate progressive design and fabrication technologies, and tradi-
major research projects with the broader academic curricula tional material knowledge, the AA Wood Lab’s problem-solving
and agenda of the institution. approach aims to derive building strategies directly from the
inherent properties of wood. The project has been made possi-
ble thanks to the generous support of John Makepeace, who
AA Ground Lab founded the Hooke Park campus as the Director of the
Parnham Trust.
Climate change is the biggest challenge facing humanity, and
addressing it requires a radical transformation of the design
profession that must focus on a transdisciplinary approach. AA
Ground Lab is a research design initiative that investigates
ways that this transformation can take place by engaging with
a diverse range of projects, scales and stakeholders in the Global
South. Through collaborations with the Inter-American
Development Bank, Latin American governments and research
councils in the UK, the lab is developing visualisation strategies
for socio-ecological systems. These will ultimately lead to pro-
posals that aim to achieve Latin American NDC (Nationally
Determined Contributions), gradually reduce carbon emissions
and decarbonise under social justice principles through design.
AA Ground Lab visualises and politicises invisible global

38 39
Construction of the Wakeford Hall Library, 2018. Photo: Design and Make
Ground Lab Studio at Bedford Square, 2020. Photo: Max Creasy
AA Visiting School
In addition to the full-time, accredited courses on offer at the
AA, a vast array of short courses and workshops take place all
around the world throughout the year as part of the AA Visiting
School, a Semester Programme available to students from
other universities to experience the AA for a term, as well as well
as a three-week Summer School, which is accompanied by a
dedicated series of Public Programme events. Led by notable
critical thinkers, architects and AA tutors from all over the
globe, these courses aim to generate new forms of teaching and

Wadi Rum Desert, AA Visiting School Jordan, 2017. Photo: Kais Al Rawi
learning, and stimulate creative minds of all ages and backgrounds.

AA Visiting School

Encompassing myriad forms and agendas, the AA Visiting School

is a worldwide network of courses and workshops that are built
around agenda-driven project briefs, each of which is pursued
and shaped by students working intensively in small groups
led by AA tutors. Central to these courses is the idea that experi-
mental, new and provocative forms of architecture are best
learned by doing. They promote, test and challenge global
interests in architectural learning and exchange by embedding
a diverse group of creative students and tutors in an array of
unique rural, urban and international contexts. From continen-
tal Europe to the Middle East, Asia, Australia and the Americas,
the AA Visiting School offers new and unexpected learning
opportunities all over the world. Places on these courses are
limited, and any individuals with a curiosity for architectural
study and practice who would like to further their knowledge
and skills can apply.

42 43
 AA Semester Programme

The AA Semester Programme is open to undergraduate and

graduate students, architects and other creative individuals from
around the world who wish to further their knowledge, practice
and skills in architecture. The programme offers insight into
the renowned unit system at the AA, which provides one-to-one
student-tutor conversations to guide and develop student work.
Workshops, lectures and juries complement varied types of
interactions with unit colleagues. The programme is integrated
with the school’s undergraduate History and Theory lectures
and Communication and Media Studies courses, designed to

Floating Pavilion in the Amazon River, AA Visiting School Amazon, 2018.

allow transferable study credits. This year, the Autumn
Semester Programme, like the entire AA, will be taught online,
and a decision on the Spring Semester Programme will be made
at a later date, but will continue on-site or online as scheduled.
Candidates require a minimum of two years of study in archi-
tecture or urban design.

Summer School

The AA Summer School presents a programme of design studios,

seminars and lectures that emphasise the importance of both
practice and theory in contemporary architecture. Based on
the school’s unit system, it offers participants a varied selection
of design approaches, techniques and agendas, and represents
a uniquely intensive and intimate educational environment.
Tutors, lecturers and critics include past and present AA unit
masters, as well as professionals from a diverse range of disci-
plines such as fashion, art, graphic design, industrial design,
urbanism and film. The course is for current and prospective
students of architecture from around the world, and offers
an approach to design for motivated individuals interested in
exploring architecture as an extended field of research.

44 45
The AA Barrel Vault, 2020. Photo: Max Creasy
How to Apply
The Architectural Association (AA) encourages applications from
all individuals who have the confidence, curiosity and ambition
that is required to define a unique path through a school that
fosters a multitude of different pedagogical methods and agen-
das. Above all, we are keen to hear from independent, intelligent
and respectful people who can demonstrate initiative in entering
into the public forms of presentation, collective discussion and
productive debate that permeate the AA, the architectural com-
munity and the world at large.
Open Days and Open Evenings
Fees and Financial Assistance
The Architectural Association is commit-
Entry Requirements
To find out more details for each pro-
ted to ensuring that the most talented gramme in school and learn about
students from around the world are academic entry requirements please click
afforded the opportunity to study at on the relevant ‘Find out more’ link,
the school. Approximately one in four which will take you to the school website.
students currently receive financial
assistance from a scholarship, bursary
or assistantship. Find out more
Foundation Course
The one-year Foundation Course leads to the AA Foundation
Award in Architecture. Successful completion of the Foundation
Course leads to an Unconditional Offer of a place in the first
year of the Experimental Programme(BA(Hons)). Find out more

Throughout the year, and alongside a regular schedule of student

presentations and public events, we hold Open Days and Open
Evenings for prospective undergraduate, postgraduate and
visiting students. To find more information, full event details and
to register your interest in attending, please visit
www.aaschool.ac.uk/openday
Dates for these are as follows:
Experimental Programme
The three-year Experimental Programme (BA(Hons)) leads
to the AA Intermediate Examination (ARB/RIBA Part 1).
Applications can also be made for direct entry to the second
or third year levels (direct entry to third year level will not
qualify for the academic award). Find out more

Open Days Open Juries

Diploma Programme
30.10.2020 06.11.2020
Foundation Course, Autumn Jury
Experimental Programme The two-year Diploma Programme (MArch) leads to the AA
and Diploma Programmes 12.02.2021 Final Examination (ARB/RIBA Part 2) and the AA Diploma
Spring Jury
15.01.2021
(AA Dipl). Prospective students can only apply to enter at the
Postgraduate Programmes first year of the Diploma Programme (fourth year). Find out more

48 49
Postgraduate Programmes

The AA offers nine Taught Postgraduate programmes and a PhD

Programme for students with prior academic and professional
experience. All programmes are full-time courses of advanced
study, and all students join the school in September at the out-
set of a new academic year. Find out more

Professional Practice

Applications for the RIBA-accredited Professional Practice course

are made directly by completing an online form. Find out more

The AA Wood and Metal Workshop, 2020. Photo: Max Creasy

AA Visiting School

If you are interested in applying to one or more AA Visiting School

courses, please check their individual web pages (accessible
from the AA homepage) to submit an online application and
make a payment. Most courses have limited spaces and run on
a first come, first served basis. Find out more

Summer School

Applications for the Summer School are made directly by com-

pleting an online form. Each year, applications typically open
in mid-November and will be received until the following
summer, when the course begins. Find out more

50 51
 Resources
Student Information
During their time at the school, students
of all programmes benefit from friendly
administrative support and a welcoming,
service that can provide advice regarding
all areas of life within the unique and
intimate learning environment of the AA.
Find out about student support, visas,
housing advice and more.
www.aaschool.ac.uk/students
Fees and Financial Assistance
The AA Archives, 2020. Photo: Max Creasy
The AA offers a range of bursaries for
new and existing students who demon-
strate exceptional promise and financial
need. All applicants are eligible regard-
less of age, nationality or background.
Find out more about academic fees, the
bursaries and scholarships available and
other sources of financial assistance.
www.aaschool.ac.uk/admissions/
feesandfinancialassistance
52 53
Resources
The resources and facilities of the AA
are constantly evolving to reflect the
requirements of the highest quality of
contemporary architectural education.
Find out more about about these varied
components of the school, which exist
both on-site and online.
www.aaschool.ac.uk/resources
www.aaschool.ac.uk/onlineresources
Events
Before attending an open day or visiting
the AA, feel free to attend some of the
lectures, seminars and exhibitions that
feature prominently in the day-to-day life
of the school. Find out more about the
Public Programme at the AA; a free and
accessible series of events dedicated to
advancing global architectural discourse.
www.aaschool.ac.uk/publicprogramme/
whatson
AA Prospectus 2020–21
Edited and produced by
AA Print Studio

Architectural Association
36 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3ES
T  +44 (0)20 7887 4000

Architectural Association (Inc), Registered charity

No 311083 Company limited by guarantee. Registered
in England No 171402 Registered office as above.

AA Members wishing to request a large-print version

of specific printed items can do so by contacting
AA Reception: +44 020 7887 4000 /
reception@aaschool.ac.uk or by accessing the
AA website at www.aaschool.ac.uk

All photos courtesy AA Photo Library and Digital

Photo Studio unless otherwise stated.

Front cover: Chloe Louise Hudson, An Alternative

Public London Charter. DIP 9, 2019–20
Architectural Association Prospectus 2020–2021
School of Architecture Academic Programmes