Architecture

It is the oldest independent school of architecture in the United Kingdom and was founded in 1847 by two dissatisfied young architects (Robert Kerr, 24, and Charles Grey, 24), to provide a self-directed, independent education at a time when the profession of architecture had yet to appear in the form we recognize today. 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). The school has also acquired property on Morwell Street behind Bedford Square, which it uses as studio space and there are plans for further expansion.

Many notable architects have since passed through its doors as its former staff and alumni list shows. The students of the AA have been addressed by many eminent figures, from John Ruskin and George Gilbert Scott, to more recently Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas. After 150 years, the AA is one of the world's most international schools of architecture, attracting students and staff from more than 60 countries worldwide, and a long list of visiting critics, lecturers and other participants from around the world each year.

Courses are divided into two main areas - undergraduate programmes, leading to the AA Diploma, and postgraduate programmes, which include specialised courses in landscape urbanism (LU), housing and urbanism, sustainable environmental design, histories and theories, emergent technologies, design research lab (DRL), 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.

The Architectural Association School of Architecture, more usually known as the AA, is one of the most prestigious and most selective architecture schools in the United Kingdom. Its wide-ranging programme of exhibitions, lectures, symposia and publications have given it a central position in global discussions and developments within contemporary architectural culture. Many of the world's most celebrated and respected figures in architecture and its associated fields 'have been here [the AA] (sooner or later)' as a plaque outside the school entrance proclaims.