Architectural Association School of Architecture
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| Motto | Design with Beauty, Build in Truth |
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| Type | Independent |
| Established | 1847 |
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Academic affiliation
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Open University |
| President | David Porter |
| Director | Brett Steele |
| Director (Hooke Park site) | Martin Self |
| Undergraduates | 367 (2012) |
| Postgraduates | 223 (2012) |
| Location |
London (main),  United Kingdom
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| Campus | Urban (London) Rural (Hooke Park) |
| Website | aaschool |
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The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in the world. 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.
The foundation of the Architectural Association was as an alternative to the practice where young men were articled to established architects. This practise offered no guarantee for educational quality or professional standards. The AA believed it was open to vested interests,abuse, dishonesty and incompetence.
This situation led two articled pupils, Robert Kerr (1823–1904) and Charles Gray (1827/28–1881), to propose a systematic course of training provided by the students themselves. Following a merger with the already existing Association of Architectural Draughtsmen, the first formal meeting under the name of the Architectural Association took place in May 1847 at Lyons Inn Hall, London. Kerr became the first president, 1847–48.
The AA School was formally established in 1890. In 1901, it moved premises to the former Royal Architectural Museum. In 1917, it moved again, to its current premises in Bedford Square, central London (it has since acquired additional London premises in John Street and a 350-acre (1.4 km2) site at Hooke Park in Dorset). The school has also acquired property on Morwell Street behind Bedford Square. Women were first admitted as students to the AA School during the First World War in 1917.
In the 1960s, the school provided a platform for radically new concepts like the Fun Palace by Cedric Price and the establishment and the legacy of the Archigram group. Alumni returned to the AA as teachers as exemplified by Pritzker Prize winners Rem Koolhaas and his pupil Zaha Hadid.
In its own opinion, Alvin Boyarsky (Chairman from 1971 to 1990), says that the AA is one of the world's most international and prestigious schools of Architecture, attracting and selecting students and staff from more than 60 countries worldwide, with a long list of visiting critics, lecturers and other participants from around the world each year. The students of the AA have been addressed by many eminent figures, from John Ruskin and George Gilbert Scott in the 19th century, to more recently Richard Rogers, an alumnus of the school.
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Wikipedia