Script from ‘Object Narratives’, an alternative history of the AA, performed at the Silver Gala fundraising dinner on 17 November 2018 by the AA Party Committee-
Summerson's AA History
“This is the only history of the Architectural Association, or should I call it an introduction to the Architectural Association’s past - since a history somewhat instigates that it should at some point approach the present. As a place of irony in itself, it is unsurprising that the almost biographical history of the AA was written by someone who was not a student, a tutor, or an even a member of the AA - those of us who would “never have the time”. Hence, although it is ironic that an observer was able to sum up the creation of the AA, if he hadn’t, it could very well be left unwritten. A quote from Summerson that I believe described the AA most effectively: “Here was a group of beginners, who by their own effort and with the assistance of only a handful of elders, undermined a firmly established system of training and laid the foundations of the completely different system of today. We question if this performance could be paralleled in any other profession – However, architecture occupies a unique place in the fabric of society. Both art and madness, and a mad desire to make buildings eloquent is somewhat mixed with the architect’s desire to better himself and his kind. It was a pack of troublesome students who founded the AA.””
President’s Medal
“The chest of the president of the AA was constantly decorated with the president’s medal when in the premises. Students thought of him like a decorated Mayor figure. This medal is one of many in the archive and appears to be a fragment out of a fountainhead fantasy miniaturised to be worn but unapologetically staging a “design with beauty built in truth” narrative. Nôtre Dame de Paris, the Parthenon, St Pauls Cathedral and Agia Sophia are protected by a medieval castle wall, while a naked male figure -that would feel at home on the crown of a delirious skyscraper- rises like a superhero towards the Architectural Association double A that actually attaches the medal to the ribbon.”
The Other AA
“During the negotiations, talks and protests about a potential merger between the AA and Imperial College, a design competition was launched for a new AA building at Queen’s Gate, South Kensington. In 1969, James Madge imagines an AA that is constantly served by a construction crane, allowing for an ever-changing maze of pods, rooms and corridors. The ultimate fantasy of the individual working space- tiny but individual- in a school where working, reading, studying and drinking was a spectacle. The majority of students and staff were concerned with the incorporation into the state-run university system that would compromise the freedom and independence that has characterised the AA since its foundation. In February 1971, as student and staff demands became more vocal, Imperial College broke off negotiations, citing concerns at the nature and intentions of the school community. The merger never happened and the maze- not currently served by a construction crane- became numbers 32 to 39 Bedford square.
Ghost Dance Times
“Maybe the most radical of all student publications at the AA and based on the Ghost Dance, a central ritual to the messianic religion instituted in the late 19th century, which prophesied the peaceful end of the westward expansion of whites and a return of the land to the Native Americans.
Sparkling irreverent, the Ghost Dance Times ran from 1974 to 1975 and aimed to chronicle the world of ‘empty studios and crowded bars where promising students consort with brilliant tutors in a mutual exorcism of the professional reality the first have not yet faced and the second never enjoyed…’ Funding was finally withdrawn in June of 1975 with Martin Pawley’s editorial claiming that Chairman, Alvin Boyarsky, facing the rising costs of ‘TV studios, champagne breakfasts and foreign exhibitions’, decided a more ‘responsible and altogether less intelligible’ organ was needed.”
The AA Whiskey Bottle
“This empty bottle was retrieved from the AA Archives raising questions regarding who bottled this fine 8 year old scotch whiskey, but more importantly who drunk it! Peter Cook describes the AA as a place that represented more than a century of elitism, arrogance, freedom and, most of all, a cosmopolitanism encouraged by the presence of an expensive chandelier and a creative use of the wine or whisky bottle or likelihood that Nervi, Bucky Fuller or Gropius might pop their head round the door. Most likely he refers to a specific bottle of whisky shared between Alvin, Bucky and Walter.It is rumoured that there are still bottles in circulation between AA members.”
The Silver Wedding Gift
“This sliver box was made by Chris Fawcett and Simada Kumiko as a wedding present in July 1976 for John Clark and Kojima Kazuko, as a legal witness for which Shimada Rumiko served.
“It was presented to the Fawcett Archive of the Architectural Association in the hope that it presents something of Chris Fawcett’s plastic imagination, something those who met him recall vividly.” - John and Kazuko Clark, 20 December 1986. It contains: a pair of silver chopsticks, a silver lighter, a silver box of matches, a silver sphere, a silver film container, silver painted pennies, another smaller silver box, a silver painted booklet on Barry Lyndon from Japan and a miniature silver Christmas tree wrapped in silver fabric.”
Pantomime Lantern Slide
“From the original slide collection of the AA, depicting two male students in full costume during a pantomime performance bringing the AA logo to life: two human figures are wrapped around the two capital A’s, holding a trowel and a drawing respectively while together supporting a lit torch, surrounded by the motto: Designed with Beauty, Built in Truth. It is approximately dated around 1930 when AA students were working on elaborate pantomime sketches that entailed the composition of original music and lyrics, the construction of design sets and the design and manufacturing of costumes and wigs.”
Compass Set
“Donated to the AA Archives from the offspring of an AA alumnus with the demand to keep these blizzard items of torture locked away. Ruling pens, Drawing Compasses, Protractors, Callipers and Vernier Scales.”
Carnival Book
“The AA Carnival from the year 1978 is surely the most illustrious example of the radical nature of AA life at the time. Two students, Phil Hudson and Ray Oxley dismissed their primary studio work and dedicated an entire school year to organising The Carnival. The theme of the Carnival was “Circus” and it transformed three of the school’s buildings into a maze of performances, unexpected happenings and spectacles - from Alvin Boyarski (School Chairman) riding an elephant over trumpet orchestras and rock bands, clowns and strippers (both male and female) to a high dive by Roy Franson which was forcefully prevented by the Police. In spite of being an incredible success with more than a thousand visitors, the Carnival was closed down around half three in the morning as a result of custard pie chaos leaving the floors and walls of the school, as well as the participants of the event, covered in custard. A truly glorious moment, but not enough to pass the year, as both students failed and were asked to repeat their second year.”
Dalia’s Models
“The AA constantly pushes at the boundaries of what architecture is beyond our present material limits. These models by diploma honours graduate Dalia Matsuura Frontini imagine a future where buildings can be painted in the 4th dimension - using carbon fibre filaments to design thin yet extremely stable structures to resist earthquakes and stabilise buildings.”
The Silver Whale Detail
“The Georgian buildings we inhabit are filled with traces of activity, use and change. An example can be seen when walking the diploma corridor where a railing sits in the middle of the corridor as a trace of a staircase that was once there. This image is taken from a collection of photographs of strange AA details by photographer Sue Barr - a whale sticker swimming from wall to ceiling across historic moulding.”
The AA Archives
The Architectural Association Archives, located at the rear of no. 32 Bedford Square, consist of in excess of 10,000 architectural drawings, student projects, paintings and works on paper, together with over 800 cubic feet of textual documents. Access to archival material is available to AA Subscribing Members by contacting archives@aaschool.ac.uk
Object Histories, an alternative AA History is featured in AA Sporadical, the digital newsletter for alumni of the Architectural Association. To opt in, email events@aaschool.ac.uk.