The Architectural Association in the Postwar Years

In the period following the Second World War, the Architectural Association (AA) became the only British school of architecture of truly global renown. It was one of only two schools in the world which fully embraced and promoted the pedagogical ideals put forward by CIAM (Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne), and emerged as an admired example for architectural education in other countries. Many of the most famous British architects and critics of the past 60 years attended the AA. This book traces the history of the school from the end of the war until the mid-1960''s, when it surrendered its position as the pacemaker in British architectural education in order to safeguard its institutional independence. Alvin Boyarsky, who became chairman in 1971, remodeled the AA as a postmodern, "internationalist" school and detached it from its modernist, British origins. Thus, there has been no research into the AA’s postwar history, which remains dominated by myths and half-truths. The book replaces these myths with an in-depth account of what really happened.