AA Foundation2013 14

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AA School 201314

Foundation Course

Architectural Association

School of Architecture


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The AA Foundation Course allows students with minimal

experience in the creative elds to explore the possibility

o a uture career in architecture or the arts. A ull-time,

one-year studio-based course, it oers hands-on instruction

in creative design and thinking and gives students the

means to develop skills in a variety o media rom drawing

to digital video, photography to installation. Students learn

how to translate their thoughts into material orm and gain

the condence and experience they need to apply to the

AA undergraduate school or other schools in creative elds

in the UK and abroad.

Students engage in weekly tutorials, discussions and

presentations with our aculty, visiting practitioners and their

peers. The studio provides an intimate learning environment

in which to develop and experiment with new ideas, skills and

techniques. Creative teamwork is encouraged, with intensive

discussion, collaboration and peer assessment playing

an essential part in helping students to develop a sense o

constructive critique in relation to their own and each others

work. Students learn how to assemble a portolio that clearly

represents their individual interests, experiences and

intellectual ambitions, illustrating not only their nal work

but also the creative processes behind it, the investigations

undertaken throughout the year, successes as well as ailures.

The rst two terms o the year provide an introduction

to observation, analysis and representation, ollowed by

a series o three-week-long projects. Each project ocuses

on a specic area o art and design and is complemented

by embedded bespoke workshops that introduce students


School o Architecture

Undergraduate School

The AA Undergraduate School consists o two parts: the

ve-year ARB/RIBA-accredited ull-time course o studies

in architecture leading to the AA Intermediate Examination

(ARB/RIBA Part 1) and AA Final Examination (ARB/RIBA

Part 2) and the awarding o the AA Diploma, and the

one-year ull-time Foundation Course, or young and new

students seeking to explore a uture career in architecture,

the arts, design or other creative elds. Traditionally,

a high percentage o AA Foundation Course students go

on to enter the AAs ve-year course, while others choose

to study or work in other creative elds worldwide.

AA School 201314

Foundation Course


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to various media and skills that will build their condence

and their ability to develop and articulate their work. In this

way the conceptual development o each students work

is supported by the timely acquisition o specic skills

that can immediately be applied and practised in context.

During the nal term, the aculty support each student

individually as they write their own brie and produce a

series o explorations and experiments using all o the skills

and knowledge they have accumulated throughout the year,

and this results in their nal pieces o work.

Knowledge and skills developed in the course encompass

a broad range o interests, including:

Observation

The Foundation course begins

with developing an understand-

ing o how careul observation,

analysis and representation is

essential or students to contex-

tualise and articulate their work.

Technical Drawing

Learn to appreciate the language

o orthogonal drawing: plans,

sections, elevations, perspectives

and axonometrics. Dierent

drawings operate at dierent

scales: ci ties (1:2500), neighbour-

hoods (1:500), buildings (1:100

and 1:50), rooms (1:20) and

amiliar hand-held objects (1:1).

All o these scales will be ex-

plored during weekly workshops

that build up an understanding

o drawn architectural language.

Painting

Learn about colour theory and

how to use dierent types o

paint to achieve a desired result.

Modelmaking

Explore three-dimensional

orm by casting and remoulding

objects in dierent materials

or by using fat sheets o card

and cutting, olding, scoring

and slotting.

Photography

Learn how to use aperture,

ocus, composition and lighting

to document work and create

narrative eects. Use these

techniques to record your

explorations and record nal

pieces or exhibition.

Critique

Develop a sense o quality

through critique and critical

thinking to understand how

to improve work. Students will

be encouraged to take risks

and enjoy the design process

rather than aiming towards sae

and predictable outcomes.

History and Theory

Understand historical context

with reerence to an intellectual

lineage o ideas and how theyinorm contemporary practice.

Portfolio Development

Learn how to build a portolio

that illustrates the analysis,

experimentation and develop-

ment o work throughout the

year. Structure the narrative

o your experiences and design

projects in order to develop

a visual and verbal condence

or uture discussions and

interviews.

Life Drawing

Examine and draw rom naked

gures by looking at proportion,

weight, skeletal structure, muscle,

joints and fesh. Explore the

movement and dynamics o the

human body.

Pattern Cutting

Deconstruct a garment to

see how it has been created.

Learn about the materiality,

structure and weight o abric

and how it can be used to

clothe the human orm.

Millinery

Learn about creating extraordi-

nary structures or the head:

stitch and pleat, use plastics and

wire and steam and stretch elt.

Filmmaking/Editing

Learn how to structure a narra-

tive through storyboarding, use

a camera, edit and apply sound

tracks to create short lms.

Design and Construction

Learn about the materialityo timber, its grain and season-

ing, and how to joint dierent

components to create tensile

and compressed structures.

Design and abricate projects

that accommodate the human

orm with respect to mass,

weight and unction.

Exhibition

Learn how to curate, design and

construct an exhibition. Survey

a space, rame and mount two-

dimensional work, build carcass-

es to house three-dimensional

work and screens or lmic

projections.

Printmaking

Learn about the rich graphic

history o printmaking, mono-

prints, linocuts and lithographs

and develop skills to articulate

and reproduce images and text.


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Foundation Course Director

Saskia Lewis has taught at the

AA since 2001. She has practised

in New York, Paris and London

and has taught at many London

schools o art and architecture.

She is co-author and photographer

oArchitectural Voices: Listening

to Old Buildings(Wiley, 2007).

[email protected]

Foundation Studio Master

Takako Hasegawawas born inTokyo, educated at the AA and works

on the periphery o architecture, art

and perormance. She also teaches

at Chelsea College o Art and Design.

Foundation Studio Tutors

Umberto Bellardi Ricci has a

degree in Social Anthropology and

a Masters in International Politics

rom the School o Oriental and

Arican Studies. He received his

Diploma rom the AA in 2011, and

has worked at London architectural

practices such as Ron Arad Associ-

ates, Boyarsky Murphy and Stanton

Williams Architects.

Taneli Mansikkamki worked

in the elds o music, media art

and new media beore relocating

rom Helsinki to London. He

graduated rom the AA and ater

working or Future Systems,

Amanda Levete Architects and

Cecil Balmond, amongst others,

he is currently directing the studio

Mansikkamki+JOY.

Sta Foundation Course Work

Zsuzsa Peter walking through my hometown

with a seven-metre-long hemp wig or shelter


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Clockwise rom top: Beatrice Melli, Looking

Forwards and Backwards speeding through

time; Berkin Islam, A Conversation between

Nature and Culture reorming the domestic

stair with reerence to clambering over unstable

rocks in the orest, making treads into pivoting

plates; Liam Denhamer, Finding Time map-

ping movement through Whitechapel

Foundation Course WorkFoundation Course Work

Clockwise rom top let: Alexandra Shatalova,

Mirror Box distorting and refecting light;

Hye-Rim Lee two gures moving through the

orest in a garment that connects them: creating

a tactile, possibly obstructive relationship;

Ema Kacar a sel-portrait depicting the ear o

the unknown, the ragility o an individual and

the strength o overcoming ones ears; Andrew

Yuen pages rom my sketchbook: looking or

treasure in the markets o west London


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Clockwise rom top let: Alessandro Magliani

discovering unexpected aspects o your

personality combining moving image and

animation; Alessandro Magliani tracing body

movement, a garment made with LED lights and

lmed in the dark; Vasilisa Lucic paper model

spontaneously made with dierent techniques

o shaping and connecting paper without using

any glue; Alexandra Shatalova wrapped up

in negative space discovered while making

a survey o my body

Foundation Course Work Foundation Projects Review


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Application Procedures

Anyone interested in applying

to the AA must complete an

online undergraduate application

orm. The AA is not part o UCAS.

The initial deadline or applica-

tions and portolio submissions

is 18 January 2013 and late

applications and portolio sub-

mission will be accepted up to

15 March 2013. Applications made

ater this date may be accepted

at the discretion o the school.

Interviews take place between

February and June. Prospectivestudents are encouraged to

visit the AA, and visits can be

arranged during weekdays in term

time by contacting the Under-

graduate Admissions Coordinator

Saira Haq on +44 (0)20 7887 4094

or undergraduateadmissions@

aaschool.ac.uk

Entry Requirements

The AA Foundation Course is

recognised by the RIBA as the

equivalent o an Art A level. The

minimum entry requirements or

students entering the Foundation

Course is one A level pass

(grade C or above) in a non art/design subject, accompanied

with 5 GCSEs (grade C or above)

including maths, science and

English. Students must have

two A level passes i they wish

to continue onto First Year.

Foundations in art and design

must be accompanied by one

A level (or equivalent) in a non

art/design subject. Overseas

applicants are required to have

the recognised equivalent to the

above examinations, such as the

International Baccalaureate,

Abitur, etc, plus the required

English Language qualication

(such as IELTS, or example).

Please see the AA website

or urther details. Applicants

without conventional entry

qualications are also consid-

ered, provided they are able

to oer acceptable alternatives.

Portfolios for Initial Submission

All applicants are expected to

submit a bound sample portolio

o art/design work (no largerthan A3, and between 10 and

30 pages). Applications and

portolios will be assessed by an

admissions panel and applicants

will be inormed i they are

invited to an interview at the AA

at which a ull portolio can be

presented. In your application

please include a selection o

highlights that will show the

admissions panel an overview

o your work and the processes

behind it, including sketches or

development drawings/models

in addition to nal images.

Sample portolios will

only be returned i requestedand a 50 postage ee is paid

in advance, or i the portolio is

picked up in person rom the AA

on a date prearranged with the

Undergraduate Admissions

Coordinator.

Foundation Course Studio Lie


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Portfolios for AA Interviews

The AA is looking or students

with a creative imagination and

plenty o motivation. Sketches,

models, photographs, paintings,

sketchbooks and essays all

help to build up a picture o your

particular interests and skills.

It is important to read the

AA Prospectus, which will give

you an idea o the wide range

o work carried out in the school.

There is no single way o prepar-

ing a portolio. Many applicants

will have artwork rom school,but the AA is interested in any

kind o project that is sel-moti-

vated and it is best not to bring

a portolio based solely on school

artwork. Portolios should include

some recent work; models or

sculptures can be photographed

and live perormances recorded

in a variety o ways.

It is important that any drawings

should be rom lie, or drawn

on site. The interview panel likes

to see original images wherever

possible, but understands i

reproductions have to be shown

due to size or weight constraints.

It is better to bring morework rather than less so that

you have a range o examples

to demonstrate your skills.

However, please take into ac-

count how much you can carry,

and the nite amount o time

available or the interview, which

means you will not be able to

show every piece o work.

Every portolio we see will

be dierent. The purpose o the

interview is to try and assess

each students potential and

ability to benet rom the course.

We will let you know within

a very short time whether we

are able to oer you a place.

Portolios brought to an inter-

view can be taken away directly

ater the interview.

Interview Procedure

The interview is a two-way

process. The panel is interested

to see what skills and interests

the applicant has, so it is impor-

tant to spend time preparing a

portolio. The applicant, in turn,has the opportunity to ask ques-

tions about the school and have

a look at its working spaces

and acilities.

Fees

Fees or 2012/13 academic year

Foundation: 16,077*

*Fees are subject to review annually

Fees are payable in advance

or on an annual or termly basis.

A three per cent discount is

deducted i a ull years ees are

paid by 21 July 2013. Upon return

o a completed signed admission

orm and specied deposit toreserve a place at the AA an

ocial conrmation o accept-

ance can be issued. This conr-

mation, together with other

documentation, can be used by

overseas students to apply or

a visa to study in the UK. Please

reer to the UK Border Agency

website or urther inormation:

www.ukba.homeoce.gov.uk

AA School Facilities

Facilities available to AA regis-

tered students include: digital

prototyping lab, computer studio,

workshops, audiovisual depart-

ment, photo library, library,

drawing materials shop, bar and

restaurant. Hooke Park, a 350-

acre woodland site in Dorset, is

used by AA students to explore

techniques ranging rom model-

making to object abrication and

prototyping. Further inormation

on all these acilities can be

ound on the AA website.

Accommodation

Most AA students live in shared

fats or houses. It is particularly

helpul or overseas students

coming to London or the rst

time to live with other English-

speaking students who are

amiliar with the city. The AA

does not have halls o residence,

but it does oer an accommoda-

tion service or three weeks

beore the beginning o the

academic year to provide inor-

mation to help students nd

housing. It can take up to

our weeks to nd somethingsatisactory.

Introduction Week

The academic year starts on

16 September and nishes in

June. It is divided into three

terms, with a break at Christmas

and Easter between terms. New

students are invited to an Intro-

duction Week ahead o week one,

when events are arranged to

welcome and introduce them

to the school and London.

Prospectus

The AA Prospectus contains

more inormation about the

school and its programmes.

A copy o the current Prospectus,

together with an application

orm, is available online or on

request rom:

Saira Haq

Undergraduate Admissions

Coordinator

Admissions Oce


School o Architecture36 Bedord Square

London WC1B 3ES

UK

T +44 (0)20 7887 4094 / 4051

undergraduateadmissions

@aaschool.ac.uk


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Useul Links


www.aaschool.ac.uk

AA Log

www.aalog.net

Prospectus

www.aaschool.ac.uk/prospectus

Projects Review

http://pr2012.aaschool.ac.uk

Weekly Events List

www.aaschool.ac.uk/events

Visiting School

www.aaschool.ac.uk/visitingschool

Microsites

www.aaschool.ac.uk/microsites

AA Bookshop

www.aabookshop.net

Lecture videos

www.aaschool.ac.uk/videoarchive

Twitter

www.twitter.com/AA_EventsList

Explore and prepare or a uture career in architecture,

design, art or other creative elds in an intensive,

year-long studio-based course taught by architects

and artists

Architectural Association,

36 Bedord Square, London WC1B 3EST +44 (0)20 7887 4000 F +44 (0)20 7414 0782.

Produced by AA Print Studio.

Printed in England by Aquatint BSC

Bloomsbury Festival, Projects Review

and studio lie photos by Sue Barr and

Valerie Bennett

Architectural Association (Inc), Registered

charity No 311083. Company limited by

guarantee. Registered in England No 171402.

Registered oce as above. AA Members

wishing to request a large-print version o

specic printed items can do so by contacting

AA Reception +44 (0)20 7887 4000 /

[email protected] or by accessing

the AA website at www.aaschool.ac.uk


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To apply visit

www.aaschool.ac.uk

Explore and prepare or a uture career in architecture,

design, art or other creative elds in an intensive,

year-long studio-based course taught by architects

and artists

AA Foundation2013 14

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