The letter in full

Dear David

We write on behalf of the architectural community, in the UK and internationally, to urge you to reverse the redundancy plans announced by the AA affecting the publications and exhibitions departments.

We cannot believe that this decision could have been taken had the management of the school, and the members of Council, been aware of the vital role that these activities play, not just in the culture of architecture in the UK and globally, but specifically in the reputation and viability of the school.

The publications and exhibitions activities of the AA are an essential part of what makes the AA such a lively and attractive place in which to study, while the quality and success of AA Files under its present editorship has been a major contributor to the AA’s worldwide reputation as a centre of intellectual exchange. Without those features, there can be no doubt that the appeal of the school to prospective students would be substantially diminished.

Students from across the globe flock to the AA as a place of study because it stands at the cutting edge of debate and discourse in contemporary architecture: and in this its publication and exhibition activities are crucial.

The notion that by ‘lopping off’ these activities the future of the school would be protected is thus fundamentally misconceived. On the contrary: without them it is hard to see how, in the competitive international marketplace of architectural education, the school could survive.

We call on you therefore, as president, to reverse this proposal before irremediable damage is inflicted on the association and the school.

Yours

Tony Fretton, principal, Tony Fretton Architects

Edward Jones, partner, Dixon Jones Architects

Kate Macintosh, formerly architect with London Borough of Southwark

On behalf of:

UK

Pier Vittorio Aureli, Diploma Unit Master, Lecturer and Director PhD by Design, Architectural Association

Tim Benton, professor of art history (emeritus), The Open University

Adam Caruso, partner, Caruso St John; professor of architecture and construction, ETH Zurich

Nigel Coates, Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the Royal College of Art

Mark Crinson, Professor of Architectural History, Birkbeck College, and Vice-President of the European Architectural History Network (EAHN)

Edward Cullinan, founder, Cullinan Studios (RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2008)

Pierre d’Avoine, principal, Pierre d’Avoine Architects

Jeremy Dixon, principal, Dixon Jones

William Firebrace, formerly unit master, Architectural Association, and professor of architecture, Academy of Fine Arts, Stuttgart

Adrian Forty, emeritus professor of architectural history, University College London

Tony Fretton, principal, Tony Fretton Architects

Kate Goodwin, head of architecture and Drue Heinz Curator, Royal Academy of Arts, London

Niall Hobhouse, Drawing Matter Trust

George L Legendre, IJP Architects

Edward Jones, principal, Dixon Jones

Kate Macintosh, formerly architect with London Borough of Southwark

John Miller, founder, John Miller & Partners

Robin Nicholson, Senior Partner, Cullinan Studio

Simon Pepper, emeritus professor of architecture, University of Liverpool

Richard Rogers, founder, Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners (RIBA Royal Gold Medal 1985)

Su Rogers, formerly principal, John Miller & Partners

Andrew Saint, formerly professor of architecture, University of Cambridge

Fred Scott, visiting professor, Royal College of Art

Jonathan Sergison, principal, Sergison Bates; professor, Accademia di Mendrisio (Switzerland)

Alan Stanton, principal, Stanton Williams

Mark Swenarton, emeritus professor of architecture, University of Liverpool

Léa-Catherine Szacka, Lecturer in Architectural Studies, School of Architecture, University of Manchester.

Ellis Woodman, Director, The Architecture Foundation

Europe

François Charbonnet, founding partner, MADE IN (Geneva)

Alessandra Cianchetta, principal, AWP (Paris/London)

Carlotta Darò, Lecturer, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture Paris Malaquais

Salomon Frausto, Director of Studies, The Berlage Center for Advance Studies in Architecture and Urban Design, Delft University of Technology

Hilde Heynen, Professor of Architectural Theory, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, and President of the European Architectural History Network (EAHN)

Francesca Hughes, Visiting Professor, KU Leuven, Brussels

Rem Koolhaas, Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Rotterdam

Luca Merlini, Professor of Architecture, Ecole nationale supérieure d’architecture de Paris-Malaquais; principal, Merlini-Rivier Architects (Lausanne)

Joaquim Moreno, assistant professor, Autonomous University of Lisbon

Helen Thomas, Senior Research Fellow, ETH Zurich; editor, Drawing Matter, Somerset

Dirk van den Heuvel, Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, TU Delft; Head of the Jaap Bakema Study Centre, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam

Canada

Martin Bressani, Sir William C. Macdonald Chair in Architecture, Professor and Director, School of Architecture, McGill University

François Dallegret, architect and artist

Phyllis Lambert, founder and director emeritus, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal

Alessandra Ponte, Professor of architecture, École d’architecture, Université de Montréal

Inderbir Singh Riar, associate professor of architecture, Carleton University, Ottawa

Georges Teyssot, Professor of Architecture, Laval University, Quebec

Ipek Tureli, Assistant Professor of Architecture & Canada Research Chair, McGill University

USA

Deborah Berke, Dean and Professor, School of Architecture, Yale University

Peter Carl, visiting professor of architecture, Columbia University

Maristella Casciato, Senior Curator, Architecture Special Collections, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles

Jean-Louis Cohen, Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts/New York University

Edward Dimendberg, Professor of Humanities, University of California, Irvine

Cynthia Davidson, Anyone Corporation, New York

Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey professor of architecture, Yale University; principal, Eisenman Architects, New York,

Kenneth Frampton, Ware professor of architecture, Columbia University

Reto Geiser, Gus Wortham Assistant Professor of Architecture, Rice University, Houston

Florian Idenburg, Associate Professor of Practice, Harvard University; founder, SO - IL

Perry Kulper, associate professor of architecture, University of Michigan

Reinhold Martin, Professor of Architecture, Columbia University and Chair, Society of Fellows in the Humanities

Robert Maxwell, Emeritus Professor, Princeton University, and former Dean of the Princeton School of Architecture

Mary McLeod, Professor of Architecture, Columbia University

Robin Middleton, professor emeritus of art history, Columbia University

Eric Mumford, Rebecca and John Voyles Professor of Architecture, Washington University

Daniel Naegele, Associate Professor of Architecture, Iowa State University

Dietrich C Neumann, Professor of the History of Modern Architecture and Director, Urban Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island

Joan Ockman, Distinguished Senior Lecturer, School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Elizabeth O’Donnell, associate dean, Irwin S.Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union

Ilias Papageorgiou, Assistant Adjunct Professor, Columbia University; Principal SO-IL, New York

Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Associate Professor, Yale University

Alan J. Plattus, Professor of Architecture and Urbanism, Yale University

Mark Rakatansky, adjunct associate professor, Columbia University

Jesse Reiser, professor of architectural design, Princeton University; principal, RUR Architecture DPC, New York

Robert Somol, Director and Professor, School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Chicago

Martino Stierli, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Nader Tehrani, Dean, Irwin S.Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union

Marc Treib, professor of architecture emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

Nanako Umemoto, principal, RUR Architecture DPC, New York

Anthony Vidler, Vincent Scully Professor of Architectural History, Yale University; Former Dean and Professor of Architecture, The Cooper Union

Sarah M Whiting, William Ward Watkin Professor and Dean, School of Architecture, Rice University, Houston

Claire Zimmerman, Associate Professor in History of Art, University of Michigan

Japan

Toyo Ito, Toyo Ito & Associates (Pritzker Laureate 2013)

Kengo Kuma, Professor, University of Tokyo; principal, Kengo Kuma and Associates

Yusuke Obuchi, associate professor of architecture, University of Tokyo

Kazuyo Sejima, principal, SANAA (Pritzker Laureate 2010)

Yoshiharu Tsukamoto, Professor, Tokyo Institute of Techonology; co-founder, Atelier Bow-Wow

China

Thomas Daniell, Head of the Department of Architecture, University of Saint Joseph, Macau

Tom Verebes, Provost, Turenscape Academy, Beijing; Programme Head, AAVS Shanghai

Australasia

Andrew Leach, Director of Architectural Theory and History, University of Sydney

Joanna Merwood-Salisbury, Associate Dean, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Victoria University of Wellington

Andrew Wilson, lecturer in architecture, University of Queensland