AA Greece Visiting School is a mobile workshop series which travels and reaches cities outside the country’s capital. It functions as a ‘satellite’ of education that promotes the Architectural Association’s exclusive, intensive form of teaching and learning around the country. AA Greece VS aims on visiting a different city each year and construct a single large-scale model which will act as an active nod of communication among the various locations. In 2014, the School will initiate its design agenda with an architectural approach that is focused on the aspect of connection. The city of Patras which is the starting node of AA Greece VS was chosen by the European Commission to be the European Capital of Culture for the year 2006. The concept of the event revolved around the main theme of "Bridges" and "Dialogues", drawing benefit from the city's rich history and its position as a "Gate to the West", to underline the essence of the productive interaction of culture and civilizations in Europe. The AA Greece Visiting School will investigate how well existing buildings with various sightlines and variant spatial grammars perform according to human perception. In sync with the flexible and adaptive concept of parasitical structures, the research focuses on the making of transformable large-scale creations that accentuate prominent architectural features of existing buildings. The research looks at how cultural factors, personal preferences, experiences, and expectations can lead to the transformation of architectural parasitical structures.
Prominent Features of the workshop/skills developed
- Team-based design: AA Greece Visiting School will carry forward its architectural agenda by introducing design techniques and themes through a team‐based workshop approach. Design teams in different units will be working with algorithmic design tools and digital fabrication methods throughout their research on the agenda.
- Teaching team: The AA Greece VS team consists of recent graduates / current tutors at the AA as well as tutors from Greece and UK. Participants engage in an active learning environment where the large tutor-to-student ratio (5:1) allows for personalized tutorials and debates.
- Facilities: AA Greece VS houses high-level fabrication machinery which allows for the fabrication of large-scale design archetypes. Together with the class and lecture rooms in the Department of Architecture in Patras, AA Greece VS offers CNC digital fabrication facilities.
- Computational skills: The toolset of AA Greece VS includes but is not limited to Processing, Maya, Rhino Scripting, and Grasshopper (GH). Digital form‐finding methods will be combined with form‐making techniques observed in various digital fabrication tools. Each year a series of tutorial sessions will be executed in order to allow students develop their basic skills on controlling parametric models and interactive presentations.
- Theoretical understanding: AA Greece Visiting School’s ambition is to rethink the way by which entire city blocks have been constructed and to link them to a more hyper specific contextualized construction model. Through theoretical sessions and seminars participants acquire a constructive understanding of the up-to-date architectural and urban practice.
- Professional awareness: AA Greece VS fosters awareness of professionalism through a highly-focused collaborative model of learning. Participants of various levels of educations –from 2nd year students to PhD candidates- engage in this design research programme which promotes a cooperative way of working.
- Fabrication: Students will get a hands‐on experience on the diverse range of digital fabrication systems such as CNC printers/routers, and 3D Printers. Following a distinct design programme, each year, AA Greece VS designs and builds a one-to-one scale prototype.
- Lecture series: As the regional capital of Western Greece, in northern Peloponnese, AA Greece VS creates a vivid ambience with its’ lecture series disseminating the diversified expertise in digital design-&-build techniques from fellow academics and professionals from across the globe.
AA Greece Visiting School
Folded Force
Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture
Patras, Greece
Monday 22 September – Wednesday 1 October 2014
Fees
The AA Visiting School requires a fee of £600 per participant, which includes a £60 Visiting Membership. If you are already a member, the total fee will be reduced automatically by £60 by the online payment system. Fees are non-refundable.
Participants need to make their own arrangements for the London-based part of the programme.
Discounts
The AA offers discounts for participants wishing to apply as a group. For more information, please contact: visitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk
Eligibility
The workshop is open to current architecture and design students, PhD candidates and young professionals.
Applications
1) You can make an application by completing the online application found under ‘Links and Downloads’ on the AA Visiting School page. If you are not able to make an online application, email visitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk for instructions to pay by bank transfer.
2) Once you complete the online application and make a full payment, you are registered to the programme. A CV or a portfolio is not required.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2014
All participants travelling from abroad are responsible for securing any visa required, and are advised to contact their home embassy early. After payment of fees, the AA School can provide a letter confirming participation in the workshop.
Online application form can be reached from:
https://www.aaschool.ac.uk/STUDY/ONLINEAPPLICATION/visitingApplication.php?schoolID=273
More information can be reached from:
http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/STUDY/VISITING/greece
http://greece.aaschool.ac.uk/
Contact details:
visitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk
