Anna has a first degree from the Royal Academy of Architecture in Copenhagen. She spent a year as a exchange student at the AA which as her tutor put it "proved an eye-opener as she became even more enthusiastic than she already was". She herself sees the opportunity of coming back for the 2-year diploma course as contrasting with and thus balancing what she has learnt in Denmark.
From Anna's report:
In
May 2009 I took my final exam for a Diploma in Archtecture at the Architectural
Association (AA) in London. Prior to this lay seven years of studies and
practice. In Denmark I earned a first degree from the Royal Academy of Architecture
in Copenhagen. After this I spent a year as an exchange student at the AA.
During this period I developed a design for a concrete skyscraper which
received an honourable mention at the International Concrete Competition 2006.
A further development of this structure was exhibited at an exhibition in 2007
at Charlottenborg in Copenhagen. During a 9 months internship in the
Netherlands I worked on winning schemes for the Guangzhou TV Tower and TV
Station in China. I then decided to return the AA for a two year diploma course knowing that there I would meet and
learn from some of the very best teachers on a day to day basis.
The
activities of the AA are organised into two distinct, yet interwoven, domains:
the public programmes, which provide a vast array of evening lectures,
exhibitions, publications, conferences and special events that bring together
literally hundreds of the world’s leading architects, designers, scholars,
theorists, artists and others to present their work and the AA School. What
creates an incredible learning environment is the way in which these two
domains mingle and inform each other. To become a student at the AA is
literally to enter into an international hub of unrivalled architectural
discussion, debate and exchange.
During
my early studies in Denmark I experienced a growing interest in developing and
designing "sustainable" buildings and structures. Responding to
pressing economic and political presures sustainable architecture seeks to
minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by enhancing efficiency
and by moderating the use of materials, energy, and development space.
During
my first year of the Diploma course I chose to question the building industry’s
short-sighted view of the balance between quality, longevity, economy and
environmental impact and investigate alternative economic systems. I joined a
unit working on a framework the aim of which was to exploit concepts such as
parametric design, digital fabrication, localised production and mass
customisation. The act of building is possibly our planet’s largest polluting
agent. Innovations in technology, material science, fabrication techniques and
production methods are important if we want to reduce waste, carbon footprints
and our dependency on fossil fuels without resorting to reductive models of
optimisation and performance. In this context I researched a new ecology of
building and looked for original solutions based on industrialised production,
deploying processes and procurement routes provided by NGOs and Open Source
communities.
In
my second year I was part of a unit working on articulating habitable-ground
systems to alleviate the climatic, circulatory and social stagnation that
afflicts many global cities. The goal of these systems is to fuse architecture,
infrastructure, landscape and contemporary art.
Being
able to experience and study in the international and fertile environment of
the AA has had a marked and lasting impact on my education. Specifically I have
been able to set up an analytical work method making me better understand the
future possibilities of developing and designing sustainable architecture. This
method will be relevant to me in my coming practice in Denmark or abroad. My time at the AA has also been of great
assistance in furthering contacts to internationally established architects and
artists that may prove valuable acquaintances in the years to come.
Finally
my horizons have been broadened by friendships amongst students of more than 80
nationalities as well as by study tours to Ghana, Hong Kong and mainland China,
Brazil, and the USA.
