The AA

The Architectural Association is the UK’s oldest and only private school of architecture, and has for decades been recognized as an influential world-wide leader in architectural education. AA School graduates are the recipients of numerous prizes including Pritzker Prizes, RIBA Gold Medal & Stirling Awards, AIA and other design awards. The AA School is the world’s most international school of architecture, with full-time students joining the AA from more than fifty home countries each year. The AA Public Programme each year organizes one of the world’s largest public programmes dedicated to contemporary architectural culture, presented at the AA and other venues and including dozens of visiting architects, artists, exhibitions, symposia and other events open to a public audience as well as 3,000 AA members world-wide.

AA Visiting School Jordan

The Jordan Visiting School, is a summer programme which operates beyond the traditional context of the AA at Bedford Square in London. It is an intensive, thought-provoking workshop which investigates natural and ecological phenomena which are found in Jordan and across the Middle East region. The design-research investigations of the programme aim to rethink the existing architectural practices in the region, and how architecture is conceived in ecologically sensitive areas. The programme focuses on computational design methodologies and how they can relate to the abstraction and generation of natural phenomenon and morphologies.

The programme is directed by Kais Al-Rawi, and every year includes a number of distinguished faculty and guests who are internationally recognized in practice and academia. The programme focuses on a different and diverse location every year, building up on the previous year' work.

Extraterrestrial Interventions - 2017

July 1 - 10, 2017

Amman, and Wadi Rum

Hyperbolic Reefs - 2016

July 16 - 25, 2016

Amman, and Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

At Jordan’s southern-most tip, the Gulf of Aqaba encapsulates a vast biodiversity of marine life including coral reefs and benthic organisms and habitats; many of which are endemic to the area.

As part of our programme agenda on ‘Natural Extremities’ we continue to build-up on design-research into unique ecological phenomena in the region. In July 2016, the focus will be on distinct marine topologies and morphologies found in the Gulf of Aqaba; and their transfiguration into outcomes within architecture and design with a particular focus on computational design methods. 

The ten-day programme will bring together a network of distinguished international faculty and guests to offer design-research units, specialist software tutorials and a guest-lecture series; the programme will be primarily based in Amman, and will include an exclusive visit to Aqaba were participants will study and document various marine habitats via snorkeling, photography and 3D-scanning.

The Wadi Rum Desert, located at the southern edge of Jordan encapsulates the utmost outstanding resemblance of an ecology on Earth to Planet Mars.

Throughout the design-research workshop, participants will investigate design concepts for potential interventions within the Martian landscape, speculating on design that derives from research into the natural ecology of Mars; further aided by a research visit to Wadi Rum – to serve as a proving ground. The programme will focus on utilizing algorithmic and computational design methods, unveiling novel potentials in design at an array of different scales from the material, architectural to the urban.

The ten-day programme will bring together a network of distinguished international faculty and guests to offer design-research units, specialist software tutorials and a guest-lecture series; the programme will be primarily based in Amman, and will include an exclusive visit to the UNESCO protected world-heritage site of the Wadi Rum desert.

Partners & Sponsors

AA Visiting School Jordan is proudly partnered and supported by:

For sponsorship and partnership opportunities, contact us at jordan@aaschool.ac.uk

Eroded Morphologies - 2014

June 14 - 24, 2014

Amman, Petra, Wadi Rum

Crystalline Formations - 2015

July 23 - August 2, 2015

Amman, Dead Sea, Jordan Valley

The Dead Sea is a hyper-saline lake which exists at 427 metres below sea level and features a one-of-a-kind extreme ecological condition. It is the lowest point on earth and exhibits a diverse platform for research into the Ecomorphology of crystalline formations.

In 2015, the AA in Jordan continues in its third-cycle to build up on research into naturally occurring phenomena in the region, and how these phenomena can inform design methodologies which re-think existing practices. The programme will focus on crystalline formations and their potential development at a variety of architectural and urban scales through the use of cutting-edge computational design technology.

The programme will bring together a network of distinguished faculty and guests to offer design-research units, specialist tooling seminars and a guest-lecture series; which are based in Amman with exclusive visits to the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea.

The Jordanian desert ecology is a distinct unaltered antiquity, a magnificent heterogeneous landscape that is emergent of fluid erosion processes which have occurred over fifty million years. The biodiversity of the desert reveals a vast platform for research into natural artifacts. Participants will investigate natural phenomena which include sand dunes, rock strata, rock bridges, canyon, gorge and mountain formations. During the course of the workshop, participants will visit, examine and inhabit two UNESCO world heritage sites: Wadi Rum and Petra; the later named as one of the worlds seven wonders.

Throughout the design-research workshop, participants will investigate the morphology of the desert and its underlying principles and processes within a computational context; working towards the development of algorithmically generated topologies. Participants will choose from a number of studios/units, to design interventions at different scales from the material, architectural to the urban. The ambition is to reconsider traditional design methodologies which are often limited to morphological abstraction; overlooking the inherent potentials within natural systems. The workshop will conclude with a public exhibition of participants outcomes.

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