First Works architecture exhibition, AA Gallery
![The Retreat, Pill Creek, Cornwall, UK, 1963 by Team](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/LayxTLJ9D9GCtYcVkT7JAG-415-80.jpg)
Hadid, Piano, Rogers, Foster and many of the fellow-60s and 70s generation of architects may today pride themselves to be among the world’s most celebrated, respected mega-practices; but rewind 4 decades back and all today’s starchitects were just taking their first baby steps into the architectural realm, marking an age of imaginative experimentation, innovation and visionary design.
First Works: Emerging Architectural Experimentation of the 1960s & 1970s, the new show at the Architectural Association’s gallery, sets off to remind us of the beginnings of those visionaries’ architectural careers. Archigram, Archizoom, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Peter Eisenman, Norman Foster + Richard Rogers, Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, Steven Holl, Toyo Ito, Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, Rafael Moneo, Morphosis, Renzo Piano, Cedric Price, Aldo Rossi, Alvaro Siza, Bernard Tschumi, Robert Venturi and Paul Virilio + Claude Parent are the twenty practices represented through a selection of their first sketches and early-day projects; a beautiful and inspirational mix of drawings and architectural photographs.
Published by the AA and edited by Brett Steele and Francisco Gonzalez de Canales, a thought-provoking publication accompanying the show provides further insight into the then-young practice’s work. It includes, not only their work in 20 separate sections but also the commentaries of an equal number of invited critics, who each introduce one of them and place them in their historical context.
Taking us through the two decades, year-by-year, First Works examines the early days of an influential and confident generation of architects, allowing us to look back to the point when it all began for some of today’s leading international architects.
London Zoo Aviary, London, UK, 1961-65 by Cedric Price
Blue House, Oberwil, Switzerland, 1979-80, by Herzog & de Meuron
Exodus or the Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture, London, UK, 1972 by Rem Koolhaas & Elia Zenghelis with Madelon Vriesendorp & Zoe Zenghelis
Taoiseach’s Residence, Dublin, Ireland, 1979 by Zaha Hadid
Diestre Transformer Factory, Zaragoza, Spain, 1964-67 by Rafael Moneo
Villa Rosa Prototype, Vienna, Austria, 1967-68 by Coop Himmelb(l)au: Wolf Prix, Helmut Swiczinsky, Rainer Maria Holzer
ADDRESS
AA Gallery & front Members Room
36-37 Bedford Sq
London WC1B 3ES
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published