Book Description

This book is the first to document the remarkable history of the International Institute of Design (IID), an independent school of architecture founded and directed by Alvin Boyarsky from 1970 to 1972, and highlights a pivotal episode in Boyarsky's career, who is best known for his subsequent role as chairman of the Architectural Association (1971-90). Launched in the wake of the institutional upheavals that had swept schools of architecture during the late 1960s, the IID critically introduced an alternative model of architectural education: one that culled an international assortment of teaching methods, design strategies, theories and projects. The IID's main preoccupation was the organisation of three Summer Sessions, during which students and participants from over 40 different countries gathered in London to take part in a dense programme of specialised workshops, seminars and lectures. Topics ranged from cybernetics to vernacular housing traditions in Africa, from the legacy of Le Corbusier to the work of the Italian Radicals.