AA Searching for Director

The announcement of the three candidates comes soon after ten of sixteen staff members in the AA's publications and exhibitions departments left the shool, following months of speculation on redundancies aimed at addressing the school's financial problems. 

Founded in 1847, recent directors of the independent school have included Alvin Boyarsky (1971–1990), Alan Balfour (1991–1995), Mohsen Mostafavi (1995–2004), and Brett Steele (2005-2017), with Samantha Hardingham serving as interim director.

The AA's search is being documented on the AA Search Committee website, which includes bios on the three candidates (copy-pasted below) and a timeline for the search. The three candidates will be touring the AA and meeting students next week. The AA will vote on its new director the following week and make an announcement in March.

Candidate bios from AA Search Committee website:

Pippo Ciorra – Senior Curator of MAXXI Architettura in Rome, an architect, critic and professor. He currently teaches design and theory at SAAD (University of Camerino) and is the director of the international PhD program ‘Villard d’Honnecourt’ (IUAV). In 2016 he co-curated the exhibition The Japanese House: Architecture and Life After 1945, which was exhibited at MAXXI, the Barbican in London and the MOMAT museum in Tokyo. His major exhibitions on contemporary architecture include Re-cycle, Energy, Erasmus Effect, Food.

Eva Franch i Gilabert – Architect, curator, educator and lecturer. Since 2010, Franch has been the Chief Curator and Executive Director of Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York. In 2014, Franch, with the project OfficeUS, an experimental office for the production of history, ideas and work, was selected by the US State Department to represent the United States at the XIV Venice Architecture Biennale. Franch is currently a professor at The Cooper Union School of Architecture.

Robert Mull – Professor of Architecture and Design and Head of School at the University of Brighton. He is also the Director of Innovation at London-based urban design practice Publica. In 2000 he became head of the then UNL School of Architecture and in 2010 led the bringing together of two faculties to form The Cass (Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design) at London Metropolitan University. Robert is a trustee of the Architecture Foundation and of the London School of Architecture.