AA Prize for Unbuilt Work revisited
Architecture is a cyclical industry. So too, it seems, is the AA Prize for Unbuilt Work. These things are not unrelated – there is a long-established pattern of speculative work and architectural polemic flourishing in tough economic times. And here we find ourselves, yet again.
When Katelin Butler invited me to write a reflection on the AA Prize on the occasion of its third iteration, I went back and reread the articles and jury statements I had written during the second version. (The prize was first awarded in the years 1993 to 1998 and was revived between 2008 and 2012.) And there, in words I had since forgotten, were many of the things I was anticipating saying this time – already thought, already written. Then, as now, I started by thinking about the rich history of speculative work, and
