Architecture Association School from London, in partnership with YARAT Contemporary Art Space, will hold a visiting workshop in Azerbaijan.

YARAT Contemporary Art Space is delighted to inform you that one of the world’s most prominent schools of architecture will hold one of their famous visiting schools in Baku (Azerbaijan) in the period from 25th August to 4th September 2015. AA Baku School is a great opportunity for talented people to learn, demonstrate their innovative ideas and engage with international experience through experienced tutors and peers from other countries who will join AA Baku School during this time.

Affiliated with London's prestigious Architecture Association in London, AA Baku School will be the first of its kind in the Caucasus region, designed as a visiting school and part of a global network that links schools across Asia and Europe. AA Baku School will be led by AA tutors and architects Omid Kamvari and Kasper Ax who will be exploring Baku's varied past and position at the crossroads between the East and West, and the ways in which the country has experienced many social, cultural and political changes. Participants will be invited to participate in a rigorous workshop that explores the future of Azerbaijan in relation to its unique position and relationship with its neighbours.

The school is open to students of seventeen and above, established and emerging architects, artists, scientists, engineers, curators and writers interested in spatial ideas pertaining to Baku and its burgeoning future within both a local and global context. Materials will be provided, but housing is not included. The workshop will be delivered in English.

The workshop will be split into distinct parts, which include special site visits, model making as well as debate and discussion on various material systems and spatial networks. At the end of the workshop students will present their works to the public, opening up a wider discussion into ideas about space.

Interested participants should fill in the form available to download at www.yarat.az and separately attach a CV and a one-page letter expressing and explaining interest in attending. Places are limited and only successful applicants will be notified. Please send your application package to info@yarat.az or sayara.h@yarat.az. The participation cost of students from Azerbaijan will be covered by YARAT Contemporary Art Space.

The final deadline for submission is 15th August.

About AA School:

The AA Visiting School programme is a growing collaborative and global platform that exports the highly international AA pedagogical approach across the world. Further information can be obtained here.

About AA Baku School Tutors:

• Omid Kamvari, BA(Hons), AADipl, AAMsc, PgDip, ARB, RIBA (course director), completed his architectural degree at the University of Greenwich before moving to the Architectural Association to complete his Diploma and Master’s degree. On completing his Master’s as part of the Emergent Technologies and Design course, he started work at Foster & Partners. During this time he worked on numerous projects, which include a retail park in Bratislava, a mixed use development in Italy, commercial offices in Morocco and hotel developments in Italy and Libya.
• Kasper Ax is a Danish architect, designer and researcher based in London. He earned his Master’s degree from The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, in London after having completed his Bachelor’s degree in architectural design at the AAA School of Architecture, Denmark. Ax is currently an Associate Architect at the Brussels/London based practice LASSA Architects, focussing on various international commissions and competitions ranging in scale from furniture to urban planning. Prior to joining LASSA, Kasper worked in other high profile architectural practices such as Asymptote (New York), Marcosand Marjan Ltd. (London) and MAPT (Copenhagen).

About YARAT Contemporary Art Space

YARAT is a non-profit art organisation based in Baku, Azerbaijan. Founded by Aida Mahmudova and a group of artists in 2011, YARAT is dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally.

YARAT (which means ‘create’ in Azerbaijani) has commissioned over 145 projects to date, the majority of which have been in Baku, Azerbaijan. Education is at the heart of YARAT’s work: they hold artist residencies, workshops, lectures and screenings. In 2014 they launched a summer school and a new building housing artists’ studios and spaces to support their residency programme. In 2015 they launched YARAT Contemporary Art Centre in Baku – their first permanent exhibition space. YARAT’s program ARTIM (meaning ‘progress’ in Azerbaijani) supports young practitioners in the arts providing opportunities to curate and feature their work in exhibitions.