The AA is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dennis Crompton, an architect, lecturer and writer, and a member of Archigram. The following tribute has been written by Joel Newman, AA Head of Academic Resources:
The last time I spoke to Dennis was in the AA’s Lecture Hall in 2018, just before a reworking of the Archigram Opera. The event coincided with the launch of Archigram: The Book and a public lecture. In many ways, he was exactly as I remembered him from when we first met nearly 25 years earlier.
We both knew what needed to be discussed – how this technically complex live event was going to run: its logistics, its rider and so on. But on that occasion, the serious multimedia technicalities took a backseat. Instead, Dennis paused to reflect. How was the school doing? What was going on? How was so-and-so? Was she still working here? Did I ever hear from X? With a cheeky harrumph and a bit of laughter, we realised that I had now worked at the AA longer than he had. Later, I got the sense that, perhaps, he missed a little of the AA – and maybe some of the people.
When I joined the AA in 1994, I had very little knowledge of the place. It was packed with names, agendas, histories and movements – some vaguely familiar but most entirely alien. Dennis quickly stood out as an authoritative and revered figure at the school. He inhabited the Print (now Communications) Studio but would occasionally emerge to teach a graphic design course for Media Studies. Our paths crossed there, and I gained insight into his thoughtful and meticulous approach to teaching. Later, his professionalism was displayed in a different context. During the AA’s search for a new Director, Dennis chaired School Community Meetings, carefully guiding the community through matters of constitution and procedure with clarity and precision.
After that time, Dennis’s active involvement at the AA seemed to gradually wind down, but I was only beginning to understand the enormous influence he had wielded in earlier years – especially in the world I’d been parachuted into. He had fundamentally shaped the school’s approach to producing and deploying media. The vast array of printed materials he continued to oversee: the prospectus, AA publications, the events list, Projects Review catalogues, posters and more; was just one strand of his work.
Dennis had, in fact, laid a forward-looking blueprint for how audio-visual and emerging media technologies could not only represent architectural thought but also generate experimental forms of space. This was at a time when the internet, digital workflows and virtual reality were still on the horizon. These worlds, which Dennis foresaw, are only now being fully explored as technology finally catches up with theory.
Perhaps most significant was Dennis’s leadership within the AA’s Communication Unit, where he developed a school-wide communication infrastructure that brought to life many ideas espoused by early media theorists and pioneers. The AA began recording architects and practitioners speaking; a routine activity now, but at the time, a radical departure in how architectural thought could be conveyed beyond the written word. He emphasised to students and staff the importance of documentation and the need for archival procedures – including those for time-based media. He demonstrated how information networks could offer an alternative vision of what architecture might be – shifting the focus from static forms to dynamic systems of connection and interaction.
Dennis Crompton: architect, lecturer, writer and Magic Lantern virtuoso. 29 June 1935–20 January 2025.
