Virgil Abloh, beloved friend and collaborator of the AA, has passed away at age 41 after battling a rare form of cancer. His brilliant creativity and generosity will be sorely missed by all those he touched within the AA community.

Oana Stanescu, former Diploma 15 Tutor, provided this tribute:

‘I am afraid of putting things down both because it petrifies something I am still in denial of, but mostly because I fear missing something out and not doing Virgil justice. I have known Virgil over the years as a collaborator, working together on too many design projects to count and as an educator, instigating talks, studios and seminars at Harvard GSD, MIT and the Architectural Association in London, but most importantly as a true friend.

Not only brilliant, but also an incredibly kind, generous, open and endlessly curious mind, he shared his lust for life freely, inspiring across generations. No other single voice was able to connect with youth in the past troublesome decade the way Virgil did, and he did so naturally, because he was youth incarnate. We will continue to live in a world that he shaped and while the world is certainly lesser without him, we were lucky to have had him in the first place. May he rest in peace.’

Aleksandar Stankovic, Diploma 15 alumnus, commented:

‘Virgil was armed with limitless curiosity and genuine fascination with all things design. His energy was friendly and uplifting and his creative drive was infectious.’