In the 1970s and 1980s theory, concept, research and advanced systems of architectural thought and production were initiated and developed in schools of architecture such as the AA, where, with the advent of the unit system, a very particular and highly influential knowledge formation was introduced. Is it possible now to imagine another system - as effective, as transformative, as radical? Or is it merely a question of the capacity of an individual to take a new direction? Don Bates ran Intermediate Unit 10 at the AA for six years. In 1990 he set up LoPSiA (Laboratory of Primary Studies in Architecture) in France. In 1993 he returned to the AA to help with the introduction of the Graduate Design Studio and to direct the Media Studies programme. At that time he and Peter Davidson formed Lab architecture studio, currently engaged in four major projects in China. Don Bates is Associate Professor of Architecture at Cooper Union.