The Belly of London

The act of eating is performative yet not a performance; it is charged with meaning and shaped by a wide range of relationships for which architecture is an enabler. The AA Summer School 2023 will investigate the spatial politics of food-related structures and events in a post-Covid-19 environment: markets, street fairs, restaurants, canteens, storage depots, domestic kitchens and commercial facilities will be the protagonists of our summer venture. Over three weeks in July, units will set out from Bedford Square to investigate the ways in which the city consumes and metabolises food, energy and togetherness.

To launch the 2023 AA Summer School, this panel discussion brings together the tutor collectives leading the different units to discuss their range of approaches to exploring the urban landscape of food consumption, production, sale, transport and storage within the city of London. This year’s Summer School unit tutors will talk around the supper table set at the Lecture Hall of the Architectural Association. More suppers, dinners and gastronomical explorations to follow this summer.

Unit 1, Craving Earth, is led by Carlotta Novella & Gaia Crocella in a collaboration with Emma Kaufmann.

Unit 2, Soaked, is led by Georgia Hablutzel & Love Di Marco, in collaboration with Dor Schindler.

Unit 3, Unforgettable Noon, is led by Bodo Neuss, Shaan Patel, Jacek Rewinski, in collaboration with Daniel Garcia Moreno.

Unit 4, Octopus’ Garden Vol.2 is led by Marco Veneri, Valerio Ciaccia, Aude Vuilliomenet & Milo Mclaughlin-Greening.

Unit 5, Alleyand belly (or in other words Shanghai’s Belly) will run both online and onsite in Shanghai, led by Tian Zhaoxi, Frejia Lijia Bao & Zhuxuan Yang.

Please get in touch to let us know of any access requirements that you have at publicprogramme@aaschool.ac.uk.