AADRL Architectural Association Design Research Lab

23/09/2026

This year, the AADRL Spyropoulos Studio travelled to New York, where our students visited their project site on Roosevelt Island and took part in a series of visits and conversations with Liz Diller and David Allin at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto at RUR, Michael Young, Dean of Architecture at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture, A83 Gallery, Socrates Sculpture Park, Dia Beacon, Storm King, and others.

16/07/2026

Pleased to share that the AADRL participates in an exhibition opening today as part of London Creates at the Truman Brewery.

The exhibition presents an evolving snapshot of architectural research, experimentation and collaboration developed within the DRL over recent years. Since its founding, the programme has explored advanced approaches to design, computation and fabrication, positioning architecture as a mode of enquiry capable of engaging in the challenges of our time.

The work on display spans scales from the city to the nanoscale, bringing together self-organised, international research teams whose projects challenge conventional architectural practice through new forms of collective intelligence, material innovation and technological experimentation. Rather than presenting architecture as a finished object, the exhibition reveals it as an ongoing process of research, speculation and collaboration.

The exhibition, is curated by ZHA, bringing together leading practices, engineers, designers and academic institutions including AKT II, dFUEL, The Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL), Mamou-Mani Architects, Fab.Pub, Free Range and many others, alongside a programme of talks, workshops and demonstrations exploring the future of architecture, computation and design.
I hope to see many friends, colleagues and alumni there.



London Creates
The Truman Brewery, London
16–26 July
Free admission

07/07/2026

We are pleased to share that AADRL: A Work in Progress is opening tomorrow in Ecuador at the College of Architects of Ecuador (CAE-P). The exhibition offers a glimpse into the evolving research culture of the AADRL Architectural Association Design Research Laboratory. Bringing together material that explores how architecture can evolve through design research, computation, fabrication, and experimentation.

A Work in Progress reflects a belief that architecture is an evolving process of inquiry that is shaped by experimentation, collaboration, and the continuous testing of ideas. The exhibition opens on 8 July at the CAE-P Arts Hall, alongside the launch of Radical Ideas to Practical Applications with a second lecture in the series by Shajay Bhooshan of ZHA.

For our friends, colleagues, and the wider architecture and design community in Ecuador, we hope you can join us.

CAE-P Arts Hall
8 July · 18:30
Free entry

07/07/2026

Final week of the AA's Project Review. Open to all...

AADRL Exhibition 2026
Photos: Mohammad Hassan Habibi Dehkordi

10/05/2026

Join us! Applications for the incoming fall entry class at AADRL are open.

23/04/2026

AADRL Schumacher / Bhooshan Studio Trip to China

15/04/2026

AADRL Director Theodore Spyropoulos gave a lecture titled Radical Search at the College of Architects of Ecuador (CAE-P). The lecture is part of a forthcoming series of lectures and exhibitions of DRL work which includes participation of Bienal Panamericana de Arquitectura de Quito.

Lecture Title:
Radical Search: The AADRL
The lecture will focus on the role design research plays in challenging conventions and expanding the social and material agency of architecture. Examining architecture as a mode of enquiry capable of responding to the challenges of our time, the talk explores an adaptive and participatory approach to design. Theodore will discuss the AADRL’s methodology, developed over three decades, which spans scales from the nanoscale to the city. This approach to design is speculative, collective, and in constant evolution.

15/04/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDUjAo9dbz0

Design Research LabThe Design Research Laboratory (DRL) at the Architectural Association School of Architecture is a 16-month post-professional programme lea...

16/03/2026

AADRL Director Theodore Spyropoulos will be speaking today at CEPT University in Ahmedabad, India, on the research we have been developing at the DRL. The talk, titled Collective Intelligence, will be held as a hybrid event on the 16th of March.

FA Lecture Series - 03 | S26
Title: Collective Intelligence: The Work of the AADRL
Speaker: Dr. Theodore Spyropoulos
Time: 18:30 Hrs
Venue: FP 103
Mode: Hybrid

The lecture will focus on the role design research plays in challenging conventions and expanding the social and material agency of architecture. Examining architecture as a mode of enquiry capable of responding to the challenges of our time, the talk explores an adaptive and participatory approach to design. Theodore will discuss the AADRL’s methodology, developed over three decades, which spans scales from the nanoscale to the city. This approach to design is speculative, collective, and in constant evolution.
In a world made increasingly complex by technological advancements and rapidly changing environments, architect and educator Theodore Spyropoulos asks us to consider global challenges from a new perspective. This reframing shifts us from static, representational models toward collaborative, ever-evolving systems and interactions that allow us to see our world anew. Architecture offers us the opportunity to consider how the built environment reshapes our relationships between humans and non-humans, objects, and the world. As we grapple with ongoing uncertainty and change, Theodore Spyropoulos explores how architecture can provide a model of spatial practice that brings us together.

10/03/2026

AADRL Phase 1 End-of-Term Jury this Friday.
Those interested in the programme can register as part of the Open Day to see early-stage design research from the next generation of the Design Research Lab.

Featured Work
Everything Intelligence — Spyropoulos Studio

Team:
Guliz Gurer
Wei-Hao Lee
Theekshika Muruganandam