Unbuilt work and the practice of architecture

The relaunch of the AA Prize for Unbuilt Work is timely, occurring in the midst of a global pandemic that is expected to cause the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Recessions can be tough periods for architectural practices, particularly when it comes to getting designs built. I recall my early years when twice I graduated into recessions: first the 1987 stock market crash and then again in 1991 during prime minister Paul Keating’s “recession we had to have.” As a result, although I was working, I didn’t experience having a project built for 10 years after graduation. Yet that time was formative in terms of thinking, development of ideas and international study.

Unbuilt work, I believe, is critically important