The AA

Visiting School

The Visiting School encompasses diverse learning programmes, workshops and site-based agendas shaped by participants working intensively in small groups over varying periods of time from one to two weeks. Central to each programme is the idea that experimental, new and provocative forms of architecture are best learned by doing. These programmes take place all over the world, including Bedford Square in London and Hooke Park in Dorset. The Visiting School welcomes applicants in any moment of their studies and careers, from within and outside of the architectural realm. The AA Summer School Programme, also part of the Visiting School, is equally open and takes place for three weeks during the summer period.

Current and upcoming visiting school incubators around the world.

Incubators, Short Courses and Forums in the UK and around the World

Location	Course Title	Dates	Programme Heads
Bangalore, India	Carbon Ecologies	25 September – 4 October 2026	Tejas Sidnal
India, India	BambooLab India	28 September – 5 December 2026	John Naylor, Andry Widyowijatnoko
Sydney, Australia	For the term of your natural life	Winter 2026	Oskar Frederick Johanson, Adolfo Del Valle Neira
Bedford Square, London, UK	AA Spring Semester: Exchange Programme	4 January – 14 May 2027	Reiner de Graaf, Alex Retegan

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Fellin Retreat Chapter One: Tuli

Programmes

AA Visiting School

Fellin Retreat Chapter One: Tuli

Location

Viljandi, Estonia

Programme

Fellin Retreat Chapter One: Tuli

Dates

2–8 August 2026

Programme Heads

Emma Marta Berzin, Sam Aleksander

Brief

Join us in an immersive reimagining of community organisation through the element of fire.

Our focus is the fire(place), and how it shapes conversation and community. To design for dialogue as spatial practitioners, we must first experience it. This retreat is grounded in our hand–head–heart philosophy. As we build fires and gather around them, we will document and analyse how these settings influence the way we speak and listen. Hand inspires creativity through workshops with expert makers. Head fosters conversations emerging from doing and engaging. Heart nurtures atmosphere through a carefully designed daily rhythm and space for reflection.

This week of hands-on workshops, fire-building, lecture series, social gatherings and preparation of communal meals will give us undistracted time and space together to focus on the intent of community. Cooking, eating and living together will be core to how we learn, reflect and connect.

Our retreat will take place in the beautiful, rural setting of the Fellin Estate, with its natural lake and tranquil forests. The estate is situated just outside Viljandi, Estonia’s cultural capital.

Expert makers and thinkers will give you the tools to build, question and reimagine. You will make fire(places), debate ideas, craft with your hands, and hear music, myths and legends that connect us to this place and to each other. On the final night everyone will gather around one last fire for food, music and song in a closing festival to celebrate with each other and the local community.

We intend that the all-inclusive programme will enable participants to be free of the usual distractions and constraints of work, academic or home life. We are seeking participants who want to step outside of their everyday life and embrace the idea of a creative retreat. This is an opportunity to push yourself, rethink how we learn from each other and challenge your thoughts on design.

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Biographies

Emma Marta Berzin is an Estonian interdisciplinary designer currently studying at the AA. Her interests lie in small architectural interventions in non-urban landscapes, and in associating architecture in food, art and culture, finding ways to connect these themes within projects and daily life.

Sam Aleksander is a London-born photographer, designer and educator currently studying at the AA, who investigates architecture as a mediating space between the physical environment and human experience.

Guest tutors and collaborators will be released in due course.

Skills

Key features of the workshop are:

Guest lecturers in cultural theories, semiotics, archaeology and storytelling to frame interpretation and meaning-making.
Site surveys and documentation through drawing, observation and conversation to cultivate careful looking and record-keeping.
Workshops on leather making, dry stone walling, tool carving, foraging, cooking on live fires and weaving with straw and reed to develop practical skills and tactile understanding.
Final festival exhibiting the collection of makings throughout the course, and live performances by local musicians to connect craft with culture.
Nature-based immersive tasks including swimming, making fires and feasting to foster resilience, teamwork and embodied learning.

Learning goals for the workshop are:

Develop critical thinking about culture, technologies and myths, and articulate this through various types of storytelling.
Build observational and documentation skills through site surveys and field notes.
Gain hands-on proficiency in traditional craft techniques whilst understanding their historical contexts.
Strengthen collaboration and peer learning, and gain constructive feedback through collective gathering.
Most of all, having fun.

Eligibility

The programme is open to all aged 18 or over. We are seeking people who are adventurous and excited to experience an experiment. Participants will need to bring with them a minimum of A4 sized notebook with diverse drawing tools. Accommodation and food are provided by the estate, but be prepared to cook and forage as a group activity. Please be aware of allergies like hay fever and have proper medicine prepared. Participants should be capable swimmers.

Fees

Accommodation and Food: All fees for this programme include shared accommodation (dormitory or tent style on the estate), all food and drink, workshops, lectures, social activities and resources.

A £60 non-refundable deposit is required from all applicants. This amount will be deducted from the total fees listed below:
£1200 – Full Tuition fee including £60 AA Digital Membership.
£1140 – Existing AA Members.
£912 – AA full-time Students and employees.
£1029 – Melbourne University Students including £60 AA Digital Membership.

All making material included. Participants need to bring their own laptops and drawing tools.

Flights are not included.

Apply