Staff cuts could put the publishing and exhibitions operations at the Architectural Association school at risk, prompting outrage from leading architects and writers.

All six members of the AA's publications department and the two employees in its exhibitions team are among sixteen members of staff threatened with redundancy, according to a report in the Architects Journal last week.

If the cuts go ahead, they could mean the closure of the school's magazine and exhibitions programmes, including the much-loved in-house journal the AA Files.

GRUESOME NEWS... MADNESS: the Architectural Association's books, magazines and exhibitions are VITAL to the UK's architectural culture. https://t.co/HEp7dv4Os1

— Tom Dyckhoff (@tomdyckhoff) November 16, 2017

Writer and broadcaster Tom Dyckhoff described the news as "gruesome" and "madness".

"The Architectural Association's books, magazines and exhibitions are vital to the UK's architectural culture," Dyckhoff wrote on Twitter.

Architectural publishing house Circa Press said the proposal was "mindless cultural vandalism" and warned that the AA was "destroying its own cultural mission".

"Virtually everything that makes the AA special is embodied in the work of the publications and exhibitions teams," the publisher tweeted. "The AA is being hollowed out intellectually and nobody seems able to prevent it."

Virtually everything that makes the AA special is embodied in the work of the Publications and Exhibitions teams. This is mindless cultural vandalism. https://t.co/kH93r2QhZT

— Circa Press (@CircaPress) November 15, 2017

Based in Bedford Square in central London, the Architectural Association School of Architecture is the UK's oldest independent architecture school and widely regarded as one of the most influential in the world. Famous alumni include Zaha Hadid, Rem KoolhaasRon AradBen van Berkel and Peter Cook.

Architects, curators and publishers reacted with dismay to the news of potential cuts.

"One of the things that has made the AA special is its role as a cultural hub," Justin McGuirk, chief curator at London's Design Museum, told Dezeen.

"Exhibitions, book publishing and a world-class journal have been central to the school's intellectual life and its reputation, and it would be a huge pity to lose that dimension."

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