The Royal Academy of Arts
London, United Kingdom
The Royal Academy of Arts was founded 250 years ago as a clear, strong voice for art and artists - a role it continues to play to this day. While constantly evolving over the centuries, the Royal Academy has held to its traditions and remained true to its vision; to be an autonomous, politically independent, self-funded place to create, debate and exhibit the visual arts and architecture. It is governed by a General Assembly of Britain's most highly esteemed artists and architects including Tracey Emin, Anish Kapoor, Grayson Perry, David Hockney, Farshid Moussavi, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers. Architecture has been at the heart of the RA since its foundation in 1768, with the first Treasurer, Sir William Chambers. Our Royal Academicians – from John Soane and Edwin Lutyens, to David Adjaye and Zaha Hadid – have always comprised the leading architects of their generation. Architecture also has a central place in the RA's collection and exhibition programme. From exquisite architectural drawings to an intriguing assortment of classical casts, our collection contains numerous architectural treasures. Our world-leading exhibition programme has seen ground-breaking architectural shows such as Foster, Rogers, Stirling(1986), Living Bridges (1996) and more recently Andrea Palladio: His Life and Legacy(2009), Richard Rogers (2013) and Sensing Spaces (2014). While for the past 250 years architects have played their part in the annual Summer Exhibition exhibiting works alongside artists.
