F Beigel Studied 1967-1968

F. Beigel is recorded as a male, German student enrolled on the 1967-68 postgraduate ‘General Design’ course run by the Architectural Association’s (AA) Department of Development and Tropical Studies, in London. No details are yet confirmed as regarding identity but it seems likely that he was the architect and educator, Florian Beigel (1941-2018), who is noted as formally receiving his Diplom Ingenieur (Architecture) from the University of Stuttgart in 1968 and undertaking a MSc at University College London in 1969. Florien’s published CV, however, does not mention the AA and his name does not appear within the AA’s own records of graduates, so it is not possible to definitely confirm his identity - and it is also possible that F. Beigel either only audited the course or did not complete.

Florian Beigel was to develop a highly influential career in academia, joining the teaching staff at the Polytechnic of North London (now London Metropolitan University) in 1972 and directing the Architecture Research Unit (ARU) since 1985. Combining practice with his professorial role, Florian Beigel designed the celebrated Half Moon Theatre, on Mile End Road, London, in 1985, and was responsible for a series of high-profile prize-winning international competition entries, eventually leading to his invitation to plan Paju Book City, in Korea (completed 2007). This latter project involved master-planning and landscaping a site with over 300 buildings, of which three were also contributed by Beigel, his partner Philip Christou and the ARU. In 2014 he was awarded the RIBA Annie Spink award for Excellence in Architectural Education.

Sources

• Architectural Association Student Register, 1945-71. AA Archives
• REF 2014: Impact Case Studies: Architecture Research Unit: Architecture as City, London Metropolitan University, 2014. Accessed 2nd January, 2026: https://impact.ref.ac.uk/casestudies/CaseStudy.aspx?Id=35385
• Rowsbottom, D. ‘Florian Beigal, Obituary: Architect and educator whose Architecture Research Unit revolutionised the way the discipline was taught’ The Guardian, 13th September, 2018. Accessed 2nd January, 2026: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/sep/13/florian-beigel-obituary
• ‘Florian Beigel & Philip Christou: CV.’ Betts Project: Florian Beigel and Philip Christou: a dream of innocence, 2019. Exhibition website, accessed 2nd January , 2026: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5336b2fee4b057e83f9e14e3/t/5d0b7ddba44d030001ea9406/1561034204687/CV_Florian+Beigel+and+Philip+Christou_2019.pdf