ABSTRACT
This chapter presents autobiography of Joseph Rykwert and explores how his life's experiences shaped his working life. He addresses the dualities between which he had to navigate: Jewish/Polish, Polish/British and later, Practice/Scholarship. He spent most of his working life between the USA and UK and worked both as a designer and a writer; as such his ground-breaking ideas and work have had a major impact on the thinking of architects and designers since the 1960s and continue to do so to this day. Being strictly professional, the AA School was not coupled to any other academy – so could offer little intellectual nourishment or variety. A remedy soon offered itself. A fellow student took him along to Student Movement House (SMH) in Gower Street, half a mile north of the AA.
