Located at 254 boulevard Raspail in the heart of Paris, the École Spéciale d'Architecture (ESA) is France's only private school of architecture. As an association organized under the law of 1901, the school offers a unique perspective on architecture in which alumni, faculty, students, and staff are invited to participate. Special school d' Architecture is member of the Conference of the Grandes Écoles since September 2010. ESA's educational programs are accredited by the Ministry of Culture. The diplomas it confers carry the seal of the Ministry of National Education. ESA was established 140 years ago as part of a revolt against academism. Since then it has continuously recreated its teaching approaches and organizational structures. Today, as Europe's institutions of higher education strive to harmonize their degrees and programs, a necessary reform that may have the unintended effect of producing uniformity, the École Spéciale stands firmly on its founding premise: to be special.