The Architecture for Inclusion course at YACademy offers students practical experience on construction sites and architecture workshops with a focusing on accessible design.

The Architecture for Inclusion course at Yacademy trains students in placing people back at the heart of design through the principles of universal design.

The course provides students with specific expertise in inclusive and accessible design, specifically applicable to social and therapeutic contexts.

The design workshop, in collaboration with Dynamo, is tutored by Aser Giménez-Ortega from MVRDV, and will ask students to imagine an ideal city camp, developing a carefully designed and replicable model that can serve as a guideline for the future expansion of Dynamo City Camps in Italy and abroad.

With a frequency of three days per week for two months, Architecture for Inclusion hosts several frontal teaching modules with the participation of numerous well-known professionals working at world-renowned companies, including Giancarlo Mazzanti, Alan Dunlop, Foster + Partners and AMDL Circle.

Believing that construction is a fundamental step in architecture, Yacademy offers its students the opportunity to participate in a construction workshop, gaining practical experience on construction sites and the authorship of projects capable of defining a turning point in their professional career.

At the end of the teaching modules and workshops, Yacademy's placement office will guarantee every student an internship or collaboration proposal in one of its partner studios.

The course offers three scholarships with full coverage of the enrolment cost for the most deserving students. It is also possible to participate in the courses remotely.

School: YACademy
Course: Architecture for Inclusion
Type: Short Course
Location: Bologna, Italy, or online
Course dates: March 2026 to May 2026
Application deadline: 19 December 2025

Find out more about the course and apply ›

What will I learn during this course?

– Technical and composition elements to be adopted in Universal design
– Ability to interpret the needs of the most diverse user groups and transform them into opportunities for architectural, sustainable, inclusive and highly refined designs

What are the requirements?

– At least a B1 level in English
– Be a student or graduate in architecture, landscape architecture, design or heritage-related studies
– The Selection Committee can admit applicants who hold a different certificate from those mentioned above after examining their CV, portfolio, motivational letter and possibly interviewing them

What facilities and resources are available?

– An educational hub of excellence in a prestigious medieval place in the heart of Bologna
– An architecture library of more than 5,000 volumes
– Numerous apartments in the same building that houses the institute's classrooms
– The accommodation service is to be considered outside of the fees for attendance to the courses and is activated upon request of the students

What career prospects can I expect upon graduating?

Trained in reinterpreting diversity as an opportunity to generate better architecture, students will carry out a period of collaboration with one of Yacademy's partner firms. Such collaboration will have a minimum duration of two months and guaranteed remuneration consistently with regulatory requirements.

Some of the professional players with expertise in relation to the course topic include Archea Associati, TAMassociati, Studio Pacifica, El Equipo Mazzanti, Alan Dunlop Architect ltd, Foster + Partners, MVRDV and AMDL Circle.

Who teaches this course?

– Giancarlo Mazzanti, founder of El Equipo Mazzanti
– Alan Dunlop, founder of Alan Dunlop Architects ltd
– Jeffrey Mansfield, design director at MASS Design Group
– Michele De Lucchi, founder of AMDL Circle
– Suzan Ucmaklioglu, associate partner at Foster + Partners
– Laura Andreini, founder of Archea Associati
– Aser Giménez-Ortega, associate director at MVRDV
– Karen L. Braitmayer, founder and managing principal of Studio Pacifica

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