The Off-site Technologies for Architecture course at YACademy equips students with the skills required for a career in construction, with opportunities for professional placements.

Off-site Technologies for Architecture, a project by Manni Group, trains students in the latest trends in off-site construction technology.

The course provides students with the most up-to-date technical and compositional possibilities to create quality low-environmental-impact architecture.

The design workshop is tutored by Paolo Matteuzzi, a Director at Zaha Hadid Architects, and developed in collaboration with AIPAI, the Italian Association for Industrial Archaeological Heritage.

It will focus on the transformation of the former Mira Lanza area in Rome into a student housing system, conceived as a contemporary residential infrastructure capable of meeting the needs of a young, dynamic, and constantly evolving population. Now disused, the Mira Lanza complex, a great example of industrial heritage, appears as an urban void rich in potential, where existing layers provide the foundation for new forms of intervention.

With a frequency of three days per week for two months, the course hosts several frontal teaching modules with the participation of numerous well-known professionals working at world-renowned companies, including Morphosis, Foster + Partners, BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group, Mario Cucinella Architects, and many more.

Students will also be given the opportunity to visit the design workshop site to gather ideas and useful references for the development of their own project, the Manni production plant to understand the essence of off-site technologies, and the Eurac headquarters, one of Italy's leading research facilities in the field of environmental sustainability and ecocompatibility.

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 firms.

The course offers multiple scholarships for the most deserving students. It is also possible to participate in the course remotely.

School: YACademy
Course: Off-site Technologies for Architecture
Type: Short course
Location: Bologna, Italy, or online
Course dates: November 2026 to February 2027
Application deadline: 4 September 2026

Find out more about the course and apply ›

What will I learn during this course?

– The latest trends in off-site construction technology
– Expertise in a modern culture of technology, and valuable professionalism in any design process
– Tools to shape projects and become part of a trend marked by major investments by the world’s major players

What are the requirements?

– Participants should have at least a B1 level in English
– Participants should be students or graduates in architecture, landscape architecture, architectural engineering, 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 it is activated upon request of the students

What career prospects can I expect upon graduating?

Trained in the use of off-site technologies as one of the most viable alternatives to meet the current needs of the world’s population without jeopardising the future of the planet, 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 Foster + Partners, UNS, BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group, Morphosis, Arup, Mario Cucinella Architects.

Who teaches this course?

– Paolo Matteuzzi, director at Zaha Hadid Architects
– Nicola Scaranaro, partner at Foster + Partners
– Raul Forsoni, associate at UNStudio
– Giulio Rigoni, associate at BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
– Arne Emerson, partner at Morphosis
– Andrea D'Antrassi, associate Partner at MAD Architects
– Lapo Naldoni, senior R&D specialist and technical expert at Mario Cucinella Architects
– Paolo Cresci, associate Director at Arup

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