As part of Rome Future Week 2025, AANT hosted on September 17 an important event dedicated to cultural and social innovation. The meeting took place at the AANT headquarters in Via Monza 21, organized in collaboration with Confcommercio Roma and included within the “Tridente Moda District” project. The event, which started at 10:00 a.m., featured the presentation of the best final projects developed by students of the Interface and Interaction Design II course (BA program in Art Direction, Advertising, and Graphic Design, a.y. 2024/2025) on a real brief provided by Confcommercio Roma.
The initiative created a direct dialogue between academic training and the professional world, highlighting AANT’s role as a bridge between youthful creativity and the needs of the local territory.
Six student teams presented their design concepts aimed at enhancing Rome’s historic center through innovative solutions. First place was awarded to “Team 3,” composed of students De Santis and Piccinini. Their winning proposal consisted of a digital platform reinterpreting the Tridente (the historic area from Piazza del Popolo to Piazza di Spagna) as an integrated ecosystem of commerce, culture, and history. Through an interactive map, a calendar of dedicated events, and an online community, the platform seeks to engage residents, merchants, and visitors in a shared narrative of the district, combining shopping, cultural heritage, and social innovation. The originality and feasibility of the idea, coupled with a user-friendly design, convinced the jury and won acclaim from attendees.
The projects were evaluated by a joint AANT/Confcommercio technical jury, composed of prominent representatives from both institutions. Jury members included:
- Fabrizio Russo – President, Historic Center of Rome (Confcommercio Roma)
- Onorio Rebecchini – President, Convention Bureau Roma e Lazio
- Gianluca Lo Presti – President, Rise – Fondazione per l’Attrazione di Roma e Partners
- Valerio Lucci – President, Associazione Via Condotti
- Claudia D’Alessandro – Account Manager Payments, Global Blue
- Maddalena Salerno – CEO, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Bla Studio
- Gianluca Lo Presti – Rise President– Fondazione per l’Attrazione Roma & Partners
- Romolo Guasco – Director, Confcommercio Roma
- Rossana Quarta – Director, AANT
- Ana Gabriela Llarin – Coordinator, BA in Art Direction, Advertising & Graphic Design (AANT)
- Emanuele Tarducci – Coordinator, BA in User Experience & UI – Interaction Design and MA in Communication & Design Methodologies (AANT)
- Annabella Guadagni – Service Designer & Facilitator, Enel X
- Attilio Imbrogno – Experience & Service Design Manager, User Researcher (Intellera Shape Design Studio)
- Stefano Tiburzi – Co-Founder & COO, S.M.I. Technologies and Consulting S.r.l.
Throughout the morning, each team presented its project to the jury and audience. The mix of Confcommercio Roma representatives together with AANT faculty and coordinators ensured a balanced evaluation, weighing both the relevance to Rome’s territory and business fabric, and the creative and methodological quality typical of academic pathways.
AANT faculty members involved in the project – Dario Moriconi, Roberto Savino, Nicolò Lai, Giovanna Arcieri, Ben Bugli, and Riccardo Onorato – supported the students throughout the entire process, from ideation to the refinement of proposals, ensuring alignment between educational goals and the client’s expectations.
In closing, Confcommercio Roma representatives emphasized how the collaboration with AANT, within the framework of Rome Future Week, generated fresh and concrete ideas for enhancing Rome’s historic center. For its part, the Academy expressed satisfaction with the excellent results of the course: the synergy among students, faculty, and external partners demonstrated how culture, creativity, and social innovation can come together to generate real solutions.
Beyond offering students a prestigious showcase before professionals and institutions, this event reaffirmed AANT’s commitment to training designers capable of connecting academic knowledge with the productive world, actively contributing to innovation projects in the territory.
Ultimately, the Rome Future Week session hosted by AANT highlighted the potential of young creatives as a driving force for social innovation, strengthening the Academy’s role as a hub of excellence where ideas for the future are born.