Design beyond the object: OPEN AANT presents “Design Espanso”

On March 24, AANT opened its doors for a new event in the OPEN AANT series, featuring the presentation of the volume “Design Espanso”, the third chapter in the “Lezioni di Design” editorial cycle.

 

The meeting, coordinated by Prof. Giovanna Talocci, Leader of  Interior and Product Design program, provided an opportunity to explore design in its most contemporary dimension: not only as the creation of objects, but as a system of relationships that intersects culture, society, images, and ways of living. This approach reflects the transformations of the present and expands the role of the designer as an interpreter and activator of complex scenarios.

 

The book was conceived as a tribute to Vanni Pasca, a key figure in Italian design culture, and presents a vision of design as an open and interdisciplinary field, capable of fostering dialogue between different disciplines and languages.The volume was presented and the discussion led by the authors Patrizia Scarzella—an architect and journalist long engaged in research, communication, and design dissemination—and Dora Liscia Bemporad, a design historian and critic who has collaborated for years with leading institutions, museums, and academic organizations.

 

The event provided students enrolled in the three-year academic programs with critical tools to interpret the present and understand the role of design in an increasingly interconnected context.

AANT at the ICDChallenge 2026

Following the success of last year’s edition, which saw AANT stand out on an international level with a winning project developed for Porsche, the Rome-based Academy returns to the spotlight at the International Creative Design Challenge (ICDChallenge).

 

This event represents far more than a competition: it is an immersive experience where design meets reality, testing skills, vision, and the ability to work in international contexts. The ICDChallenge is, in fact, a five-day design sprint in which students from different European universities collaborate to develop innovative solutions for a real client from the creative industry. Guided by international professors and professionals, participants go through all phases of the Design Cycle—from research and ideation to prototyping and testing, culminating in a final presentation to a panel of expert judges.

 

The 2026 edition, held from March 9 to 13 at the Karel de Grote University of Applied Sciences and Arts (KdG) in Antwerp, saw AANT participate with two teams, each composed of five Design and Graphic Design students and guided by professors Giulia Magaldi and Hila Narducci: Gaia Piersanti, Arianna Basile, Marco Sabino Onofri, Aurora Conte, Victoria Tronciu, Giulia Nobiloni, Aurora Cinti, Irene Palluzzi, Martina Lanotte, Jacopo Parodi.

 

Other participating universities included: IADE (Portugal), Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen (Netherlands), Algebra Bernays University College (Croatia), Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart (Germany), and KdG (Belgium).

 

Throughout the week, days were structured around workshops, client sessions, and teamwork, while informal moments encouraged cultural and creative exchange among international students. A dynamic environment where designing also means learning to collaborate, adapt, and create impact. Taking part in the ICDChallenge means engaging with the contemporary challenges of design: working under pressure, transforming insights into concrete solutions, and developing projects capable of addressing complex social, cultural, and technological contexts.

AANT at the Franco Film Festival: the Trophy Designed by the Red Team during the 25th Hour

On Friday, March 13, the Institut français Centre Saint-Louis in Rome, Largo Toniolo, hosted the Franco Film Festival awards ceremony, an event dedicated to celebrating contemporary Francophone cinema. Each year, the festival presents a selection of films from a wide range of French-speaking countries, offering audiences the opportunity to explore stories and cinematic perspectives from different continents and cultural backgrounds. Through screenings, discussions and meetings with film professionals, the festival creates a space for dialogue around the diversity and richness of Francophone cinema.

This year’s edition also featured AANT among its key contributors. The trophy awarded to the festival winner was designed and produced by AANT students as part of the 25th Hour, the Academy’s creative workshop format dedicated to experimentation, collaborative design and the development of innovative ideas.

The project was created by the Red Team, winner of the latest edition of the 25th Hour. Composed of students and lecturers from AANT’s three-year programs, the team worked together to design and produce the symbolic object that represents the festival’s award. The initiative perfectly reflects the Academy’s educational approach, where applied creativity, teamwork and engagement with the cultural and audiovisual industries play a central role. Attending the award ceremony marked the final stage of this journey, giving the team the opportunity to see their work become the official symbol of the festival’s artistic recognition.

The AANT team who won the 25th Hour:

Lecturers

  • Simone Mari
  • Antonio Marongiu
  • Riccardo Onorato
  • Matteo Quarta

Students

  • Ali Mohamed Kacem
  • Denise Angrisano
  • Ginevra Assogna
  • Michele Cafaro
  • Claudio Carnevali
  • Beatrice D’Angelo
  • Giuseppe Maria Falso
  • Giorgia Sofia Fede
  • Chiara Giuliani
  • Alessandro Lavarone
  • Giulia Likar
  • Sofia Lucciola
  • Sabrina Lupasco
  • Giosue Molinaro
  • Gioia Pagliano
  • Aurora Pandolfo
  • Arianna Pepa
  • Nicolò Pontarelli
  • Gianluca Sammarco
  • Fabrizio Alexander Saune Caycho
  • Irene Stefanoni

AANT at the Third Event in the Series “What Do Philosophers Do Today?”

On Sunday, March 15 at 5 pm, AANT took part in the third event in the series What Do Philosophers Do Today? Philosophy in Dialogue, held at the Centro Culturale Polivalente di Cattolica. The event featured Gianna Angelini,Scientific Director and Head of Internationalization at the Academy, in conversation with philosopher Riccardo Manzotti (IULM, Milan) on the theme Knowledge: School, University, Artificial Intelligence, as part of the long-standing series curated by Claudio Paolucci and originally conceived in 1980 by Umberto Eco and Marcello Di Bella. The discussion focused on a crucial issue of our time: how learning, teaching, and the production of knowledge are changing as access to information is increasingly mediated by AI.

AANT’s presence in this context is especially significant because the relationship between artificial intelligence, critical thinking, and educational innovation has been one of the Academy’s key areas of development for over four years. As early as the 2021/2022 academic year, AANT had already launched research activities on the metaverse and AI, investing in dedicated spaces and technologies; in the following years, this work had a concrete impact on study programmes, integrated teaching content, and a cycle of conferences devoted to these themes.

Within this framework, both AI BOUNDS, the format launched by AANT in 2023 to explore the constraints and opportunities of artificial intelligence in art and education, and the Farm project Contaminations, which involved students in the production of a music video entirely created with the support of AI, belong to the same trajectory, addressing in an experimental way its potential, limits, and creative responsibilities.

This path was further strengthened in 2025 with the launch of geniaLAB, an interdisciplinary research hub dedicated to generative artificial intelligence, digital culture, cognitive technologies, and creative innovation, coordinated by Gianna Angelini. In the same year, geniaLAB,  joined the network of European CYANOTYPES,  Pilots, an Erasmus+ project involving more than twenty partners and experimenting with new approaches to education, research, and innovation in the cultural and creative sectors.

Between the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, AANT continued to engage with these issues on multiple levels: through the geniaLAB event dedicated to Claudio Paolucci’s Nati Cyborg; participation in the international conference From Mimesis to Machine at the Swiss Institute; the BIP AI meets SDG’s; the Erasmus+ workshop on generative AI, identity, and human rights; and the Refresh Week, which included a workshop on biosignals and emotional artificial intelligence.

AANT Graduation Sessions March
13 and 14

On March 13 and 14, AANT hosted two new graduation sessions, marking the final step in the students’ academic journey and providing an opportunity to present and discuss the projects developed throughout their years of study. The theses presented reflect the diversity of languages and design fields that characterize AANT’s three-year educational program: from architectural redevelopment to visual storytelling, from social communication to motion design, as well as editorial experimentation and research in contemporary design. Through their final projects, students explore themes related to visual culture, spatial design, communication and new technologies, developing works that combine theoretical research with practical design application.

Below are the names of the graduates and the titles of their theses:

  • Simone Nocera: “Riqualificazione della facciata di un edificio situato nel quartiere di Vigne Nuove”
  • Lorenzo Lascialandare: “Oltre la musica: il modello Travis Scott come strategia di branding transmediale”
  • Barbara Panetta: “VIRTUOSI. Storie di meraviglie”
  • Meliscia Staniscia: “TRACCE: geometrie in movimento”
  • Gabriele Formiconi: “Illusione chimica: progettazione di una campagna di comunicazione sociale”
  • Valeria Calore: “Come applicare un ottimo storytelling alla costruzione di un citybranding”
  • Leonardo Altarocca: “ROMA VERA. Atlante visivo delle texture urbane”
  • Matteo Donati: “Muri liberi: arte temporanea in spazi permanenti”
  • Lucrezia Sebastiani: “Rest in Paint: il nuovo sistema di tutela della memoria urbana”
  • Megi Koshanin: “Il Circo del Basket”
  • Marco Tripiano: “Storytelling & 3D in sinergia. Interazione tra storytelling e comunicazione visiva tridimensionale in ADV”
  • Eleonora Fumelli: “HandLessLy: un sistema meccanico di apertura a pedale per servizi igienici ad alta frequentazione”
  • Celeste Fraulin: “Progetto di riqualificazione dell’ex colonia marina “Principi di Piemonte”, Santa Severa”
  • Federico D’Orazio: “Sbotto, uno spazio digitale in cui lo sfogo personale incontra l’ascolto condiviso”
  • Abirami Raj: “Oltre gli stereotipi. Una miniserie sulla diaspora indiana e la costruzione dell’identità”
  • Giulia Beccarisi: “La casa delle giuste distanze. Progetto di interior design per l’abitare intergenerazionale”
  • Alice Comotto: “Villa Alda. Progetto di riqualificazione di una villa liberty, da residenza privata a struttura ricettiva”
  • Adriano Longoni: “Eschaton. Distopia e la fine dell’uomo”
  • Leonardo Battisti: “Progetto di riqualificazione di una Casa Cantoniera a Pré-Saint-Didier”
  • Gioia Pagliano: “Luce sui sentimenti: raccontare le emozioni attraverso il libro pop-up”
  • Carlotta Pucci: “Essenziale, con il corpo e con il gesto”
  • Daniel Alejandro Quintero: “The Evolution of Motion Graphics Inspired by the Art of Saul Bass”
  • Alberta Crimaldi: “KESS Berlin e il vanity table: origini, evoluzione e casi studio nel beauty”
  • Giada Concetti: “Sfoglia: il digitale come estensione dell’esperienza reale dei mercati rionali”
  • Giulia Gangemi: “Allestimento e luce come dispositivo narrativo: progetto per i Bronzi di Riace e le Teste di Porticello al MArRC”
  • Alice Frittella: “Hotel de la Sibille: progetto di riqualificazione di una locanda storica”
  • Giuseppe Loverre: “U’ Munacidde: dalla tradizione orale alla rappresentazione dell’invisibile”

 

Good luck, everyone!

AANT and AID. Teacher Training on SpLD and Neurodiversity

For the third consecutive year, AANT has renewed its agreement with AID – the Italian Dyslexia Association – further consolidating a structured faculty training programme focused on neurodiversity and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD). This commitment is part of the broader project “Democracy of Learning – The University for Inclusion”, aimed at promoting increasingly aware, accessible teaching practices aligned with the principles of educational equity.

 

Founded in 1997, AID is Italy’s leading organization dedicated to promoting the rights and opportunities of individuals with Specific Learning Disorders. Through training, research and scientific consultancy, the Association supports schools, universities and institutions in building inclusive learning environments that are aligned with current legislation. The training programme designed for AANT faculty members is reviewed by AID’s Scientific Committee and developed with contributions from university trainers, expert tutors supporting higher education students, metacognition specialists and experts in compensatory tools. This three-year collaboration reflects the Academy’s ongoing commitment to investing in pedagogical quality and teaching innovation.

 

The programme for the current academic year is structured into three levels:

  • Basic training for new teachers, with dedicated video lessons.
  • In-person training.
  • “IncludiAMO” update and peer-exchange help desks. The “IncludiAMO?” space was created as a structured setting for continuous professional development, consultancy, and sharing, with the aim of exploring laws and regulations in greater depth, strengthening the design of Individualised Plans, supporting the development of accessible exam assessments, and fostering institutional coherence between the SpLD Service and teaching staff. This model combines academic rigour with attention to cognitive differences, promoting an inclusive and collaborative culture of assessment.

 

This model integrates academic rigour with attention to cognitive diversity, promoting an inclusive and collaborative assessment culture. Within the fields of visual, digital and technological arts, inclusion is not only an ethical value but a structural element of educational quality. Understanding neurodiversity means recognising a plurality of cognitive styles, different learning approaches and unique expressive potential.

AANT Graduation Sessions: Designing the Present, Imagining the Future

On February 27 and 28, AANT hosted the latest Bachelor’s Degree Graduation Sessions, two days dedicated to research, experimentation, and contemporary design project development. The theses presented explored a wide range of languages and disciplines, from film directing to interior design, from art direction to graphic design, from photography to urban planning, offering a contemporary and conscious perspective on the cultural, social, and technological transformations of our time.

Below are the names of the graduates and the titles of their final projects:

Elena Fierro — “MERCATO + Spazio di scambio, luogo di comunità”

Juan Carlos Cortopassi — “La regia attraverso il piano sequenza”

Lorenzo Paul Di Pastena — “Casa Mea”

Adriano Rosati — “Sul Fotoreportage”

Giulia Caiola — “Il colore della voce: l’arte murale a Roma dagli anni 2000 ad oggi”

Chiara Casolini — “La grammatica dell’abitare: il cinema come enciclopedia dello spazio domestico”

Sofia Fiore — “The Animated Uncanny: Horror Cinema as a Language of Contemporary Fears”

Alice Barbato — “Dal progetto allo schermo: ricerca teorica sulla pellicola nel cinema contemporaneo e realizzazione di un cortometraggio”

Jamila Orel — “La seconda vita delle storie. Il viaggio dell’adattamento cinematografico”

Gabriele Mottola — “IUMI: anatomia di una visione”

Sara Massucci — “Che cos’è la bellezza? Un’indagine tra pregiudizio ed emozioni nell’era dell’intelligenza artificiale”

Romina Emanuela Moisei — “Dolore Creativo. Il dolore come strumento creativo e comunicativo nell’art direction contemporanea”

Sofia Teresa Bucarelli — “Sottopasso. Un nuovo ecosistema digitale per l’accesso alla scena musicale emergente”

Luna Nicaise — “Swaply. Swap Skills. Meet People.”

Chiara Vessicchio — “Latrinalia: lo scarico sociale”

Francesca Ferrara — “Roovi: la tua guida agile nella giungla urbana”

Francesco Nava Mambretti — “BAND Identity: storydoing digitale e branding per una release musicale”

Luca Piccirilli — “Co-omprendi: progettazione di una piattaforma a supporto della diagnosi precoce dei DSA”

Ramona Munteanu — “LUMEA. Un mondo che si illumina di connessioni”

Alessandro Bietolini — “Controller MIDI modulare con cursori riposizionabili magnetici”

Martina Sirleto — “Progetto di riqualificazione a Favignana, tra memoria storica e identità del luogo”

Giuseppe Nicola Donadio — “Compatta”

Luca Rieder — “Apollo 98: il vuoto come misura dello spazio”

Simone Carnevali — “Modulovivo – Un sistema che restituisce spazio, tempo e cura alla vita vegetale”

Arianna Sordi — “Check Point: micro-architetture urbane per la sosta e il benessere dei rider delivery”

Annalisa De Iulis — “La Casa del Doganiere: progetto di riqualificazione e riuso di un sito dall’elevato patrimonio paesaggistico in Sicilia”

Giulia Di Giannantonio — “Abitare la memoria: progetto di riuso tra spazio, identità e ospitalità”

Sara Agellion — “Tra interno e quotidiano: ristrutturazione di una casa residenziale nelle Filippine”

Gaia Pugliese — “SOGLIA. Sistema di Riposo per le Emergenze”

Gianluca Panichi — “Elisir: progettazione di una lampada cromoterapeutica per il benessere sensoriale. Design e luce per l’equilibrio psicofisico”

Michela Iachetta — “Incastri Perfetti: quando il retail diventa relazione”

REFRESH WEEK 2026 AANT

From March 2 to 6 AANT opened a dedicated space within the academic calendar: Refresh Week. Before resuming regular teaching activities, students from all Bachelor’s degree programmes were invited to take part in a week of workshops, talks and laboratories that move beyond the boundaries of individual study plans to embrace transversal, interdisciplinary and contemporary themes. An active pause, adistributed laboratory of ideas, tools and visions. The aim is to stimulate open thinking, experiment with diverse languages, and foster dialogue between body, technology, storytelling, design and social responsibility.

Below are the scheduled events:

 

  • AI EMBODIMENT – Biosignals and Emotional Artificial Intelligence
    A workshop at the intersection of psychology and data science exploring how biosignals can interact with a Large Language Model and open new creative perspectives.
    Lecturers: Pasquale Giaccone.
  • OffTheAXES: BoDySign
    An experimental laboratory where the body becomes a design tool. Movement, space and light are transformed into material for performative and project-based research. Lecturer: Silvia Cassetta
  • Light as a Critical Tool – LAACT Project
    An international talk dedicated to light as a cultural medium and critical tool within contemporary artistic practice.
    Lecturer: Robert Sochacki
  • Inhabiting Letters
    Two days of calligraphy and mural writing to transform typographic signs into a collective environmental experience.
    Lecturers: Marta Lagna and Cira Viggiano
  • Treccani Arte – Visit to Palazzo Treccani
    A direct dialogue with contemporary visual arts across publishing, graphic design and research.
    Lecturer: Sara Buoso
  • A Jewel for Peace
    Symbols, words and design to translate a universal idea into a concrete project concept.
    Lecturer: Valentina Downey
  • Managing a Crisis in the Social Media Era
    An intensive laboratory on digital reputation, the ethics of storytelling and narrative responsibility.
    Lecturer: Fondazione Libero Bizzarri
  • Say, Do, Kiss
    Writing and character development: giving voice and narrative coherence through dialogue and action.
    Lecturer: Marco Andreoli
  • Super Student Tool Kit – Study Smarter, Not Harder
    Method, digital tools and collaborative work to develop an end-to-end design approach.
    Lecturer: Simone Mari

AANT launches BIP Week: three Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programmes underway

Starting today, Monday 2 March, and running until Friday 6 March, AANT opens its doors for BIP Week 2026—a week dedicated to internationalisation, academic exchange, and collaborative project development. The programme features three Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programmes: the third edition of Light & the City, the second edition of Think, Prompt, Create, and the first edition of Secret Spaces. More than 80 students and faculty members will take part in the activities, arriving from Austria, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, France, and Croatia.

Now in its third edition, Light & the City offers a technical, educational, and experiential path devoted to Rome and to light as a design material. The programme brings photography and lighting design into dialogue and invites participants to interpret places, monuments, and urban landscapes through the transformations of light and an immersive on-site experience.

In its second edition, Think, Prompt, Create explores the transformative applications of generative artificial intelligence in communication, publishing, and the creative industries. Through online preparatory sessions, in-person workshops, and individual study, the programme combines technical skills with critical thinking, culminating in the production of a portfolio of projects developed with tools such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, and RunwayML.

Making its debut, Secret Spaces focuses on museums and lesser-known exhibition venues as places of inclusion, knowledge, and human and social development. The programme experiments with immersive and multisensory modes of engagement, integrating physical and digital devices; the first workshop is scheduled at the Centrale Montemartini Museum, where participants will also develop virtual reality experiences accessible via Oculus.

BIP Week brings together an international network of European partners. The partners involved are: VERN (Zagreb), IPCA (Barcelos), Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, Hochschule der Medien (Stuttgart), L’École de design (Nantes), Algebra Bernays University (Zagreb), Artevelde (Ghent), and die Angewandte (Wien).

Until Friday 6 March, BIP Week will turn AANT into an international hub for dialogue, experimentation, and shared project work—reflecting the Erasmus+ BIP format, which combines virtual collaboration, short-term in-person mobility, and shared learning outcomes.

Creativity in Action: A Week of Immersive Learning at AANT with Liceo Argan and IIS Galilei

From February 16 to 20, AANT opened its classrooms and laboratories to two leading local schools: Liceo Artistico Giulio Carlo Argan and IIS Galileo Galilei. The initiative unfolded in two dedicated sessions and involved a total of 39 students in a 20-hour immersive learning experience focused on Graphic Design and Videomaking.

 

For Liceo Artistico Argan, 18 fourth-year students from the Fine Arts program were guided through the development of a visual communication project connected to the cultural event “Più libri, più liberi.” During four hours of daily lessons, participants explored every stage of the creative process: from the development of the visual concept to the creation of illustrations, culminating in the typographic composition of the poster. This comprehensive path combined design thinking and technical skills, with professional use of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. The objective was not only to produce a graphic outcome, but to understand the structure of a design project, the dynamics of cultural communication, and the importance of visual coherence.

 

At the same time, 21 third-year students from the Graphics and Communication program at IIS Galilei took part in a workshop dedicated to audiovisual languages. The laboratory introduced students to the world of videomaking through a structured, hands-on experience: narrative concept development and scriptwriting, storyboard creation, directing and filming exercises, and final editing using Adobe Premiere. The final result was an original audiovisual spot, developed through collaborative work that allowed students to engage with the real dynamics of video production, experiencing first-hand the interaction between creativity, technical skills, and on-set organization.

 

This initiative is part of AANT’s ongoing collaboration with upper secondary schools, aimed at offering immersive and career-oriented educational experiences in the fields of visual arts, design, and digital technologies. Through structured laboratory activities, the Academy promotes active learning based on practice, experimentation, and direct engagement with professional tools and methodologies.