Brief
Pandemic, economic crisis, migration, and climate change: every area - from the periphery of our metropolis to the most remote tropical village - can now be defined as an “emergency context”. The United Nations - already before the pandemic cycle - estimated that the fragmentation of conflicts, combined with the effects of the economic and ecological crisis, was generating a humanitarian emergency greater than that caused by the Second World War.
In this context, the architect plays a fundamental role, because architecture responds to man’s primary needs. Finding shelter, receiving education, living healthy are rights that require “containers” in the first place, and architecture - great architecture - would be hardly a thing if limited to contexts of well-being; since man is at the center of architecture, and man, in any context, in any condition, deserves dignity and beauty.
This is why the course in Architecture for Humanity was born, to train designers who know how to compose meaningful architecture even in the most complex contexts, to bring quality where you have always designing by playing down, beauty where you are used to not seeing it. Trained to think in terms of objectives, budgets and understanding of anthropological phenomena, designers will thus acquire a method spendable in any context, capable of optimizing resources and design inputs to give rise, under any conditions, to educated and refined architectural phenomena.
Through the study of the global scenario and the comparison with the experience of some of the most authoritative voices in the field (from the UN to representatives of the government of territories in emergency) the designers will focus on the technical and compositional strategies to be adopted in the humanitarian, social and emergency field, during 84 hours of lessons, 32 hours of workshop and numerous contributions by renowned professionals. At the end of the course, Yacademy Placement office will guarantee each student a proposal for an internship/collaboration within the partner studios.
Course info
15 In person
5 Online
Bologna
9.3.2026 - 15.5.2026
3 days/weekJune 2026 - September 2026
€ 2,900 + VAT
Online€ 9,700 + VAT
In person3
Full coverage of the enrollment fee for the most outstanding candidatesTeaching modules & Workshops
Climate change
Effects and consequences of climate changeExtreme architecture
Architecture in adverse natural environmentsCase History
Successful examples of humanitarian architecturesHumanitarian associations
Architecture and private initiativeTradition is innovation
Vernacular architecture as solution for contemporary challengesSocial Housing
Housing emergency at a global scaleUrban resilience
Infrastructure, urban spaces and communities. The 360° approach of New YorkInternational scenario
Conflicts, migrations and climate change: the global framework of emergency architectureHumanitarian technologies
Low-tech as a principle of social equityLow budget design
Suburbs
“First World” emergencyUniversal design
Architectural principles for people with disabilitiesThe integrated humanitarian project
Socially relevant interventions between culture, economy and architectureSite Visits
WASP Research Lab (Massa Lombarda)
The intervention of G124 by Renzo Piano in Modena
L’Aquila, Amatrice and the earthquake-affected areas
Special lectures and critiques
Social housing in Acuña, Mexico
España Library: culture and beauty in Medellín, Colombia
Beauty as a principle of justice
Jardines Centrales de Jojutla
Post-catastrophe planning: the case of the Turkish earthquake
Montessori school for Maasai
Paper and emergencies
X=? A conversation about Elemental method
School in Kiberia - mimesis and discontinuity
Form follows Love
Architectures of dignity
Design workshop
Anna Heringer / Anna Heringer Architecture
The workshop will be an occasion of practical synthesis through which students can test all the notions provided during the teaching modules, guaranteeing strategic solutions to one of the most urgent humanitarian emergencies of our time. Under the scientific supervision of IOM, the International Organization of Migrations of the United Nations, students will design shelter models for the Somali population, imagining sustainable housing solutions, both repeatable and low cost. The main objective of the workshop is to present suggestions aimed at improving the quality of life of internally displaced people, ensuring safer and proper spaces, suitable to the families’ needs. Specific attention will be given to the use of local materials, the scalability of the solutions and their compatibility with the urban context which is rapidly developing. The workshop will then become a training opportunity to reflect on the role of architecture as a practical means to ensure protection, inclusion and social resilience.
Construction workshop
Construction is a fundamental step in architecture. For this reason, YACademy offers its students the opportunity to participate in the process of producing their own ideas. Thus, the students will gain practical experience on construction sites and, above all, the authorship of projects built for excellent commissions, destined for a major media echo and capable of defining a turning point in their professional career.
Placement
At the end of teaching modules and workshop, YACademy’s Placement office will guarantee every student an internship or collaboration proposal in one of our partner studios.
Teachers
Admission
Requirements
Students or graduates in Architecture/Design can apply to the course. The commission, based on the assessment of the application, may admit students with different qualifications.
Registration
To apply, it is necessary to register online and submit a Curriculum Vitae, a Portfolio, and a Motivational Letter. Moreover, it is necessary to pay the administration fee (60€ + VAT). The best 20 candidates will be admitted to the course according to the rules.
The administration fee payment does not bind the student to purchase the course.
Scholarship
By applying for the course, the students automatically become eligible to obtain a scholarship: one will be granted to each of the best 3 applicants for each course, consistently with the Selection Committee's evaluation. Therefore, it is not necessary to make specific actions to apply for a scholarship. The scholarship covers the entire enrollment fee - regardless of the type of attendance chosen -, but does not cover the administration fee (73,20€) which has to be paid in order to complete the application process successfully.
Timeline
Complying with deadlines is a fundamental requirement to take part in the course. All students are encouraged to pay the utmost attention to the timeline and to complete each phase in advance.
Applications opening
Applications deadline
Publication of the provisional ranking
Beginning of second-round admissions
Enrollment fee payment deadline for students admitted according to the provisional ranking
Publication of the official ranking (including second-round admitted students)
Lessons start
Download
Make sure you have downloaded the course brochure, from which you will be able to obtain any information about YACademy, as well as every single detail on how to access and enrol in the courses.
Course Brochure
English
Brochure Corso
Italiano
Download the 2023-2025 internships report
Find out all the statistics and placement methodology for the years 2023/24 and 2024/2025: more than 70 students entered Pritzker studios.