Designing spaces to accommodate physical, psychological, or cognitive diversity has long been limited to compliance with standards that have influenced the design in prescriptive or constraining terms.
For a long time, the accessibility of a space lacked empathy and solidarity. It has long been considered as a technical requirement on a par with energy efficiency, rather than a social ambition, a movement in favor of the most fragile people and persons in need, an attention capable of generating beauty and better architecture.
A new sensitivity towards the issue of accessibility and inclusiveness in architecture is needed. This is because there is no such thing as the disabled, the sick, or the different person. There is the person, and each person has physical, cultural, and cognitive characteristics that can affect their perception of space in different ways and at different times in their lives.
Designing inclusive architecture simply means designing better architecture, for everyone.
This is why the course in "Architecture for Inclusion" was created. Its goal is to train professionals to place people back at the heart of design through the principles of Universal design. Whatever the people’s condition, architects can do so by reinterpreting diversity as an opportunity to generate better, inclusive, comprehensible, and meaningful architecture.
Through Dynamo's experience and the help of some of the most authoritative voices in the field (as neuroscientists and distinguished architects), architects will delve into the technical and composition elements to be adopted in Universal design, according to a program comprising 80 hours of teaching, workshops, and visits, 32 hours of workshop, numerous lectures by distinguished professionals and at least 2 months of placement at the illustrious partner firms.
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 person*3
Full coverage of the enrollment fee for the most outstanding candidatesTeaching modules & Workshops
Experiencing disability
Stories of disabled people and participatory approach to the designEmotional and sensorial stimulation
Art as universal languageThe accessible city
Practices and experiences of Western metropolisesCase history
Examples and good practices of accessible architectureVisual impairment
Architecture for partially sighted peopleCognitive disability
Comprehensible architectureMotor impairment
Accessible architectureSocial disability
Design and social reintegrationGender-inclusive design
Accessibility between cultural and gender perspectivesElderly and community
Design for an inclusive old ageDesign and ergonomics
Accessibility of every day life objectsAccessibility in nature
Practices and methods in designingArchitecture for life and recreational therapy
From the principle "to cure" to the principle "to care"Site Visits
Dynamo Camp
City Camp, Milan
Fondazione Gaslini, Genoa
"La Noce" Family Home
Special lectures and critiques
Shenzhen Women & Children’s Centre
ETCR: social reintegration of FARC ex-warriors
Hazelwood: school for deafblind children
Inclusive Design
Day centre for disabled people
Architecture through the eyes
Day centre for Alzheimer's patients
Accessibility as an act of empathy
City Camp Dynamo
Design workshop
Aser Giménez Ortega / MVRDV
The workshop will be an opportunity of practical synthesis through which students will test all the notions provided by the other teaching modules, guaranteeing strategic solutions regarding a real project, strongly characterized on a social level. In collaboration with Dynamo, students will be asked to imagine an ideal City Camp, developing a replicable and curated model which can become a reference for the future expansion of the Dynamo City Camp in Italy and abroad. The starting point will be experiencing the Milano Camp, the first and most successful of the projects by Dynamo, through which students can learn by directly interacting with the staff, the volunteers and the families. The main objective of the workshop will be defining a project capable of combining functionality and feelings: not just a space designed for children, but an actual reference for the families, capable of generating a sense of community and inclusion. At the same time, the City Camp will have to ensure efficiency, hospitality and quality to the spaces addressed to the staff and the volunteers, in order for the project to become a practical means of wellbeing, participation and solidarity.
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 application fee (€60 + VAT). The best 20 candidates will be admitted to the course according to the rules.
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 application fee (€60 + VAT) that 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 2023/24 internships report
Find out all the statistics and placement methodology for the year 2023/24: 39% of students entered Pritzker studios.