Brief
It is one of the oldest construction materials, absolute protagonist of well-known architectural traditions, and a technology which has proved capable of keeping a unique expressive energy over the centuries.
The first human settlements were made of wood, just as the first Greek temple, the first Chinese pagodas, and the trusses of the great gothic cathedrals. Wood is one of the protagonists of architecture and, even if recent technological progress used to prioritize other research directions, today, environmental problems put wood centre stage in the debate and attracts the attention of architects.
Wood is a renewable, natural, low carbon-footprint resource; it's a healthy material, esthetically pleasant, capable of giving a cozy, human touch to any architecture. Today more than ever, architects need to go back to wood, to know how to use it to design and construct.
The reason why the Wood Architecture course started is precisely this: training architects who are capable of using wood to make sustainable architecture, with a great visual impact, which represents the renovated balance between human needs and nature.
Studying the wood production process, the various essences, and the characteristics of a material which is all but inert, which is in fact alive and constantly evolving, designers will learn techniques and composition of wood architecture, during a course that is made up of 84 hours of seminars, 32 hours of workshops, and many interventions of renowned professionals.
At the end of the course, the YACademy placement office will provide all students with the opportunity to work as interns/collaborators in one of our partner firms.
Scientific curators: Mauro Frate and Alessandro Cecchini
Course info
15 In person
5 Online
Bologna
1.6.2026 - 7.8.2026
3 days/weekSeptember 2026 - November 2026
2,900 € + VAT
Online9,700 € + VAT *
In person3
Full coverage of the enrollment fee for the most outstanding candidatesTeaching modules & Workshops
Wood, re-use and social responsibility
Recycling wood as a business tool and as a way to compensate carbon emissionsThe use of wood as structural material
Features, performance and specificity of wood in structuresHistory and evolution of wood architecture
Historical analysis and case studiesWood between research and innovation
New applications and new trends for wooden architectureEngineering the wood project
From the project to the construction siteDesigning with wood
Approach and methods of designing with woodSpecies and essences
Wood types and characteristicsWood as a sustainable solution
Quantitative analysis of the environmental advantages of wood construction technologiesWood and vernacular architecture
Studying tradition as the basis for innovationMixing wood with other materials
The combination of different construction technologiesThe forest-wood chain
From the seed to the construction siteTimber Engineering
Construction joints and details for contemporary architectureSite Visits
Naturalia-BAU
Vibrobloc
Klimahouse Wood Architecture Prize tour
Special lectures and critiques
Japanese imagery and esthetics: Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum
Yoshino: wood and traditional Japanese wood species
Uzbekistan Expo Pavilion: a cultural dialogue with timber
Between nature and architecture
Sculpting with wood: Reindeer Pavillion
City on water: timber buildings and climate change
Iconic architecture and relationship with the landscape: Greenland Visitor Centre
Zurich Airport Dock A - Raumfachwerk
Art, architecture and thought: thinking with wood
Bamboo as structure, space and vision
Bert modular Treehouse
Yoshino visitor center
Design workshop
Taro Okabe / Shigeru Ban Architects
The workshop will provide an opportunity for practical synthesis through which to test all the knowledge acquired through the other educational modules, ensuring strategic responses to a real architectural project. Led by Taro Okabe, Art Director at Shigeru Ban Architects Paris, the workshop will focus on the design of a visitor centre in the heart of the Yoshino forest region, an area that symbolizes the Japanese tradition of wood craftsmanship.
Here, where centuries-old knowledge related to sustainable forest management is at risk of disappearing due to depopulation and the decline of forestry activities, the project becomes a tool for cultural enhancement and territorial revitalization. The new visitor centre will be located at a panoramic site overlooking the Yoshino River, near the historic residence of the Dogura family, and will serve as a gateway to the forest areas as well as a reference space for the local community.
Participants will be asked to envision a timber architecture capable of engaging in dialogue with the landscape, conveying the region’s material culture, and offering new meanings of use to a fragile territory. The workshop will thus provide the opportunity to address key themes of contemporary wood architecture: structural lightness, the relationship with context, the regeneration of rural landscapes, and the ability of design to shape new models of human presence within forests.
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€) 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
Brochure Corso
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.
Partners
To each one of them, many thanks from YACademy staff and students.