Academy of Architecture at a glance

The Academy of Architecture offers an innovative, interdisciplinary, humanist and generalist educational and teaching model, suitable for our times. This has enabled the school to make a name for itself and play a leading role in the international panorama of architecture schools. The Academy is one of the five faculties of the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) and is based in Mendrisio.

Direct learning through practical work in the design studios under the tutelage of authoritative internationally renowned architects is accompanied by a rich offering of courses in history and the humanities, where the teaching is devoted to the history of architecture and art, philosophy, sociology and technical-scientific courses open to contemporary issues and advanced courses in the representation of the project. Together with a training in architecture, a course of study in the history and theory of art and architecture completes the school’s offerings, giving further depth to its humanist vocation and cultural dimension.
The educational offering of the school is part of a broader mission, which includes scientific research, in the historical-artistic field as well as the architectural-urbanistic, and cultural activities, which range from a rich programme of conferences and publications to exhibitions and other events in the Theatre of Architecture.

The Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio, in the thirty years since it was established, has trained nearly 4,000 graduates who are working today in the professional world. These are architects who are active in international contexts, and contribute to enriching the territory they come from, or the one where they have chosen to work, thus reinforcing the School’s profoundly international nature. Today, Ticino, and Switzerland as a whole, can count on an international school “at home”, whose importance is acknowledged by Milan—and generally speaking by Italy—as proven by the high number of Italian candidates that apply each year to join the Academy. Being international—the School represents around 50 countries—is not just a geographical characteristic, it is a concrete experience as well: it signifies sharing the work space with students from other cultural contexts and building one’s own mind-set by coming to terms directly with other perspectives of the world, thus contributing to building the world itself. The Academy’s campus in Mendrisio consists of 5 buildings with open access where students can work 24 hours a day. The proximity between students and professors, the limited number of students for each Atelier (approximately 10-20 for each professor, and two assistants) make the campus an experience that is filled with non-stop stimuli, together with initiatives and encounters that are often organized by the student body itself.
The Academy is based on a competitive method that cannot be measured in quantitative terms, but in qualitative ones instead: competition here means debating and comparing each other’s ideas. This takes place thanks to the constant exercise of public criticism, that is to say, the practice of expressing one’s thinking and projects to others. The capacity to formulate and support an idea in public by describing a project that is in progress constitutes essential training for an architect’s education, and, more in general, for the construction of independent thinking. In an era that is marked by information overload, and by its manipulation, this capacity becomes essential if students are to get their bearings and produce their own visions. At the core of the teaching is the idea of a “trade”, as has been promoted since the School was founded by its first director, Aurelio (Lio) Galfetti. Trade meaning a form of service: the ability to organize space, choose materials, and respond consciously to the needs of contemporary society, including needs linked to sustainability, recycling, and carbon-zero: requirements that are seen as the goals of a project and not as passive restrictions, as they are often considered to be today. This principle was also given a concrete form with the creation of an Agorà in the foyer of Palazzo Canavée, a space that features a large tribune conceived to nurture discussion, debate, host talks, named in honour of Lio Galfetti. Teaching develops here as continuous training in design, guided by teachers who are first and foremost top-notch professionals. In Switzerland, teaching positions are assigned based on a competitive system that takes into account professional merit more than academic titles, such as having a PhD, which is instead required in many countries. This makes it possible for the Academy to have an international teaching staff that consists of full professors chosen for their design skills. These include world-class firms and architects, as well as winners of the Pritzker Prize. The Academy is also a full-fledged cultural pole: its library holds books of extraordinary quality as well as ones that are rare and hard to find in other European institutions. The Modern Archive hosts around 70 collections, including numerous Italian archives that it is currently valorizing thanks also to its activity in Italy. Moreover, the Teatro dell’architettura Mendrisio, which has been in use for over a decade, hosts exhibitions dedicated to major themes in contemporary architecture. Added to all this is the BancaStato Swiss Architectural Award, an international prize addressed to architects under 50 years of age, whose jury—a network of international advisors—every two years awards 100,000 francs to a firm that has built at least three works. Over time, the winners also become part of the teaching staff at the Academy, thus contributing to enhancing the quality of the School. Each year the Design Ateliers involve the collaboration of ten professionals who are active in the sector. Thanks to their direct architectural experience, they contribute to completing the students’ education.
The Academy does not embrace a single direction in terms of style; rather, it aims to implement the objectives that were synthesized by Mario Botta who, together with Lio Galfetti, founded this School: i.e., to train architects with general skills, not just specialized ones, architects who are aware of the complexity and variety of contemporary needs, which higher education often tends to overlook. This scenario is enriched by three research institutes dedicated to the history of art and architecture, technique and restoration, the city and the landscape, respectively. An essential element in the training of future architects is the design and building of architectural models by hand. The hand is to the architect what the word is to the writer: it is the primary vehicle of creativity and the direct expression of thinking. The creative process is not an algorithm; rather, it is an unrepeatable and irreversible experience made up of constant approximations. The architect’s trade does not allow for mimesis or disorder: it is a constant search for truth, also by making mistakes. In short, the Academy is based on several key principles: debate, criticism as a tool to train thought, the idea of trade as a service, and intense work on design through experience. The Academy’s unique specificity lies in the integration between practice, culture, reflection, and openness to the rest of the world.

Architecture

The Academy of Architecture offers a complete course divided into a BSc, providing a basic three-year training completed by a one-year internship, and an MSc, a two-year specialist course. The concrete work of making architecture is at the centre of the teaching, with a syllabus focused on design. The future architects will face the challenges of real contexts guided by internationally renowned architects, and as a result of the technical-scientific and historical-humanist courses, they will acquire critical skills ranging from architectural design to urban and landscape design, from the reuse of the existing heritage to sustainable construction.

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History and theory of art and architecture

Alongside a training in architecture, the Academy offers an MSc in History and Theory of Art and Architecture. Studying the history of art and, in particular, the history of architecture in the context of an architecture faculty is the ideal choice to counter the growing marginalisation of architecture in historical-artistic studies, so restoring the discipline to the centre of critical reflection in the academic context and more generally the public debate.

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PhD

The course of study that can be undertaken at the Academy includes the third cycle, namely PhD studies leading to the award of a single degree of Doctor of Architecture (Dr Arch), Doctor of the Technical Sciences (Dr Sc Tec), or Doctor of Philosophy (Dr Phil).

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