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Educational offer

High-level training course, 2025 Edition

Off-site Technologies for Architecture

Course periodNov 24, 2025 – Feb 20, 2026
Applications deadlineSep 5, 2025
PlacementFoster + Partners, ARUP, BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group, ATI Project, Manni Group, UNStudio, Mario Cucinella Architects, Pininfarina
Off-site Technologies for Architecture

Brief

Technology is the tool with which architecture is made.

Whether one is a technician or an architect, one needs deep knowledge - the former - and a solid understanding of the tools that make every project possible - the latter. 
Like all human phenomena, technology evolves according to trends and advances with a common understanding of environmental, economic, and social events.

In this regard, off-site is one of the undisputed leaders in modern construction technology, proving to be among the most effective methods of creating quality low-environmental-impact architecture.


In a world where the demand for architecture is growing exponentially - despite the urgency to reduce the anthropogenic load on the environment and ecosystem - off-site is one of the most viable alternatives to meet the current needs of the world's population without jeopardising the future of the planet.

This is why the course in "Off-site Technologies for Architecture" was created, to turn technicians and architects into experts in the latest trends in off-site construction technology and thus able to offer tangible solutions for a better and more sustainable future.

Thanks to their expertise in a modern culture of technology, designers will become valuable professionals in any design process, learning tools to shape their projects and becoming part of a trend marked by major investments by the world's major players.

Through the experience of Manni Group and the help of some of the most authoritative voices in the field (as engineering companies and researchers), designers will delve into the most up-to-date technical and composition possibilities in a program comprising 84 hours of classes, workshops, and visits, 32 hours of workshop, numerous lectures by renowned professionals and at least 2 months of placement at the illustrious partner firms.

Course info

Language

Italian & English

simultaneous translation in English always available
Available places

15 In person
5 Online

Place

Bologna

Course timeline

24.11.2025 - 20.2.2026

3 days/week
Placement activation

March 2026 - May 2026

Enrollment fee

€ 2,900 + VAT

Online
Enrollment fee

€ 7,900 + VAT

In person+
Scholarships

3

Full coverage of the enrollment fee for the most outstanding candidates
* it can be split in three installments (with a 6% increase on the total amount)

Teaching modules & Workshops

History of modern engineering

Evolution in construction technology

The executive design

Characteristics and challenges of the final stage of the design

Off-site technologies

Challenges and opportunities

The building site

Processes and methods of production of the architectural work

Material types

Wood, steel and concrete: correspondence between technology and project

Sustainability & carbon neutrality

Calculation and mitigation of construction industry impact

Off-site and seismic

Performance characteristics of steel architectures

Antarctic

Challenges and characteristics of the white continent

Design parameterization

Creativity and first industrialization of the project

BIM beginner

Essential design methodologies and tools

Off-site cityscape

Off-site as a tool for urban regeneration

Site Visits

Verona, Manni production plants

Bozen, EURAC Research

CNR Venice - National Research Council

Special lectures and critiques

Research and New Tech for sustainability

Paolo Cresci / ARUP

Production of complexity: from parametrics to the construction site

Paolo Matteuzzi / Zaha Hadid Architects

Tech in high-rise buildings

Nicola Scaranaro / Foster + Partners

Sustainable research and technology

Raul Forsoni / UNStudio

BIG's construction sites

Giulio Rigoni / BIG Bjarke Ingels Group

Architectural scenarios in the USA

Arne Emerson / Morphosis

Innovation vs industrialisation

Sanne van der Burgh / MVRDV

Off-site systems and branded architecture

Giovanni de Niederhausern / Pininfarina

The future of the cities: big data and technological innovation

Carlo Ratti / Carlo Ratti Associati

The future as reinterpretation of past techniques

Mario Cucinella / Mario Cucinella Architects

Off-site and extreme climates

Design workshop

Nicola Scaranaro / Foster + Partners

The workshop is conducted in collaboration with the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (National Research Council) and will deal with the study of an international research station to be placed in the Antarctic context. Free of any political boundary or national relevance, the ice continent is one of the most unfriendly and fascinating places on the planet, where nature speaks with different violence and intensity than anywhere else. Here, besides the resilient local fauna, the only inhabitants are international research groups, involved in the study of the most diverse physical and natural phenomena thanks to the availability of information - retained by ice - relating to the most ancient and remote history of the planet. In view of the unavailability of any material resource and extreme climatic conditions, the Antarctic continent is a privileged context to test the possibilities of the off-site method to its highest capacity. This is to be intended as a high-performance technology produced in the factory and then reassembled on the construction site. Through the workshop, students will have the possibility to structure modular and aggregative solutions that might generate complex architectural phenomena through the progressive juxtaposition of basic modules designed for the rigours of the Antarctic continent, which should nonetheless serve as experiences to be extended to mountain, low-resource, or even emergency contexts.

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.

Brochure IT

Brochure EN

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.

Past editions gallery

Dsc F1250Dsc F7724Dsc F7773Dsc F7882P1075063

Partners

To each one of them, many thanks from YACademy staff and students.

Manni GroupFondazione Promozione AcciaioEderaLiving Future EuropeCNR IRBIMUNICMIEurac Research

Turn the project into reality - by Manni Group

Off-site Technologies for Architecture

Ota 1

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