Academic Studies Italy is a community of two world class schools in Milan combining over 45 years of experience and close to one thousand students from Italy and around the world, offering a complete creative and cultural education from high school portfolio building courses right up to postgraduate studies.

NABA Undergraduate school together with Italy’s top language schools, LDV offer the complete picture for art, design, fashion, culture and design business management education.


SCHOOLS DESCRIPTION

Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti - NABA - has operated since 1980 as an international fine arts and desig academy, offering the best range of graduate programs in all the fields of art & design (our departments are Design - Interior and Industrial, Fashion and Textile Design, Theatre Design, Graphic Design and Art Direction, Media Design - Computer Animation, Film & Video, Visual Arts - Painting, Videoart, Photography, Public Art - Restoration) in both English (available for some courses) and Italian language.

Leonardo da Vinci is an independent and accredited language school offering Italian language courses and customized faculty-lead all year round courses starting every two weeks, accommodation facilities, leisure time activities. Other LDV schools are located in Florence, Rome, Siena and Viareggio on the Tuscan Riviera.


Why Italy and Why Milan?

Think of Italy and it’s hard not to think about the classic quality of design from a simple Bialetti coffee machine or an Alessi orange squeezer to a Vespa or Lambretta scooter right up to a Ferrari Testarossa automobile.

Italian fashion designers dress the world’s business leaders and film stars and their creations are imitated by many others. Italy’s architects since time in memoriam, have made their mark in global cities with cutting edge projects.

No one place can define itself as such a melting pot of creative output over the years as Italy’s self proclaimed capital of creativity. Milan a dynamic cultural city at the forefront of the new Italy , home to major industries, finance, fashion houses, shows, museums, galleries and exhibitions as well as the famous San Siro football stadium Milan is an ancient city, but it is also extraordinary modern, cast to the future with its peculiar way to evolve and change, promoting great social, cultural, political and economical events. Milan is the world capital of fashion and design. Famous show-rooms spread over many areas witness Italian fashion throughout the world.
Milan can be seen to be a veritable "district of immaterial aspects". On one hand, innovation and creativity are fired by the continual arrival of young people from various countries who come to study and work in our city. On the other hand, there is the concentration in Milan of all forms of communication and distribution. A combination that manages to attract buyers from the world over. Milan can also be charming and offer many entertainments of all kinds and peculiar places, such as “Brera” and the “Navigli”, old canals once used for commerce. The Brera zone is situated in the centre of the city, near the famous Academy of Arts.


Historical Notes

Italian culture is deeply rooted in the ancient Greek and Roman civilisations which flourished on the peninsula for over a milllenium and left their imprint everywhere in the country in so many works of art, her legal system and her many customs and traditions.

After the decay of the Roman empire, through the Middle Ages and the Rennaissance up to the Modern Age, Italy developed her own civilisation, an interesting combination of traditions and innovations stimulated by the influence of the Christian faith. She became the cradle of visual arts, music, poetry, literature. At the same time, Italy promoted the development of the modern philosophical thought, of science and research and started establishing her universities; the first of which ("Università degli Studi di Bologna" and "Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II") are among the most ancient in the world.
Soon after the second world war (1950-1960), Italy made a tremendous effort to recover its moral energies and financial resources, rebuild its infrastructures, promote literacy as well as education at all levels, grant equal political and educational opportunities to all layers of society, foster scientific progress and technological innovation, establish fruitful relations of political, cultural and economic cooperation with all countries within and outside Europe.

Italy has always played an important role in European higher education: it is one of the four countries that first engaged to create the so-called "European Area of Higher Education" (Sorbonne Declaration, May 1998), thus starting the type of higher education reform which, known as "Bologna Process" (Bologna Declaration, June 1999) is now being implemented all over Europe.
The University of Bologna is widely thought to be the first University in the western world, dating back to the end of the 11th century.

Today, Italy ranks among the 8 most industrialised countries in the world. Alongside important multinational companies, both state-owned and private, she has developed a sound network of small and medium-sized undertakings, promoted new scientific parks, and is incentivating basic and applied research in a great variety of fields (biology, ICT, medicine, physics, etc.)


An overview of the programs we offer at ASI

Bachelor of Arts Degree Program (3 year), Master of Arts Degree Program (2 year), Semester/Year Abroad Program by NABA in:
- Design – Industrial, Interior
- Fashion and Textile Design
- Theatre Design
- Graphic Design and Art Direction
- Media Design – Computer animation, film and video
- Visual Arts – Painting, Video Art, Photography, Public Art

NABA also offer a wide variety of short and summer programs that last from 1 to 4 weeks in the following areas: Industrial Design, Interior Design, Communication Design, Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Accessories Design, Jewellery Design, Business Design and Restoration All our Summer programs are taught directly in English

Leonardo da Vinci is an independent and accredited language school offering Italian language courses and customized faculty-lead all year round courses starting every two weeks, accommodation facilities, leisure time activities. Other LDV schools are located in Florence, Rome, Siena and Viareggio on the Tuscan Riviera.


Typical Student Profile

ASI welcomes applications from high school graduates who are aged 18 years or over and completed School for any of our portfolio builder courses. For our advanced courses applicants will need to be in their final year of university, recent graduates wtih some working experience. We encourage you to contact our admissions offices for more information and of course make a visit to our campus’ if you can.


What we can do for you – ASI mission statement

From the start, ASI aims to maximise your social, intercultural and professional experience providing both an integrated cultural methodology and a real hands on practical approach to your studies that you will find invaluable for your future. ASI is all about opportunity – we give you the tools to forge a head way in your chosen creative career – the rest is up to you.


Language matters

All our Summer programs and semesters are either taught directly in English or simultaneously translated.
Some NABA BA courses are only in Italian. We do however recommend you take the time to learn at least some Italian to get the most out of your stay here.
Please consult the individual course data for more information on languages

If English is not your first language, you’ll need to satisfy us of your written and spoken ability and don’t worry if you don’t speak any Italian, we can fix you up at our on LDV campus language school .Our semester courses already include a module of 45 hours of Italian lessons.


Reasons to join ASI

• Recognised Batchelor of Arts Degrees, Semesters. Masters and Summer courses that offer credits and transcripts for your home university.
• ASI’s design philosophy provides you with a benchmark with which you can compare and contrast the many inputs you’ll receive during your course from a wide variety of important industry sources.
• Our direct contact with designers and manufacturers allow us to ensure our schools are, and remain, relevant to what is happening in the real world.
• A unique design experience, which enables you not only to verify for yourself the theories you have learned, but also provides you with the practical expertise in the latest techniques and technology.
• Our network of important visiting professors drawn from industry and academia using a pool of talent and expertise that only exists in the powerhouse city of Milan.
• Our schools offer over 7000 m2 of modern teaching workshops, laboratories and multimedia facilities in the trendy Naviglio (canals) district of the city.
• The personal approach of our world class schools that really know all of its students by name
• Pre course Italian and culture classes are offered on campus and also available in Florence, Rome and Siena as well.
• Our creative, multinational environment with over 40 nationalities on site, makes a great atmosphere for study and a great range of fun social activities.
• Our important network of ex- students helps and supports each other in the real world of business – forge life long friendships with your shared passions.
• Our “dual city summer sessions” with London’s renowned Central Saint Martin’s college of Art and Design offer a unique insight into the two systems of European Design and Fashion.
• ASI is firmly committed to a comprehensive policy of equal opportunities and racial equality
• We help with finding your accommodation and settling you into the city.
• A great location for free time at the nearby lakes and mountains, or by the Mediterranean sea. Florence and Venice are also only a few hours away by train