Interview with Claudio Larcher, Design Area Leader at NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti who talks to us about new topics related to present and future teaching: artificial intelligence, service design and 'New Ecologies'

On the occasion of the presentation of the High Intensity Design Training project we interviewed Claudio Larcher, NABA Design Area Leader to understand what visions of the future this high school of product design and communication has. A moment to think about the themes that will be protagonists in teaching.

Hi Claudio, the students of the BA in Design of NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti created the installation High Intensity Design Training in the Cortile d’Onore in Milan: could you explain to me what it is?

Recovering and reinterpreting in particular the theme of awareness and care among the cornerstones of INTERNAL Creative Connections, the students were involved in a training that invited them to carefully observe the past to be aware of the responsibility of the imagination to rewrite and redesign the complex system of relations and connections of the contemporary.

They transformed the column, archetype of the architecture of the space surrounding the installation, into a soft element that urges action, becoming a tool for practice: large punching bags to hit, dodge and hug. In the background were placed images of scenarios with constructions never seen before: the column is erased, ready to be rewritten. The installation encourages you to stay in training, listen to the past but don't get trapped in it. Those who design cannot look to the future without being aware of the past.

In the field of design, what will be the themes and areas of research and training that will be addressed in the NABA courses in the near future?

The main theme that this year faces the Design Area looks to the future, hence the choice of  'New Ecologies' also taken up by the themes of the new Master Academic which enriches the educational offer of the Area.

What relationship do we have as designers and creatives with machines and artificial intelligence? How much are the 'wise machines' already part of our daily life and above all will they be the protagonists of the project of our future? Is artificial intelligence a driver of (sustainable) development? Can we imagine a new 'post-humanism' scenario? But above all, can we design it? These are just some of the questions we are trying to answer within the research and the project involving teachers and students.

Topics that will be addressed directly by the new Annual Academic Master New Urban Design to deepen the interpretation and design of the city by measuring itself against the new complexity of urban reality and with particular attention to < strong> service design.

Could you explain to me why a student should choose NABA's teaching system?

The ultimate goal of studying design is to acquire a method, the ability to face the complexity of the world and to imagine and plan the future, a better future.

Through the study of the project, the Area Design, in the articulation of the Triennium, the Specialized Biennial and the Master Academic, provides students with theoretical-practical skills and tools to reason in a multidisciplinary way on complex concepts, adapt to changes and formulate scenarios. Today, it is right to talk about ' social design': a humanistic design that puts man back at the center of everything, in a binary exchange with society.

In constant dialogue with teachers and professionals in the sector, students have the opportunity to build their own path, to indulge their personal inclinations and to learn how to manage the complexity of a process, which has equal importance to the results achieved.

Quoting Le Corbusier: 'If I had to teach, I would tell my students how moving things are in the Acropolis of Athens, of which they will only later understand the superior grandeur.

Cover Photo: NABA, MA in Interior Design, Alessia Nobile, Roots.