News Post

When Design Meets Education

Something a little different happened on our Symbiosis campus this week. A group of Master's students from one of Italy's most celebrated design schools walked through our doors, and our own Secondary students were the ones to show them around.

It was the kind of moment that stays with you. Teenagers confidently guiding postgraduate designers through corridors, classrooms, and outdoor spaces: not as subjects of study, but as genuine hosts and collaborators. That dynamic, we think, says everything about what this new partnership is meant to be.

ICS Milan and Domus Academy: A Creative Exchange

We are thrilled to announce the launch of a formal partnership and exchange programme between ICS Milan and Domus Academy — one of Europe's leading postgraduate design and innovation schools, right here in Milan.

This week's campus visit marked the official beginning of the collaboration, with Domus Academy students joining us as part of their Master in Interior & Living Design programme. After the tour led by our Secondary students, both groups came together for an inaugural collaborative workshop, a first taste of what promises to be a rich ongoing exchange.

Reimagining the Secondary Wing as a "Learning Neighbourhood"

From March through April, Domus Academy students will work intensively (guided by their professors and in close dialogue with ICS Milan) on a real design brief we developed together. The challenge is bold and meaningful: reimagine part of our Secondary wing as an integrated "learning neighbourhood", transforming classrooms, corridors, and the covered balcony into spaces that are inspiring, functional, and inclusive, with wellbeing, movement, and student agency at the centre.

This isn't a hypothetical brief. These are real spaces, used daily by real students. That's what makes it exciting and what makes it genuinely meaningful for everyone involved.

The Environment as the Third Teacher

At ICS Milan, we've long believed that the spaces where children learn are not neutral. They speak. They invite or inhibit. They can make a student feel seen, or invisible. This philosophy, often described as the environment as a "third teacher", sits at the heart of everything we're trying to do with this collaboration.

By bringing in the design perspective of Domus Academy's students, we're asking: what would our spaces look like if they were truly designed around how young people learn, move, and relate to one another? What might we be missing? What could be better?

We don't have all the answers, and that's exactly the point. This is a genuine creative dialogue, not a commissioned renovation. The ideas that emerge will inform how we think about our spaces for years to come.

What's Next

The design process runs through April, when Domus Academy students will present their proposals. We're looking forward to seeing ideas we haven't imagined yet, and to sharing them with our wider school community.

Beyond this first project, our ambition is to build something lasting: an ongoing exchange that connects our communities through shared projects, creative conversations, and mutual learning. Two institutions, two approaches, one city,  and a lot to discover together.