NABA, New Academy of Fine Arts

Founded in Milan in 1980 on the bold belief that art and design education should engage directly with contemporary culture and professional practice, NABA has been legally recognised since 1981. Today, it is Italy’s largest art and design academy, with campuses in Milan, Rome and London, where learning by doing transforms research and ideas into real projects in state-of-the-art laboratories

Education at NABA focuses on contemporary creative practice across six Areas:

• Communication and Graphic Design
• Design
• Fashion Design
• Media Design and New Technologies
• Set Design
• Visual Arts

Across its programmes, an interdisciplinary, experimentation-led approach combines critical thinking with learning by doing. Guided by academics and active professionals, students turn research and ideas into projects in laboratories and through collaborations with companies and institutions. 

This connects cultural enquiry and technical skills with professional practice, helping students develop an individual creative identity and prepare for evolving international creative industries.

Research at NABA is developed through DRAFT, the Department of Research and Faculty Training, founded as a Research Centre in 2021. A co-creation space and incubator, DRAFT brings together faculty expertise, emerging researchers and national and international academic and institutional partners to develop strategic projects in artistic research and education. 

Its practice-based work identifies and strengthens original research themes, generating projects, conferences, exhibitions and publications with national and international relevance. DRAFT also supports doctoral research in artistic practice and design culture, while advancing faculty development through lifelong learning and innovative teaching tools.

NABA graduates pursue many creative careers. Paths include: 

• design across products, interiors and services; 
• fashion, textile and accessory design; 
• graphic design, art direction and branding; UX/UI; 
• filmmaking, animation, VFX and game design; 
• set and costume design; 
• and the visual arts, as artists, curators or cultural producers. 

They may join studios, agencies, cultural institutions and companies in Italy or abroad, or work independently. 

NABA’s practice-based education supports this transition: according to the independent Ipsos Doxa Employability Survey 2026, 92% of graduates found employment within one year of completing their qualification, across BA, MA and Academic Master programmes.