NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, announces International Expansion with New London Campus Opening in 2026
Milan [Italy], July 14: NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, is proud to announce the forthcoming opening of a new venue in the city of London. The London campus - NABA's first outside Italy - will take its place in the context of the Here East innovation and technology campus inside the Olympic Park and, starting from October 2026, it will be a strategic hub for the Academy's process of internationalisation and the benchmark for other future centres outside Italy.
London has long been an international point of reference for artistic and creative education and is a strategic centre where innovation, culture and new trends in the sectors of art, fashion design and design come together, offering a dynamic educational proposal that is integrated with the evolution of the contemporary panorama. The opening of the new campus will enable NABA to take its place in an ideal context for cultivating new talent and promoting Italian heritage and know-how, as well as making a major contribution to building and shaping the future of the creative industries, in line with the Academy's mission "Through Artistic Intelligence, we nurture people to design a new tomorrow." The launch phases are being overseen by Daniele Bisello o Ragno, Managing Director of NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, along with Guido Tattoni, NABA Dean, and the Academy's Leadership Team: together, they are successfully driving forward its development strategy at the international level, of which the forthcoming London opening will be the first major milestone.
Specifically, the new London campus - the third after Milan and Rome - will offer an educational proposal made up initially of three BAs in Design, Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing Management in addition to the Foundation Course from the start of the 2026/27 Academic Year. The programmes, all delivered in the English language, will be characterised by a strong practical, interdisciplinary orientation and connected with the world of work, thanks to laboratories furnished with technical equipment, where students will have the opportunity to create their own projects and improve their techniques: the Design Lab, the Fashion Design Lab and the Textile and Knitwear Lab, in addition to a studio classroom and a number of creative spaces. Students will be offered educational and academic services equivalent to the other two Italian centres with the possibility of making use of the Career Service, assistance in obtaining the necessary visas, psychological counselling and a library. The admission criteria will be in line and consistent with the model of NABA campus in Milan and Rome, with the option of transferring from one to another. Participants who successfully complete the three-year courses will obtain a BA (Hons) Degree accredited by Regent's University London, a leading historic London institution at the international level and, since 2020, part of the Galileo Global Education (GGE) group of which NABA is also a part. Through the partnership with the Academy, students will be offered the opportunity to obtain a qualification valid in the United Kingdom and recognised at the international level.
The site will cover an area of more than 2,000 square metres within the innovation and technology centre 'Here East' in the heart of the Olympic Park, one of the most dynamic and innovative areas of the city and home of the Liverpool Media Academy, also part of the GGE group. London is a real outdoor laboratory, an ecosystem where artistic know-how merges with innovation and where the Academy's "learning by doing" approach can be showcased, characterised by the determination to create connections and openness to the future, not only as a space dedicated to education but also as an organisation where students can gain hands-on experience while working on real briefs and projects with companies and institutions, with the aim of thoroughly training the professionals of the future. Moreover, it will be an innovative centre with a focus on digital technologies and a sustainable approach, in line with NABA's sustainability manifesto.
"At NABA, we believe in an education that trains people, not just professionals. With this opening, the Academy is strengthening its global vocation, creating an environment where cultures come together to design tomorrow together. The NABA campus in London will be an important step that allows us to replicate outside Italy the didactic and educational approach that has always set us apart and enables us to consolidate the Academy's positioning in the panorama of artistic education at the international level. Indeed, NABA was included in the 2025 QS World University Rankings® by Subject as the first and only Italian Academy of Fine Arts to be among the 100 best universities in the world in the field of Art & Design. Our aim is not just to offer an alternative to the great British institutions, we want to introduce a new voice, able to unite heritage and the avant-garde," said Daniele Bisello o Ragno, Managing Director of NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti. And he added: "Our uniqueness lies in the combination of the excellence of Italian design and an experiential and creative educational approach with interdisciplinary, tech-driven programmes connected with the creative industries. We offer classes tailor-made for the student, a 'boutique' model that values individual talent. Our wish is to be able to offer a model that can be replicated in other countries, in the short and long term. We hope that London is the first of many new premises at the global level."
For further information visit www.naba.it.
NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti
NABA is an international Academy focused on arts and design: it is the largest Academy of Fine Arts in Italy, and the first one to have been recognised by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR), back in 1981. In its campus in Milan, Rome and now also in London, NABA offers academic diplomas equivalent to first and second level university degrees in the fields of design, fashion design, graphics and communication, multimedia arts, new technologies, set design, visual arts, as well as PhD and Special Programmes. The Academy was founded by Ausonio Zappa in Milan in 1980 with the involvement of Guido Ballo and Tito Varisco during a first phase, later attracting to its faculty artists such as Gianni Colombo and many others, the idea being to abandon rigorous academic traditions and instead introduce new visions and languages based on contemporary artistic and professional practice. NABA was selected by Frame to be included in the Masterclass Frame Guide to the 30 World's Leading Graduate Design, Architecture and Fashion Schools, and by Domus Magazine as one of Europe's Top 100 schools of Architecture and Design.
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