QS World University Rankings® by Subject Art & Design: NABA is the Best Italian Academy of Fine Arts, in the Top 100 worldwide

Set Design

Undergraduate

Set Design

Bachelor of Arts in

Set Design

The Programme: overview

The BA provides students with the tools to address the complex reality of set design through the study of design-related topics in the fields of theatre, events, exhibitions, fashion shows, cinema and television, among others. Through crossover courses like photography, light design, costume design and performing arts, and internships at theatres and leading companies in the field, students acquire qualified skills to enter the professional world, including the development of professional dossiers, budgets and periodic analysis production, work planning and organisation.

Over the BA, students will have the opportunity to:

To devise and design stage sets, costumes, installations
To organise projects, budgets and plannings
To work in a team with theatre planning and direction departments, and with curators for art, design and fashion events

Request Brochure Learn more

STUDY PLAN

During the programme, student acquires knowledge and skills necessary to undertake a professional specialising path. After the first year, students choose their specialisation, in the second and in the third year they attend specific courses aimed at identify a qualification to be developed in the last semester.   FIRST YEAR Introduces students to the basic tools to approach set and costume design for the show business and for live events, from opera to theatre plays, from dance to musicals to concerts, and to new kinds of sets for performances, exhibitions, and fashion shows. Through theoretical, project-based and lab teachings of set design, digital technologies and applications, history of costume, history of modern art, drawing for design, scene design, students analyse creative and executive phases of set preparation, space modelling, costume as a communication tool, hand and technical drawing, stage as a scenic machinery.   SECOND YEAR Guides students towards further improvement in the set design field by choosing one of the programme specialisations (Theatre and Opera, Media and Events) and through specialising studies in set design, direction, costume design, photography, history of cinema and video, phenomenology of contemporary arts, scene design, digital applications for visual arts. Led by teachers through field experiences, students learn how to approach set design projects for theatre, how to devise and design events, direction techniques for live performances and fitting, costume and scene design.   THIRD YEAR Defines students knowledge and skills and provide the opportunity to confront practical experiences in set design for real brief in the field of live performance and events. By the end of the programme, students develop a personal method and language in set design through specialising teachings of history of performing arts, set design, scene design, performative techniques for visual arts, light design, applied techniques for theatre production, cultural anthropology, and didactic activities related to the thesis project, in its theoretical and project-based components.

Department: Design and Applied Arts

Area: Set Design

Title Awarded: First Level Academic Degree*

Credits: 180 CFA

Starting: October 2025 (English and Italian) - February 2026 (Italian)

Duration: 3 years

Languages: Italian and English

Campus: Milan

*Degrees recognised by the MUR

Specialisations: your academic career

Specialisation: Theatre and Opera

It provides students with the instruments for set design in all of the show business’ main fields, enabling them to fulfill with awareness a completely developed project for the contemporary audience.

Specialisation: Media and Events

It leads students in the set design, from the concept up to the complete realization, of artistic performances, events, exhibitions, videoclips, showcases, sets, and in brand design projects

Our Faculty

Luca Poncellini

Design and Applied Arts Department Head

View Profile

Vincenzo Cuccia

Set Design Area Leader

View Profile

Francesca Pedrotti

Bachelor of Arts in Set Design Course Leader

View Profile

Margherita Palli

NABA Set Design Advisor

View Profile

NABA Set Design Advisor

Margherita Palli

A Ticinese set designer, she has studied in Switzerland and Italy. At the end of the 1970s, she began working with sculptor Alik Cavaliere and architect Gae Aulenti. In 1984 she opened her own studio and has since worked with many directors: Luca Ronconi, M. Avogadro, A. Barzini, V.Binasco, F.Branciaroli, H.Brockhaus, L.Cavani, C. Lievi, V.Malosti, M. Martone, L. Muscato, M. Popolizio, C. Rifici, A.R. Shammah, A.Sokurov and in ballet with D. Erzalow, Yang Jiang, with George Balanchine © The George Balanchine TrustSi. She has worked on set-up projects for art exhibitions and has collaborated on several exhibitions with Italo Rota's Architecture Studio. She has won many awards, including the UBU Prize, the Abbiati Prize, the Gassman Prize, the ETI Prize "Gli Olimpici del Teatro", the National Association of Theatre Critics Prize, and the Swiss Theatre Prize 2015. In 2007, she entered the Guinness World Records with the biggest screen wall in the world. Since June 2024, she has been a non-resident correspondent partner for the Venetian Institute of science, literature and arts. She started teaching in 1991, has been a set-design lecturer at the Architecture Academy of the Italian Swiss University in Mendrisio, professor at the IUAV University of Venice as well as at Politecnico of Milan, and has been invited as a lecturer for the museography course at Università Cattolica of Milan. photo © Claudio Moschin

Study Abroad Opportunities

Through exchange programmes, NABA's International Office encourages and supports students wishing to study abroad.

The office promotes educational experiences at numerous prestigious international partner universities worldwide. Thanks to this vast international network, students at NABA are able to spend periods of study abroad, enriching their educational curriculum and laying the groundwork for increasingly international future careers.

International study opportunities are mainly provided as part of the Erasmus+ project promoted by the European Commission, the International Exchange Program for destinations outside of Europe, the Semester Abroad Program at the Galileo Global Education and short summer courses.

NABA counts more than 50 cooperation agreements with European academies and universities through the Erasmus+ Programme; the Academy also counts more than 20 international cooperation agreements with several universities outside Europe.

Companies and institutions placement

NABA has developed strong relationships with leading companies that provide internships for NABA students, including: Compagnia della Rancia, Associazione Terzo Millennio, Teatro Stabile di Genova, Fondazione Teatro La Scala, Fondazione Ente Autonomo Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Teatro degli Incamminati Società Cooperativa, Associazione Centro Teatrale Bresciano, Teatro Franco Parenti, L'Opera National de Paris, Change Performing Arts S.r.l.

After the Bachelor of Arts

Graduates of the BA in Set Design program will have the theoretical, technical, and practical skills to launch a career as:

Opera, ballet and prose set and costume design
Musical and concert set design
Exhibition and event set design
Music video and advertising set design
Fashion show and photo shooting set design
Television and cinema set and costume design
Costume designer
Light designer
Props manager
Set designer
Stage technician

Graduates in Set Design may also choose to continue their studies in related disciplines such as: theatre design (opera), event & land live performance design, multimedia design, and costume design.

Collaborations