The Set Design Area introduces the students to the varied world of set and costume design for the show business and for live events.

In NABA since its beginnings, this Area is a meeting point for students and professionals in this field, in a continuous exchange of ideas.

With the two specialisations of the Bachelor of Arts in Set Design, Theatre and Opera, and Media and Events, the students analyse in-depth all disciplines of set and costume design for live shows, from opera to theatre plays, from dance to musicals to concerts, and are confronted with new kinds of sets for artistic performances, exhibitions, event, music videos, fashion shows, shop windows, advertisement, photography and TV sets.

The continuous exchange with international professionals who work at the most important theatres, museums, companies and laboratories, allows the students to acquire the necessary theoretical, technical and design tools to analyse the most significant scenarios of the contemporary cultural production, and to build their own, innovative design skills that enable them to confront the contemporary panorama as well as the professional world.

Which path to take?

Bachelor of Arts in

Set Design

The BA guides the students in the complex reality of set design through design-related subjects in the fields of theatre, events, exhibitions, fashion shows, cinema and television, providing them with the tools to relate to the most significant scenarios of the contemporary cultural production.

Our Faculty

Design and Applied Arts Department Head

Luca Poncellini

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Design and Applied Arts Department Head

Luca Poncellini

Luca Poncellini is an architect and a designer with a PhD in the History of Architecture and City Planning. As a partner in the architecture office Cliostraat until 2009, he has curated projects and has lectured in Italy and in several countries throughout the world. His works  have been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, at the Van Alen Institute in New York, at ETH in Zürich, at MAGA in Gallarate and at Triennale Milano. In 2008 he co-curated the retrospective exhibition Laszlo Hudec, in collaboration with the Hungarian Consulate in Shanghai. Since 2013 he has been the Course Leader of the MA in Interior Design. Between 2015 and 2019 directed the research lab and the project C-Park. Since 2019 he has been Design and Applied Arts Department Head.

Set Design Area Leader

Vincenzo Cuccia

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Set Design Area Leader

Vincenzo Cuccia

Vincenzo Cuccia has a degree in Cultural Heritage from Università Statale di Milano and in Editing from the Milan Scuola Civica di Cinema e Nuovi Media. As part of his previous professional experience, he worked as an editor in advertising and television, where he collaborated with the RAI (Milan tv broadcast production area) on entertainment, culture and information channels. After working in the SAE Institute since 2009 as lecturer and then Academic Coordinator and Manager of the activity of undergraduate and postgraduate courses on the Creative Media campuses of Milan, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Brussels, Madrid, Paris and Stockholm, between 2017 and 2021 he has been Course Leader of the BA in Media Design and Multimedia Arts while from 2021 he is Area Leader of Media Design and New Technologies, and Set Design.

NABA Set Design Advisor

Margherita Palli

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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

 

Bachelor of Arts in Set Design Course Leader

Francesca Pedrotti

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Bachelor of Arts in Set Design Course Leader

Francesca Pedrotti

From 2008 to 2011, she was a stage assistant to Margherita Palli for drama productions at Piccolo Teatro of Milan (directed by Luca Ronconi) and for operas (directed by Cesare Lievi and Mario Martone).

In 2011, she started a sound collaboration with the director and actor Gioele Dix, creating the set for several plays such as "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Nascosto dove c'è più luce", and "Matti da slegare". 

She worked as a set designer for Bananas agency's (Zelig) live shows.

In fashion, she collaborated with Outfit agency for brands such as Timberland, Canali, and Jacob Cohen, and with Studio Bazzani for the fashion designer Marras. 

She is part of the "Ortiche" studio, with which she has created set-ups for exhibitions such as "L'arca di vetro" at Le Stanze del Vetro in Venice, "The Wells Run Dry" in Paris, and "E-Waste in Ghana" in Arles for Fondation Carmignac.

She has been a lecturer in set design since 2010 at Naba.

Alumni Stories

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND STAGE MANAGER, TEATRO ALLA SCALA, FESTIVAL DONIZETTI OPERA, CARTE BLANCHE - DANISH THEATRE COMPANY

MARIALUISA BAFUNNO

Set Design

 “NABA helped me to develop a critical ‘awareness’ regarding the scenic space. I have begun working as a director and I believe that my studies in Set Design gave me the tools to face the stage in a more technical and conscious way.”

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Undergraduate Set Design

MARIALUISA BAFUNNO

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND STAGE MANAGER, TEATRO ALLA SCALA, FESTIVAL DONIZETTI OPERA, CARTE BLANCHE - DANISH THEATRE COMPANY

 “NABA helped me to develop a critical ‘awareness’ regarding the scenic space. I have begun working as a director and I believe that my studies in Set Design gave me the tools to face the stage in a more technical and conscious way.”