Pininfarina Architecture Academy Summer SchoolNot three separate projects, but a single installation shaped by three distinct perspectives. This was the outcome of the second edition of the Pininfarina Architecture Academy Summer School, unveiled on 17 July at Pininfarina’s headquarters in Cambiano. Following two weeks focused on Advanced Design and DfMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly), the 15 participating students presented a unified structure in which design, technology and collaboration became part of the same process.
The workshop centred on the theme Inside Out, exploring the relationship between surfaces, enclosures and the identity of space. What does it mean to be “inside” something? And where does the boundary lie between a car, a room and an architectural space? These questions encouraged the students to challenge conventional distinctions between object and environment, investigating how a surface can become a space in its own right.
Working on a six-metre-diameter rotating platform, the three teams – Canopy Crew, Surface Architects and Groundscape Team – developed a single, interconnected composition. Each team focused on a different theme and element: a shading structure, a functional modular wall and a seat. Rather than functioning as three standalone pieces, the elements were designed to connect and interact, forming a single structure with potential applications in an urban setting.
The project brought together 3D modelling, AI and robotics. Digital geometries were translated into physical elements through robotic fabrication techniques, turning the design process into a constant exchange between the digital and the physical. This is where DfMA becomes particularly relevant: the way an element can be manufactured and assembled is considered from the outset, rather than as a separate stage of the design process.
At the final event, attended by Pininfarina CEO Paolo Dellachà, Giovanni de Niederhäusern, Senior Vice President, Architecture, Product & Nautical Design, and a jury of tutors and industry experts, each team presented not only its contribution, but also the thinking and process behind it. Their presentations highlighted the collective nature of the experience, with different skills and areas of expertise coming together to form a single project rather than competing for a single outcome.
There was therefore no individual winning team. Instead, all three groups were recognised collectively, with the jury offering feedback on their work. It was a fitting conclusion to a Summer School built around collaboration, where the value of the project lay as much in the exchange between disciplines as in the final result. The experience points towards a vision of design in which technology does not replace creativity, but expands what it can achieve. AI, digital modelling and robotics become tools through which an initial idea can be tested, refined and brought into the physical world – a process in which collaboration between different fields becomes part of the design itself.
