INTBAU Italia is a registered charity in Italy founded in 2005. It promotes the conservation and continuity of Italy’s architectural, urban, and building traditions, fostering dialogue between local knowledge and contemporary design practices. Its mission is to support a design culture rooted in place, craftsmanship, and sustainability through research, education, and international cooperation.
INTBAU Italia has a strong track record in organising academic programmes, most notably Summer Schools, Winter Schools, design workshops, and charrettes on traditional architecture and sustainable urbanism. These have been delivered in collaboration with, among others, The Prince’s Foundation for Building Community (London), Politecnico di Milano, Università di Bologna, Cracow University of Technology, Eastern Mediterranean University (Famagusta), University of Notre Dame (USA), University of Waterloo (Canada), the Council for European Urbanism, and numerous local communities.
Programme history
2005 – Summer School: Rural Landscape and Architectural Quality (Morciano di Romagna)
2006 – Summer School: Rethinking the City: Projects for a New Urban Quality (Morciano di Romagna)
2007 – Summer School: Drawing the City: Projects for a Contemporary Urbanity (Morciano di Romagna)
2008 – Summer School: The Invisible Cities: Lessons in Drawing for a Sustainable Century (London and Morciano di Romagna)
2008 – Urban Design Charrette: Facciamo Centro (Argelato)
2009 – Summer School: The Invisible Cities: Lessons in Drawing for a Sustainable Century (London and Bologna)
2010 – Summer School: Colours of Creativity (Paris and Matera)
2011 – Winter School: Global Heritage / Local Identity: Challenges in Conservation, Interpretation and Documentation (New Delhi and Jaipur)
2011 – Summer School: Sicily and Arab–Norman Architecture (Palermo and Madonie)
2012 – Summer School: Drawing the Genius Loci (Como)
2012–2014 – Barcelona Programme (Barcelona)
2015 – Design Workshop: The Mediterranean Diet Places (Pollica)
2016 – Summer School: Re-drawing the Castle of Gorizia (Gorizia)
2017 – 5th INTBAU Annual Meeting: Putting Tradition into Practice: Heritage, Place, Design (Politecnico di Milano, Milan)
2017 – Study Tour: The Tradition of Palladio (Vicenza)
2018 – Summer School: Cultural Landscape and Heritage Skills (Lizori and Campello sul Clitunno, Perugia)
2019 – Conference: The Making of Beauty in Puglia (London)
2019–2024 – Research and Design Initiative: Regenerating Amatrice: The Resilience of Local Identity (Amatrice)
2025 – Summer School: The Architecture of Palladio (Vicenza)
INTBAU Italia develops academic programmes, training courses, and study visits in response to proposals from partners, professionals, and local communities. These initiatives focus on drawing, surveying, and documenting places as tools for urban regeneration. Additional programmes explore regional colour atlases, construction using traditional materials, and stereotomy.
Recent initiatives have centred on the reconstruction of the town of Amatrice following the earthquake, through the long-term project Regenerating Amatrice: The Resilience of Local Identity.
In 2025, INTBAU Italia launched the Palladianist Project, an initiative aimed at establishing a centre for education in traditional and classical architecture in Vicenza. Palladian architecture has profoundly influenced Western urban planning and artistic traditions, giving rise to the Palladian style that spread internationally. The programme offers participants the opportunity to practise architectural design through drawing from life, learn traditional rendering techniques, and study classical principles of architectural composition.
Chapter board
Giuseppe Amoruso (Chair)
Andrew Arduini
Vita Maria Firenze
Luca Guerini
Tiziano Iacoboni
Ubaldo Occhinegro
Ilaria Trizio
Silvia Zago
Contact
Giuseppe Amoruso
Chair, INTBAU Italia
intbauitalia@gmail.com
www.intbauitalia.org
