Interior Design – Timeless spaces

Interior design – Timeless spaces is the RUFA Summer Academy course that invites participants to explore the world of interior design through Rome’s layered memory, in collaboration with FMA Architects. An intensive workshop dedicated to designing timeless living spaces through pre-digital techniques and the juxtaposition of materials, colours and forms.

DURATION > 1 WEEK

LANGUAGE > ENGLISH

WHEN > 6 – 10 JULY 2026

CAMPUS > ROME

Timeless spaces

The programme offers an immersion in the Eternal City, through history, architecture and the culture of living. Rome becomes a living atlas of forms, materials, colours and proportions: a place where different eras coexist and offer new ways of interpreting contemporary design.

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Inside the Domus

The course begins with an analysis of the ancient Roman Domus, the house par excellence, to investigate the relationship between space, function and ritual. Domestic environments become the starting point for imagining an interior design project capable of transcending time without losing strength, identity or contemporary relevance.

Through case studies, images, exercises, sketches, brainstorming and external visits, participants will be guided in developing a unique space. The work will focus on manual techniques and representation tools such as quick pencil sketching, watercolour painting, collage, material mood boards and colour schemes.

Participants will work in a unique environment: a genuine materials library located on the piano nobile of a palace dating from 1570, in the heart of the city. Here, the project takes shape through direct contact with surfaces, textures, colour combinations and spatial inspirations.

The programme is open to university students, Fine Arts Academy students and adults with a passion for interior design and styling.

At the end of the course, participants who have attended at least 4 of the 5 scheduled lessons will receive a certificate of attendance, which may be used for the possible recognition of 2 CFA academic credits.

Hear from the professionals at FMA Architects

Course type: group – in person
Participants: Min. 8, Max. 15 | The programme is open to university and Fine Arts students and adults with a passion for interior design and styling.
Attendance: Monday to Friday, from 09.00 am to 1.00 pm or from 10.00 am to 2.00 pm + self-study time (also on campus)
Duration: 6 – 10 July 2026
Cost: €850.00 – Admission tickets are included in the course fee.
Requirements/materials: No entry requirements. Students must have their own set of brushes, paints and A4 watercolour paper pads.
Language: English | Participants are required to have a good command of English.
Lecturers: Fabio Mazzeo, Alessia Vitali and the FMA designers.
Campus: FMA, Via Giulia 167, Rome + Pastificio Cerere, Via Degli Ausoni 7/A, Rome
Certificate: At the end of the course, participants who have attended at least 4 of the 5 scheduled lessons will receive a certificate of attendance, which may be used for the possible recognition of 2 CFU

Day 1
Course presentation and programme.
Lesson on interior design, the legacy of 20th-century Italian masters and the relationship with clients, presenting internationally recognised interior design projects.
Practical exercises on designing with materials (in the materials library) and visualising interior design projects using pre-digital techniques.

Day 2
Introduction to the Roman Domus and its spaces: Triclinium (dining room), Cubicula (bedroom), Tablinum (living room), Balneum (bathroom and SPA), and how they have evolved to the present day.
Brief and personal selection of the preferred space. Launch of the concept development phase.
Practical exercises on mood boards and collage techniques.

Day 3
Project development and progress.
Practical exercises in quick sketching and watercolour painting.

Day 4
External visit.
Project development and progress.
Practical exercises on presentation techniques.

Day 5
Finalisation of projects
Presentation and feedback session with Fabio Mazzeo.

Alessia Vitali
Alessia Vitali is Brand Development Director at Fabio Mazzeo Architects.
She is an architect who graduated from Sapienza University of Rome, where she obtained a PhD in Architecture, including a visiting period at Columbia University.
Alessia has taken part in design critiques at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Parsons The New School and Columbia University; she taught Exhibit Design at BAU Global and collaborated with La Galleria Nazionale in Rome. She was Academic Director of the Quasar Institute for Advanced Design.
Alessia co-founded Open House Roma, where she served as Managing Director, worked as Program Coordinator at Fondazione Exclusiva and curated public events and cultural projects at MAXXI, MACRO, the Museum of the Imperial Forums in Trajan’s Markets, Expo 2015 and Maker Faire.

Fabio Mazzeo Architects FMA
Fabio Mazzeo Architects is an Italian professional practice operating in the field of high-end architecture and interior design, with extensive international experience in the sector.
FMA is based in one of the most prestigious and sumptuous buildings in Rome’s historic centre, Palazzo Baldoca Muccioli on Via Giulia.

RUFA Winter-Summer Course Students and Alumni: 10% RUFA Students and Alumni: 50% Very early bird: by 31 December 2025 – 15% Early bird: by 31 March 2026 – 10% FINAL EXTENSION OF DISCOUNT DEADLINE: Early Bird discount by 15 April 2025 -10% Course/group/family package: contact [corsibrevi@unirufa.it](mailto:corsibrevi@unirufa.it) Participants who, after completing the course, enrol in a First- or Second-Level Academic Diploma Programme will receive a 10% reduction on the annual tuition fee for the first year of attendance.

RUFA has established several agreements with facilities providing housing services. For further information, please contact [corsibrevi@unirufa.it](mailto:corsibrevi@unirufa.it)