Accademia Italiana brings “YOUTHOPIA” to Rome

Rome, June 20, 2025

After the success of the Florentine edition at Pitti Uomo 108 (you can read more about it here), the exhibition “YOUTHOPIA” arrives in Rome, at the headquarters of Accademia Italiana (Viale dello Scalo San Lorenzo 10), with an event on June 25 from 6 to 11 p.m., accompanied by DJ set and aperitif.

An event that celebrates the creativity of the new generations and concludes a choral and interdisciplinary path created with curator Matteo Ward, creative visionary and activist, who guided 17 students from Fashion Design, Jewelry Design, Design and Photography courses in exploring the boundaries of contemporary utopia.

Clothes, objects, images, installations: “YOUTHOPIA” is a visual and theoretical narrative that brings into dialogue the anxieties and impulses of the new generations. A project that questions the role of design in a time of crisis and transformation, shaping new imaginaries, values and possibilities. At a time when the new generations seem disillusioned about the future, utopia asserts itself as a necessary gesture: it is desire, vision, an act of resistance. Between criticism and hope, creativity becomes an active language, capable of proposing alternatives and redefining aesthetics, identities and ways of inhabiting the world.

“Design that looks to utopia is not a pipe-dream but an ambitious direction that pushes beyond current limits,” says Livia Di Nardo, Campus Manager of Accademia Italiana's Rome office. " Utopia acts as an ethical guide, helping to anticipate needs, break down barriers and imagine a harmonious future in which design itself brings solutions that are useful and usable by the widest spectrum of people, promoting authentic inclusiveness. The designer is therefore called upon to look beyond immediate needs, aiming to meet deeper aspirations and solve concrete problems."

"If good design really has the vocation of responding to the authentic needs of humanity, in balance with society and the environment, then we need to stop and ask ourselves: what are our deepest needs today? And what will they become tomorrow? - explains Matteo Ward - In this scenario, utopia is not escapism, but direction. A compass for a new generation of designers in search of a role. From this awareness comes a path of research and experimentation. We observed a changing environment, questioned the present and tried to imagine new meanings. A dress, a piece of jewelry, a photograph, an object or a graphic can become active tools, capable of responding - even if only in part - to the complexity of our time. Evolving expectations. Restore relevance. Shape a new sense of design."

“YOUTHOPIA” is a call to action addressed to the younger generation: imagine the impossible in order to imagine the future. The project culminates in an editorial publication that collects the students' reflections, processes and results: a generational manifesto that is both a tangible testimony of the path taken and a springboard for young talent.

Admission is free with reservation. Eventbrite link