The educational visit that took place on the 4^th and 5^th of June at FUM headquarters in Avenza was of great relevance and importance: a select group of 16 architects enrolled in the Post-Graduate Master by YACademy dedicated to Spiritual Architecture enjoyed the unique experience of two days of close encounter with Carrara marble, appreciated and recognized as excellence throughout the whole world.

FUM Academy, active since 2022, has been collaborating with YACademy since 2023 for the production and organization of post-graduate advanced training courses in Architecture with a focus on marble and natural stone and on the various applications in the design field. In 2025, FUM’s commitment to YACademy has become more important and has found concrete expression in this first Master launched by the two entities for the community of architects from all over the world.

After the official launch of the Master in Spiritual Architecture last February, many applications were received and we reached the launch of the event with enthusiasm and high expectations. The class of 16 international architects was guided on this journey of knowledge and study of marble by a very high level teacher such as Architect Nicholas Bewick of the AMDL-Atelier Michele De Lucchi studio.

The first day started early with the arrival of YAC students, teachers and chaperones at the FUM headquarters where they were welcomed and greeted by Bernarda Franchi: after a brief presentation of the course by YACademy, Mahmoud Idriss introduced the young architects to the realities of the FUM Academy and the dedicated digital platform FUMFORARCHITECTS.

Architect Davide Biselli of Interninow then spoke and guided the students on the factory tour, including a visit to the showrooms, the Big One, Kengo Kuma’s work and the processing laboratory where the slabs are polished.

A quick lunch break at the Bettogli quarry and immediately afterwards the on-site visit guided by Davide Giovanetti and Michel Pianini before the transfer to the site being studied by the young architects attending the YAC Master.

An intense and stimulating first day of work followed by a second one and equally as dense and rich: everything is ready to inaugurate the design laboratory dedicated to the theme ‘Product Design – Sacred Objects’.

Nicholas Bewick

Here, the architect Nicholas Bewick, now Art Director of the AMDL Circle, was an excellent teacher: always dedicated to research for the development of Italian and international architectural projects, he also tutors and mentors for the studio. In this seminar we met him as an exceptional tutor for this group of young professionals who aspire to acquire the skills and competences necessary to design with marble in the field of spiritual architecture.

What was experienced by the participants was a full immersion of ideas and visions shared between FUM, YACademy, the Master students and Architect Bewick: this created the basis for the development work of the end-of-course project that will have to be presented by each of the students at the end of the Master.

The satisfaction of all, including organizers and participants, was tangible: the transmission and knowledge of the essential values ​​linked to Carrara marble finds in these training visits promoted by FUM and its Academy the opportunity to express itself at its best to build practically, through those who will be the professionals of the future, a dialogue with the world of Great Architecture.

“We are honored to be able to welcome these young architects that come here from all over the world to the company” –tells us Bernarda Franchi, Vice President of FUM– Today I was pleased to greet and welcome students from countries such as Australia, India, Mexico, the United States, just to name a few. Our Academy is an important testimony of excellence of marble not only in the territory, but in the world, because Carrara marble, in addition to being appreciated for its aesthetic value, must be known in depth. And we are here to do it, telling its story, values ​​and vision, thanks also to the great collaboration with YAC.

YACademy

With 15 Pritzker Prize winners – the “Nobel Prize” of architecture – on its faculty panel, YACademy is the first postgraduate institute in the world born from the comparison and collaboration between the most illustrious names in contemporary architecture. From the definition of the programs to the lessons, every aspect is taken care of by the greatest architectural firms of our time. Thanks to the collaboration with well-known professional entities, YACademy qualifies itself as the ideal context in which to complete or update skills and boost career through the connection with the most important studios in the international scene. Since 2024, YACademy has been certified as Carbon Neutral.

Nicholas Bewick – AMDL Circle- Architect and Art Director

A graduate of the Canterbury School of Architecture, he moved to Milan in 1985 to undertake a master’s degree in design at the Domus Academy. At the end of the course he began his long collaboration with Michele De Lucchi. Today he is the art director for architecture of the studio and he leads the research team as well as he deals with the training of young architects by providing design, iconographic and bibliographic support and references with a maieutic approach. Leading teams, he was responsible for multiple projects such as the UniCredit Pavilion in Milan, the UniCredit Headquarters in Verona, the Novartis Pavilion in Basel, and the Cold War Memorial competition in Wisconsin.