Date

10 November 2025

The seventh edition celebrates innovation with an immersive exhibition

The IED Roma Design Awards 2025 return on November 28 to celebrate the most innovative and original projects developed by recent graduates of IED Roma. This year’s edition will take place at the Forum Theatre, an immersive venue created alongside the historic FORUM STUDIOS—which also collaborated on a thesis project presented last July.

Founded in the 1970s by legendary composers Ennio Morricone, Armando Trovajoli, Luis Bacalov, and Piero Piccioni, the Forum Studios have welcomed artists such as Fabrizio De André, Jovanotti, and Franco Battiato, and served as the creative home for iconic film soundtracks including Cinema Paradiso, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and Il Postino.

Seventeen projects were shortlisted for this year’s awards, selected by the scientific committee from among all 2024/25 master’s and undergraduate theses. An external jury then evaluated the nominees and selected the three winning projects that best embodied originality, innovation, contemporaneity, and feasibility.

Now in its seventh edition, the event brought together an outstanding jury featuring several IED alumni: Giulia Mangano, Creative Director at Will and Chora; Riccardo Tramontano, yacht designer; Viola Pantano, internationally acclaimed multidisciplinary artist; Federica Scalona, Creative Director at BBDO; and Flavio Di Marziantonio, founder and Creative Director of Lost Boys, the Rome-based collective behind major electronic music events across Europe.

As every year, the event is held under the patronage of ADI (the Association for Industrial Design). The evening will be hosted by Riccardo Zianna, a Media Design graduate, now Director of Facce Caso and presenter for Spaghetti Unplugged.

The award ceremony and immersive exhibition of the nominated projects will be followed by a DJ set and aperitivo, creating an inspiring space to celebrate creativity and new design talent.
Attendance is by invitation only, with mandatory registration.

You may be interested in:

23 October 2026

Forbes Next Leaders: Alumna Chiara Filiasi creates the September cover

The collaboration between IED and Forbes Next Leaders continues: for the month of September, the cover has been created by Chiara Filiasi, an Alumna of the BA in Illustration and Animation at IED Roma.

16 October 2026

Pathos Formulas: Images, Memory and Transformation at Romaeuropa Festival

IED's exhibition project arrives at Rome's Mattatoio as part of the Ultra REF programme. The opening event on 23 October will also host the announcement of the winners of the IED Roma Design Awards 2026.

15 October 2026

Design for Schools: a game to design the school of the future

At Maker Faire Rome 2026, IED presents a co-design toolkit that combines play, design and artificial intelligence to rethink schools starting from the needs of the people who experience them every day.

01 October 2026

IED and Alice nella città: 15 Years of Cinema, On and Off Screen

For 15 years, IED Roma and Alice nella città have shared a vision of cinema as a language to experience, explore and shape. In 2026, this long-standing partnership continues, bringing IED students into the heart of the festival and giving them the opportunity to put their creative skills into practice across audiovisual production, photography, sound design and new media.

23 September 2026

MACRO. Museum of the Everyday: Rethinking the Museum as a Space for Everyday Life

On view at MACRO in Rome until November 8, nine projects by IED students envision new ways of inhabiting the museum and transforming it into a space that is open, permeable and connected to everyday life.

18 September 2026

Inclusion, equity and diversity: the journey continues

One year after achieving the UNI/PdR 125:2022 certification, we reaffirm our commitment to fostering an increasingly inclusive, equitable workplace culture that values diversity.

14 September 2026

IED at Cinema In Verde

IED Roma takes part in the fourth edition of Cinema In Verde with LAND, a film training project that brought together twelve young Palestinian filmmakers.

28 August 2026

What does sustainability mean for a design school?

When discussing sustainability, the debate often focuses on environmental impacts and the responsible use of resources. But what does sustainability mean, in practical terms, for a school that educates future designers, creatives and professionals capable of driving change?

31 July 2026

Forbes Next Leaders: Alumna Chiara Robino designs the August cover

The collaboration between IED and Forbes Next Leaders continues: for the August issue, the cover was designed by Chiara Robino, Alumna in Illustration from IED Torino in the 2025/26 academic year.