Dezeen promotion: Italian designer and architect Fabio Novembre's appointment as the scientific director of the Domus Academy school of design in Milan marks a "new era" for the school.

Joining Novembre in the leadership of Domus Academy will be Fabio Siddu, who will be the director of the school. Together, the two figures will form a new vision and strategy for the academy.

Founded in 1982 in Milan, the "world capital of design", Domus Academy was the first post-graduate design school in Italy to focus on Italian design and fashion, and the processes of industrial creativity.

"Italian design approach is a key aspect of our teaching at Domus Academy," explained Novembre. "Italian design has long been renowned for its creativity, originality, innovation, and beauty, as well as its capacity to adapt rapidly to the changing market."

"Domus Academy's contemporary interpretation of Italian design remains faithful to this tradition by responding to ever-evolving situations and the merging of different cultures. We not only challenge design solutions – we believe equally in the task of revealing new problems."

The school offers 12 one-year masters programmes in a wide variety of design specialisations, including business design, fashion, interaction design and architecture.

The school centres itself around a "learning by designing" methodology, which sees students solve real-life design problems with the help of its faculty of industry professionals and international design thinkers.

"Our students are encouraged to develop the ability, not only to solve design problems, but also to identify problems for which design can offer effective solutions," said Siddu the new director of the school.

"Essential to Domus Academy are the challenges offered by the professional partners that the school has developed with leading Italian and international companies."

"These invaluable collaborations give students vital real-world learning to develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities," he continued.

"Through such perspective Domus Academy has stayed true to its founding mission: to prepare designers for personal growth and professional success in an ever-changing market."

Selected for his "vision and know-how", Novembre is expected to bring his heritage of knowledge in the design industry to the academy to help in developing new principles for the school, while leveraging the legacy of its great founders.

"Domus Academy has always been a reference point for design education, and I am honoured to become its scientific director," commented Novembre.

"Italian design has become a concept that is distinct from the origins of its representatives – its in an approach that is constantly growing because it is now expressed by international minds collaborating with companies that were originally founded in Italy," he continued.

"Domus Academy is a perfect expression of this evolution, with 94 per cent international students completely immersed in the Italian design environment offered by Milan."

Novembre will actively take part in students' life at Domus Academy, giving lectures and leading workshops. The school will also offer a scholarship dedicated to the new scientific director and an internship at Studio Novembre to the most talented student.

"I have already started a mutually beneficial exchange of ideas with the faculty, allowing us to develop a strategic new direction that will be expressed through the school’s new Manifesto," said Novembre.

"Our objective is to reconnect to our tradition through the lens of innovation to continue meeting the educational demands of the designers of the future."

Find out more about Domus Academy on its website.