Abstract
This essay examines the pedagogical model developed at the Faculty of Design and Art of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, framing proximity as its central spatial, relational, and epistemic principle. Situated within South Tyrol’s multilingual context, the model combines project-based learning, three-teacher teams, mixed-year ateliers, integrated theory and practice, specialist workshops, and engagement with local institutions and communities. The essay argues that knowledge in art and design emerges through negotiation, material experimentation, productive conflict, public encounter, and critical reflection rather than through predetermined outcomes. It further considers how physical and digital technologies can support human creativity while remaining objects of ethical and political scrutiny. Emphasising response-ability, care, humility, and openness to uncertainty, the authors position design education beyond solutionism and technological determinism. Finally, the essay addresses the institutional conditions required to sustain this model, including public investment, equitable access, manageable workloads, multilingualism, and resistance to pressures of standardisation and efficiency.