The evolving demands of modern life have transformed university spaces into environments that serve not only as places for study but also as hubs for connection and collaboration. At the Politecnico di Milano, particularly within the Architecture and Design faculties, students spend long hours on campus, highlighting the need for spaces that accommodate extended stays and multifunctional use.

This need is the focus of the Laboratorio di Sintesi Finale I1 - called “Studium” - within the Interior Design degree program. The Studium Lab challenges 52 students to design spaces that respond to their everyday needs and those of their peers, fostering reflections on the relationship between users and their environment. Presented at the INTED 2024 conference, the course is led by a multidisciplinary team of academics and professionals. It focuses on redesigning spaces across Politecnico’s campuses.
The 2024/25 semester introduces a refined approach, emphasising integrating services for students and staff while opening campuses to the surrounding neighbourhoods. Making campuses more permeable to their urban contexts leads to new opportunities for interaction, transforming campuses into inclusive, flexible environments that inspire innovative uses and foster dynamic engagement.

The course is structured into three consecutive phases: analysis, concept, and design development. The students work in groups of 6, divided into pairs during the different phases. After each phase, students submit interim deliverables, allowing for an evaluation of the course progress. Throughout all three phases, the teaching team organizes lectures and activities in two complementary formats: first, face-to-face lectures featuring contributions from company guests; second, review sessions, where the teaching team evaluates project progress and provides guidance to steer the work toward its most promising outcomes.

To provide students with the best assistance throughout all phases, the teaching team has developed a range of support tools. Compared to the previous year, in the definition of the 2024/25-semester course, it was decided to intervene on two levels: a more content and analysis level and a logistical level. In terms of content and analysis, the required output of the first part has been the video and case studies. Compared to last year, the video became the sole narrative tool of the project, prompting the students to select the most significant elements of their analysis, trying to bring out the aim of their concept. The analysis was supplemented by the collection of case studies showing inspirations and architectural references, from which the students drew inspiration from a formal and services point of view. As also emerged at the INTED24 conference, requesting case studies and structuring a method of collection and continuous updating helped the students orientate themselves in the project.

From a logistical point of view, compared to the 2023/24 semester, it was decided to give more freedom in the layout of the materials of the final deliverables, but better structure the presentations of the various reviews. Providing clear directions and organising more structured revisions contribute to having more control over the student's progress.

The new implementations aim to reduce the gap between the different groups, providing support that can help even the most struggling students through timely organization and effective research and design development.

Keywords: Interior design, education, university campuses, public spaces, analysis tool, course organisation.