From September 7th to 11th, it took place BDE 2026 | Buenos Aires Design Experience, the third edition of the international workshop of the Bachelor's Degree in Design of the Faculty of Communication of the Universidad AustralFor five days, more than 120 students, teachers, graduates and guests participated in a collaborative learning experience based on applied systemic design and working with real organizations.
In collaboration with ISIA Roma Design , the Bachelor's Degree in Design at the Faculty of Communication launched a new edition of this international educational experience, inspired by the Roma Design Experience model. The goal is for students to learn by doing and apply strategic design tools and systems thinking to concrete challenges.
During the week, Design and Marketing students , accompanied by faculty from the Faculty of Sciences and international experts, went through different stages of work: research, understanding the context, ideation, development, and prototyping. The process allowed them to engage with complex realities, identify opportunities, and develop concrete proposals based on the challenges presented.
This year's partner organizations included Minkai Asociación Civil , the Technological Promotion Department of the Municipality of Pilar , the Father Mario Pantaleo Foundation , and El Arca . The challenges were diverse and linked to social, community, and territorial realities. In each case, the teams first had to understand the system within which the problem was embedded, and then identify opportunities for intervention through design.
The experience began on Monday, September 7th at the Pilar Campus, with an opening address by Rector Julián Rodríguez Priore and a lecture by leading figures from ISIA Roma Design . Throughout the week, faculty members and international mentors guided the teams in developing their projects, combining research, systems thinking, design analysis, ideation, and prototyping.
The closing event, held on Friday the 11th, provided an opportunity to share the projects developed during the week with representatives from the organizations and invited guests. Esteban Pittaro , Academic Secretary of the Faculty of Communication, highlighted one of the key takeaways: knowledge is essential for understanding. “Everyone was remarkable in their oral presentations because they have gained in-depth knowledge.”
For the director of the Bachelor's Degree in Design, Marcela Frías , BDE also represents an opportunity to expand the international connections of the students: "The idea, my dream is that you can also experience these workshops in other universities, that you can have design friends everywhere."
From ISIA Roma Design, we were joined by tutors Roberto Paura, Silvia Gortana, Nicola Di Cosmo, and Sonya Massari throughout the week , who were later joined by leading figures Stefano Pratesi, Massimiliano Datti, and Tommaso Salvatori , ISIA's director, for the final presentations. In this way, BDE 2026 further developed its experiential, collaborative, and interdisciplinary educational approach, in which design is understood as a practice capable of addressing complexity, connecting stakeholders, and generating new forms of relationships.
This experience took place this year within the framework of an internationalization process of the Bachelor's Degree in Design, with the formation of an international network of applied systemic design , based on the signing of the Buenos Aires Charter during the International Design Experience Conference held on Saturday, September 12, 2026.
