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One of the first Architecture Schools in Italy (established in 1926), the Università Iuav di Venezia is a 'themed' university focusing on design. It is a dedicated place for teaching, specialization, and field research in the design of living spaces and environments — such as buildings, cities, landscapes, and territory—and everyday use objects, fashion, graphics, and cultural, theatrical, multimedia events. The Università Iuav di Venezia is organized into three departments: "Architecture, Construction, and Conservation," "Design and Planning in Complex Environments," and "Architecture and Arts". Educational programs, courses, and activities are divided into five undergraduate degree programs and eight graduate degree programs that are project-driven in the fields of architecture, design, fashion, visual arts, urban and regional planning, theatre, in addition to several postgraduate specialization programs, advanced specialization courses, and eight research doctorates. The University has entered into agreements with several institutions and cultural entities in Venice, in the Veneto region, and abroad (La Biennale di Venezia, Teatro La Fenice, Palazzo Grassi, Musei Civici Veneziani, Teatro Due di Parma, theatres in Rome and Turin, Triennale di Torino, Philadelphia Museum, New York University, MIT of Boston). These institutions have involved and still involve students in art, design, and theatrical productions. Iuav invests a lot in research concerning the city, territory and environment, landscape, infrastructure and mobility, protection and conservation, sustainable design, History of architecture, the new frontiers of design, and arts and theatre. About 5,000 students attend this University (admission to the various degree programs is limited, which is an essential requirement needed to guarantee teaching quality). Furthermore, the Università Iuav di Venezia has also established cooperation and exchange relationships with non-EU institutions and universities. It has entered into over 60 agreements aiming at better student mobility. Studying at Iuav means living in an environment that is open to what is happening throughout the world. It means coming face-to-face with authoritative voices in the fields of architecture, regional planning, arts, and design: Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, Frank Lloyd Wright, Carlo Scarpa, Carlo Aymonino, Manfredo Tafuri, Vittorio Gregotti, Gino Valle, Aldo Rossi, Giovanni Astengo, Giancarlo De Carlo, Tadao Ando, and Richard Serra have all been part of our school's history. Università Iuav di Venezia has developed its international academic activities to improve the quality of its educational programs. It has done so by adapting itself to the principles of free academics and research and free knowledge circulation, aware of the social role held by university education and scientific research. The University promotes the international character of its training programs, given its membership in the European Higher Education Area. It develops international networks, activating study programs in collaboration with universities in other countries that enable curricula enrichment, students' exchange, and use of languages. All this will also foster relations with national and international public and private institutions, presenting Iuav students and graduates to an international level of job orientation. The Library was established in 1926 with the foundation of the Regio Istituto Superiore di Architettura di Venezia, which was named Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (IUAV) in 1936. At the time, along with the Library, other small collections were gathered to support new courses' teaching. Soon these collections became small branch libraries connected with the institutes of Architectural Composition, Architectural History, Conservation, etc. At the end of the 1970s, these collections were moved to the Main Library. Beginning in 1981, part of the Main Library's holdings were diverted to create departmental libraries. In 1989 the Main Library was enlarged and reorganized with new interior fittings by the architect Giuseppe Davanzo. Finally, the primary collection of libraries at Tolentini was being established. Now two new reading rooms open shelves, one of which is entirely reserved for journals and the other for special collections: the Giovanni Astengo Library on urban and town planning and History of architecture Library. View full university