Why you should choose Bologna for your Global MBA: BBS and the new campus.
7 March 2022Italy.
In Italy you can find the oldest University in the world, the most varied and famous cuisine, the luxury of Made in Italy. With over 3400 museums, 2100 archaeological areas and parks, and 43 UNESCO sites, Italy is the country with the largest cultural and artistic heritage on the planet.
Venice, Florence, Naples, Rome, Genoa, Milan, and Syracuse compete for the primacy of beauty with unique natural areas: the Cinque Terre, the Dolomites, Argentario, and Val d’Orcia, to name just a few.
From the almost French Valle d’Aosta to Trentino-Alto Adige, which already tastes of Austria; from Friuli, the border with Eastern Europe and meeting point of two worlds, to Sicily in the center of Mediterranean Sea, the variety of beauties, languages, memories, and cultures of our peninsula is incomparable in the world.
Bologna.
Bologna the “Dotta” because it is home to the oldest university in the world. The “Fat”, for its world-famous gargantuan cuisine. La “Rossa” for the color of its roofs and walls at sunset.
Bologna is the city of hospitality, where people smile, meet, and talk at the tables of the osterias, or in the many museums, cinemas, and theaters that fill its squares. The historic city center, where medieval, art nouveau and modern styles blend in harmony, makes Bologna one of the most fascinating cities in Italy.
Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio with its Anatomical Theatre, the medieval towers of the Asinelli and Garisenda, the symbol of the city; the Sala Borsa Library, the Giambologna’s Neptune Fountain; the Santo Stefano Complex with its splendid square, the 12th-century canals: Bologna is a never-ending surprise to be discovered slowly, following its quiet alleys, and enjoying its vibrant squares.
International events, trade fairs, concerts, art, the Cineteca that nurtures the passion for Cinema; UNESCO City of Music and UNESCO City of Porticoes, Bologna is the meeting point between North and South, East and West. It is the place to be if you want to see, breathe and understand all of Italy.
BBS: two locations for the future of Bologna Business School.
Villa Guastavillani.
The BBS headquarters is the 16th century Villa Guastavillani, a building of great historical value, a wonderful Renaissance villa that was carefully restored in the early 2000s. It has magnificent frescoes inside the classrooms and an entire museum room in the style of Renaissance grottoes. Gardens and a large park embrace the prestigious building.
The new Campus.
The new Campus of the Bologna Business School will be built on a site in front of Villa Guastavillani, on Bologna’s hills. The project is the result of a selection process organized by the BBS Foundation and won by the Archistar Mario Cucinella Architects.
The vast green area around the 16th-century Villa Guastavillani, needing a new space to accommodate the more than 1,700 students, Faculty, and stakeholders, will become a welcoming meeting place: a glass building, protected by a light roof over which greenery will grow, bringing natural light and encouraging exchange between the interior and the surrounding landscape.
The reception area will be accessible from the main hall and the multifunctional spaces below via a lift system. A large staircase/theatre, designed as the School’s agorà, will connect to the classrooms on the upper floor, where there will also be a large terrace open to BBS users.
In line with the BBS Initiative for Sustainable Society and Business, all the work will be managed with a view to saving energy and sustainability, focusing on the use of natural materials which will also keep the beauty of the area on which the Bologna Business School is located.
«The growth of BBS led us to look for new spaces to add to our iconic headquarters, and the availability of an area with some properties in front of Villa Guastavillani made us decide to grow here, right where we were born», explains Max Bergami, Dean of Bologna Business School. «This expansion is a very important step in consolidating the growth of BBS», says Francesco Ubertini, former Rector of the Alma Mater University of Bologna. The architect Mario Cucinella emphasizes that the project was «conceived as a place where nature, history and architecture interact, to create learning spaces in harmony with students’ needs». «Alongside the great effort being made to train technicians to meet the challenges of our time», concludes Romano Prodi, former Prime Minister and Chairman of the BBS Steering Committee: «we must also provide training for the managers and executives who will lead our companies in the future: the Bologna Business School is able to implement this great and necessary project. The campus we are presenting today is the symbol of this great commitment that Bologna has taken on».
«I’ve learned that innovation comes from a person, not a place. I don’t want to be polite; I want you to go for it, I want you to say “I want that”. If you believe, as I do, that the place is not as important as the person, and that education creates talent, then we should be able in our democracies to face the competitive challenge and be even more successful, I believe that this University is one of the places that will lead furthest.» Eric Schmidt Speech, Honorary Degree in Business Management, Graduation 2020 and 2021. Piazza Maggiore, Bologna.
