The Compasso Volante Prize - Ettore Zambelli is a design competition for students born from a close collaboration between the School of Architectural Engineering of Politecnico di Milano, with professors Ettore Zambelli, Giuseppe Turchini and Marco Imperadori (scientific coordinator of the prize) and other prestigious universities in Europe and Asia. Now at the fourteenth edition, Compasso Volante is a comprehensive workshop lab in which teachers and students are involved in the development of a complex design theme, chosen every year. The creative concept and its translation into concrete construction drawings derive from a continuous dialogue between people and universities that share a common conception of architecture and its relationship with technology. This dialogical dimension of the design work, combined the possibility of inducing opportunities for profitable and rich cultural exchanges, is ultimately the real strength of this event and the secret of his longevity.

The Compasso Volante Prize owes its name to a beautiful drawing by Guido Scarabottolo, famous illustrator and artist. The drawing is a compass with its arms poised upwards, creating the shadow of Como's lake with its two branches behind it. A symbol that joins art and science, exactly the intent of the Faculty of Architectural Engineering. For this reason, the Flying Compass has become not only the logo of the Compasso Volante Prize but it has also been chosen by the Faculty as its symbol.