Through suitable teaching methods, exercises and lessons, students of product design will work with those of Interior design to develop innovative solutions in the fields of products, furniture and interiors, going beyond the more conventional and traditional categories  of furnishings in which the “Made in Italy” is usually recognized in the International scene.

The projects will be focusing on:

-developing design solutions for today and for the near future, for a mobile and trans-generational society with a life-style based on respect, dignity, empathy, sustainability;

-exploring new design concepts for everyday living, working and traveling;

-promoting wellness and ethics while considering social/spatial topics in a post-COVID 19 world;

-discovering new human dimensions in the context of interior spaces, furniture, and products;

-transforming spaces into places through furniture.

Specifically the topics that will be addressed and discussed with faculty staff and guests include:

-sustainability:  health, ecology, green design, urban farming;

-ethics: capable of orienting both the production and the life cycle of products, in a globally sustainable perspective, and the behavior induced by new environments and furniture;

-context: spatial and physical relationships considering lifestyles, preferences, wishes and activities of people, even after the COVID 19 pandemic;

-multifunctionality: ergonomics, anthropometry, modularity, flexibility;

-proxemics: wellness,  space and place defined by furniture and products;

-materials and technology:  used to define new spaces and new furniture/products that are interpreters of a new relationship with nature and the environment.

The course will relate to two significant Italian realities:

-FLA  FederlegnoArredo, the most important association of furniture manufacturers in Italy, with a strong international recognition, that can provide important elements of knowledge on the Italian design system, through specific seminars/lectures.

-Villa Arconati-FAR, a heritage of great historical, cultural and architectural value, located in the Milanese metropolitan area,  that provides the project site and the location  for the final exhibition of projects.

The final grade will be based on: intermediate hand-ins, quality and innovation of  final work, active participation in all the didactic activities of the studio (lectures, seminars, presentations, visiting, tutorials). 

Biblographical references will be given during the course.