design for the fashion system - design per il sistema moda

In the Laboratory, students face design themes for the realisation of accessory, clothes and/or collections (men, women, sportswear) in the light of the most recent tendencies and technologies.
Students are guided in the realisation of models, digital representation and in the presentation of project results.

Students:

• are familiar with and understand the processes, methods and instruments required for elaborating a project in the Fashion circle, in the light of the most recent tendencies and production technologies;
• know how to elaborate a design, with particular attention on the functional, typological, structural and technical aspects.
• operate and communicate the design choices made independently and in a team, developing an aptitude for negotiation, team building, leadership and conflict management

The Final Synthesis laboratory is dedicated to the fashion accessories. The laboratory provides the theoretical framework and style of the accessories sector and it is organized in different design studios led by professional designers in the industry and aims to provide students with the specific competences and skills within the fashion accessories. Each module will be devoted to an accessory and carried out in the form of project workshops where the student will be asked for the design and implementation of a prototype.
The laboratory provides professional competences in the fashion accessories field and the student will acquire methodologies and tools for designing differend kinds of accessories.

• - -
  Il laboratorio di Sintesi è dedicato all'accessorio moda. Il laboratorio prevede l'inquadramento teorico e stilistico del settore degli accessori e diversi moduli progettuali svolti da designer professionisti del settore e ha come obiettivo quello di fornire allo studente le competenza professionalizzanti nell'ambito del'accessorio moda. Ciascun modulo sarà dedicato a un accessorio e svolto sotto forma di workshop di progetto dove allo studente sarà chiesto il progetto e la realizzazione del prototipo di un accessorio.
  Il laboratorio fornisce competenze professionalizzanti nell'ambito dell'accessorio moda e lo studente acquisirà metodologie e strumenti per progettare accessori di diversa tipologia.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, senza prove in itinere
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, individuale, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
The final exam is represented by the sum of the votes of each worlshop.
Individual judgment on concept 1

• Individual judgment on concept 2
• Individual judgment on concept 3
• Individual judgment on the concept 4
  The average of which helps to determine the final evaluation phase in their reporting.
  The lack of assessment of evidence gives rise to a rating of zero points, which will be included in the final average.
• - -
  Durante il semestre sono previste prove in itinere, la cui media concorre a determinare la valutazione conclusiva in fase di consuntivazione.
  ll voto dell'esame finale sarà costituito dalla sommatoria di quattro prove in itinere:
• giudizio individuale sul concept 1
• giudizio individuale sul concept 2
• giudizio individuale sul concept 3
• giudizio individuale sul concept 4
  La mancata valutazione di una prova dà luogo a una valutazione di zero punti, che verrà inserita nella media finale.

La costruzione di interfacce utente avanzate in grado di soddisfare in modo efficace le esigenze degli utenti è un compito complesso. E 'necessario padroneggiare i processi di progettazione e di valutazione, i quali sono molto più complessi rispetto alle interfacce più convenzionali. Questo modulo fornisce quindi le conoscenze necessarie sulle metodologie generali dell'Human Computer Interaction. Gli studenti impareranno a progettare, sviluppare e valutare interfacce utente avanzate dal punto di vista delle esperienze degli utenti.

The course guides final-year students through a design process focused on envisioning, evaluating and developing AI-native products, services and business models.

Through lectures, workshops, review sessions and prototyping activities, the course will train designers to act as interpreters between strategy, technology and the future: professionals capable not only of designing better products, but also of helping organisations envision and build what comes next.

Over the course of 13 sessions, students will progress from using AI as a simple optimisation tool to understanding it as a strategic capability—one that can transform how organisations and individuals think, make decisions, collaborate and innovate.
The course adopts a dual-lens approach. On the one hand, it examines organisations from within, focusing on the processes, skills and cultural barriers that shape AI adoption. On the other, it explores the external environment, including future scenarios, emerging markets, new needs and opportunities for disruption. Students will work on real or simulated cases, learning how to assess an organisation’s AI maturity, identify inefficiencies and “value leaks”, turn individual knowledge into institutional intelligence, and design solutions that are scalable, governable and desirable.
The course methodology is based on an integrated approach to business, technology and people, consistently considering both their internal and external dimensions. Each project will therefore be required to demonstrate strategic sustainability, technical feasibility and human value, avoiding “bolt-on” solutions and instead aiming to create systems in which AI is embedded in the DNA of the experience.

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, senza revisioni periodiche, senza presentazione/discussione finale
Assessment is based on the team project developed throughout the course and on each student's individual contribution to it; there is no separate written or oral exam.
Continuous assessment (≈30% of the final grade): at the end of each module, teams submit the required deliverable (team & role map; validated scenarios; selected concept & prototype; feasibility & business case dossier; brand principles one-pager; audience-tailored pitches) and receive structured feedback during dedicated review sessions with Bain experts. Deliverables are assessed on rigor, use of the frameworks developed in class, and coherence with prior steps.
Final project and presentation (≈70% of the final grade): in session 13, each team presents the full journey and defends it in a live Q&A in front of Bain experts (and possibly the client). Grading considers the quality and coherence of the final deliverable, the audience-appropriateness of the narrative, and each student's ability to autonomously explain and defend the team's choices during the Q&A.
The use of generative AI tools is allowed and encouraged throughout the course, given its subject matter, to support research, ideation, prototyping and preparation of deliverables. During the final Q&A/defense, each student must be able to explain and justify the reasoning behind the team's work autonomously: this live discussion is the primary check on individual understanding, independent of any AI support used during the process.
Deliverables and feedback produced during the course remain valid only for the academic year of delivery.

Christensen, Hall, Dillon, Duncan, Competing Against Luck, Editore: HarperBusiness, Anno edizione: 2016
Greg Nudelman, UX for AI: A Framework for Designing AI-Driven Products, Editore: Wiley, Anno edizione: 2025
Ethan Mollick, Co-Intelligence: The Definitive, Bestselling Guide to Living and Working with AI, Editore: WH Allen, Anno edizione: 2024

The course provides students with an understanding of how AI technologies are reshaping the field of design, and equips them with the knowledge and skills necessary to leverage AI in the design processes. This turns out in understanding and exploring how tasks such as sentiment analysis, insight extraction, text-to-image generation, creative output drawing, machine translation and text summarization, big data analysis, and much more, could be used in design process to address systemic social challenges and create responsible solutions.

Students will:

• understand the fundamental concepts of AI and its applications in design.
• Explore generative design techniques to support the creative design process.
• Evaluate the ethical considerations and societal impact of AI in design.
• Collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams to integrate AI into the design process.

The course explores the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and design, to guide students in identifying conditions, methods, and tools for human and artificial intelligence to creatively work together, and for design principles to be applied in new product and service development (across various industries), involving people, data, and machines.
While analyzing the different opportunities for AI to be integrated in the different domains, the course will discuss its ethical implications and societal impact, and critically assess its limitations.
The course will discuss several topics, such as: data strategy; AI technologies and applications; AI enhanced creativity; machine learning and deep learning; transformer-based language models; artificial agency; hybrid intelligence and superminds; More-than-Human Design; connected things and conversational agents; ethical implications and societal impact of AI; bias, fairness, and transparency in AI systems; privacy and data protection.
Through a combination of theoretical lectures, practical examples and hands-on exercises, students will learn about the principles, applications, and ethical considerations related to AI in design. This course encourages critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity in the context of AI-powered design.

Prova orale condizionata (a scelta del docente)
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, senza presentazione/discussione finale
Valutazione continua condizionata (a scelta del docente)
The course is organised around assignments that, together with the exam’s discussion, will lead to the final evaluation.
Attendance is compulsory: to achieve attendance it will be necessary to acquire 80% attendance at teaching.

The course has a strong strategic and practical approach to branding, communication and marketing.
Acquiring competencies in these areas will strengthen the professional profiles developed through these Master’s programs. Therefore, branding and communication skills will support students in their future careers and enable them to adopt an autonomous and informed approach in these fields.

The aim of the course is to provide students with knowledge of the basics of marketing and communication, and, above all, to give them a method for managing and developing strategies and activities in these fields.

Course overview
The course is organized around three core modules through which students will explore the relationship between branding and organizational structures and areas, and the ways in which organizations should be positioned in the market to achieve their marketing and communication objectives and to increase their value.
The course adopts a strategic and practical approach to communication and marketing, with a particular focus on the development of (digital) go-to-market strategies. Its aim is to provide students with an understanding of the fundamentals of marketing and communication and, above all, a methodological framework for designing, managing, and evaluating strategies and activities in these fields.
Developing competencies in these areas will strengthen the professional profiles of the different Master's programmes. Branding and communication skills will support students in their future careers and enable them to approach these disciplines with autonomy and critical awareness.
Additional topics covered in the course include:
AI for strategic competencies
Digital strategy and digital marketing
> All details will be included in the course syllabus, and the lectures' schedule will be made available during the first class.
Course structure and fundamental rules
The course will include both lectures and practical activities, such as exercises, assignments, and group work.
This course is intended for both attending and non-attending students, but frequency is highly recommended, due to the extensive practical activities involved. A maximum of three absences will be allowed. Classes will not be recorded; however, students may attend remotely in exceptional circumstances.
Assignments must be submitted and presented on the dates specified in the course schedule. Late submissions or presentations will not be accepted.
Modules overview
MODULE 1: BRAND IDENTITY
An exploration of brand identity and brand value, with a focus on the essential pillars of brands and the design of their key assets, using the frameworks ST.EX Chart and ID.PO Chart.
MODULE 2: POSITIONING STRATEGY
A detailed analysis of strategic positioning and a practical method for developing positioning strategies, starting from real case studies.
MODULE 3: OMNICHANNEL COMMUNICATION & CONTENT STRATEGY
An introduction to digital and content strategy, with a focus on corporate communication, and digital marketing strategies. All the details will be included in the course syllabus, and the lectures calendar will be made available during the first lesson.

Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Evaluation criteria | Attending Students
The course is organized around one main assignment and a series of practical group exercises, which will also be assessed.
In this way, students will have the opportunity to work with different teammates and i mprove their final grade, which will be calculated as the sum of the scores gained in each assessment (please, note that most of the points will be obtained through the main assignment)
The main assignment will consist of developing a complete positioning strategy. The project brief will be provided halfway through the course, and the final lesson (or the final two lessons, it depends on the number of enrolled students) will be dedicated to the pitch of the final project.
Note: students will have the opportunity to work on their projects during dedicated classes and to have reviews with the professor. However, individual work outside the classroom will also be required in order to respect the project deadlines.
Evaluation criteria | Non-attending students
Non-attending students are required to take an oral exam based on the course theory: mandatory readings (please check the bibliography) as well as the slides that will be uploaded weekly on WeBeep.

Jack Trout, Al Ries, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, Editore: McGraw Hill Education, Anno edizione: 2001, ISBN: 978-0-07137358-6
Marty Neumeier, The brand gap. How to bridge the distance between business strategy and design
Philip Kotler, Hermawan Kartajaya, Iwan Setiawan, Marketing 4.0: Moving from traditional to digital https://www.carmieubertis.it/en/il-modello-di-branding-ceu-0-6/
Note: In particular, chapters: 4,5,8
Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong, Principles of Marketing (Global Edition)
Note: Chapter 1, pages 28-31 and 33-37, Chapter 8, pages 264-272, Chapter 17, pages 510-527, Chapter 18, pages 540-561.
Brands and Branding: Research Findings and Future Priorities - Kevin Lane Keller, Donald R. Lehmann https://business.columbia.edu/sites/default/files-efs/pubfiles/2673/740.pdf
Branding Model CEU - Carmi e Ubertis https://www.carmieubertis.it/en/il-modello-di-branding-ceu-0-6/
Marco Ronchi, Mariana Ciancia, Digital transformation. Metodi e strumenti per guidare l'evoluzione digitale delle imprese attraverso design, marketing e comunicazione, Editore: Franco Angeli, Anno edizione: 2019, ISBN: 978-88-917-8141-3 https://www.carmieubertis.it/en/il-modello-di-branding-ceu-0-6/
Elio Carmi, con il contributo di Elena Israela Wegher, Branding D.O. Progettare la marca. Una visione design oriented, Editore: Fausto Lupetti Editore, Anno edizione: 2023
Elio Carmi, Brand 111. Centoundici domande e risposte per sapere di più sulla brand e sul suo futuro, Editore: Fausto Lupetti Editore, Anno edizione: 2020
Philip Kotler, Hermawan Kartajaya, Iwan Setiawan, Marketing 5.0: Technology for Humanity

Il corso si propone di presentare le principali tecniche e tecnologie per la progettazione e la realizzazione di applicazioni per dispositivi mobili (smatphone e tablet). Nello specifico, il corso affronta il problema della progettazione di applicazioni "mobili" sia studiando la realizzazione della user experience, ovvero la progettazione delle schermate per interagire con l'utente, sia affrontando il problema della distribuzione dell'applicazione e dell'interazione con componenti e servizi esterni.

The course gives an overview of the numerous aspects needed to design and develop robots, as well as its closely connected fields, such as physical computing and man-computer interaction. Through the collaboration between professors and students from the Information Engineering School and the Design School, this course aims to develop interdisciplinary skills for designing mobile devices like robots.

Students:

• can recognise and understand the methods and technical specifications needed to design robots;
• can answer a design brief, define formal and functional requirements, implement a running device;
• can work in a multi-disciplinary team, communicating the project ideas applied in a convincing manner.

MOTIVATION
Robots have been mentioned as the next techological devices we will have in our homes, after PCs and cell phones.
The robotics industry faces many of the same challenges that the personal computer business faced 30 years ago. This is the vision of the future offered by Bill Gates [1] who argues that the robotics industry is on the cusp of a big expansion. “The level of excitement and expectation reminds me so much of that time when Paul Allen and I looked at the convergence of new technologies and dreamed of the day when a computer would be on every desk and in every home… I can envision a future in which robotic devices will become a nearly ubiquitous part of our day-to-day lives.” A robot in every home!
Now, a challenge is enabling robots to quickly sense and react to their environments. Recent decreases in the cost of processing power and sensors are allowing researchers to tackle these problems. Another challenge is to become more and more friendly and useful to the humans. This could be the main opportunity for a new skilled robot designers. The design of a robot plays a key role in its diffusion, and requires a strong interaction among people working on technical aspects (sensors, actuators, programming) and people developing aspects more related to the design tradition, such as: shape, usability, interaction.
AIMS OF THE COURSE
This course aims to provide an overview and insight into the many aspects of actually designing and building a robot, including mechanics, electronics, programming, sensors, physical computing and human-computer interaction. Through the collaboration between teachers and students coming from both the Industrial and Information Engineering School and the Design School, this course is aimed at developing interdisciplinary competences to design of mobile devices such as robots.
Knowledge
By the end of the course, students will have learned to:
understand how robots could be designed.
combine electronics, mechanics and design in order to create expressive robots.
critically investigate the choice of design to arrive at the best solution considering content and context.
use electronic sensors, actuators and related software.
be fluent in the current issues concerning the design of robots.
Creative & Critical Thinking
By the end of the course, students will have learned to:
respond to a design brief by resolving programmatic, formal and functional demands
reinforce critical design explorations with ideas/precedents and foundations that build up complexity
acquire a firm understanding of the problems and needs of robots design challenges and the manners in which they may be addressed.
Communication
By the end of the course, students will have learned to:
work in multidisciplinary teams in a time-scheduled context
convincingly communicate design concepts
engage design-specific knowledge and vocabulary
speak about personal design ideas with confidence and present ideas in a structured and convincing way
CONTENT
The course is based on the actual implementation of a robot according to a detailed brief that will be published on the web sites of the course (http://www.phycolab.polimi.it/attivita-didattica/robotics-design-9-ed/ and http://home.deib.polimi.it/bonarini/Didattica/RoboticsAndDesign.html).
ORGANIZATION
The course is mostly based on a learning-by-doing approach and it is organized on a SPECIAL SCHEDULE that includes lessons and periods of supported team activity in the AI and Robotics laboratory (AIRLab) at the Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering and in the Lab Prototypes of teh Department of Design.
5 FULL DAYS: in these full days (8 hours) theory and practice about theoretical bases of Robotics, human-robot interaction, robot making (including mechanics, sensors, electronics microprocessors (e.g., Arduino)) will be exploited. Each aspect will be presented and then tested on real robots that will be designed and implemented in interdisciplinary groups. Each group will acquire basics needed to design and implement a prototype robot.
In the mean time and in the following weeks, groups will be free to work in the labs, where teachers and other people will support them in the development of their first full, working prototype, which will be evaluated by the beginning of June.
1 half day on April: First design of the robots will be presented by each group, together with the results of the first experimentations, and discussed with the tutors.
1 half day on May: Robots are presented, delivered, and left to the evaluators for the final evaluation with end users.
Each student/group could work autonomously in the periods between these three moments.
ENROLLMENT
All students must include the course in their study plan and ALSO fill the form available from the web site of the course (either http://www.phycolab.polimi.it/attivita-didattica/robotics-design-10-ed/. Missing anyone of these two actions may prevent the access to the course.
TEAM WORK
Collaborative work is essential to design aand implement a robot: team work will take place during in this course The number of components will be defined by the staff considering the background of each student and differentiating as much as possible the competences present in the group.
ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION
Attendance and participation is an important aspect of the learning process, and you are expected to attend ALL the days, although exceptional motivations to skip some hours could be accepted.
EXPECTED WORKLOAD
You should expect to spend approximately 125 hours on this course, including both scheduled class time and independent activity.
MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT REQUIRED
Students may have to provide at least some materials and equipment as needed for the completion of required work. The expected contribution from each student may be up to about €50.
SUBMISSION OF WORK
Student are responsible for ensuring their work is uploaded to the course web site on time and in the required format, and the working prototype delivered to the teachers.
For further information students may contact the teachers: Andrea Bonarini ([email protected]) or Maximiliano Romero ([email protected])
The official site of the course, updated with tips, movies and materials is http://www.phycolab.polimi.it/attivita-didattica/robotics-design-10-ed/, and from there are available also the sites of the previous editions of the course.
No specific competence is needed, except the ones expected for students starting either a Design, or Industrial and Information Engineering (Computer Engineering, Automation, Electronics, Telecommunication, Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering,...) master track.

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
The final product of each group will be evaluated by considering both the quality of the product, the documentation, and the input from final users and other members of the group.
The final evaluation of the course will consider both the functional, aesthetic, and technological results, as well as the behavior of the robot in the final test.
There will be a public presentation of the final products, and the evaluation will take into account the audience opinion.
The assessment will be based on this criteria:
The creativity with which the assignment was met
The mastery of the technical challenges of the project
The coherence of the design concept and realization
The degree to which a variety of design concepts were explored to arrive at the result
The expressiveness of the final project
The quality of the presentation of the project
The idea – and the degree to which it engages its audience

Slides will be available from the BEEP page of the course together with bibliographic suggestions http://beep.polimi.it

L'insegnamento fornisce strumenti per meglio comprendere l'articolazione che le tematiche di genere assumono nell'ambito del design. L'oggetto di studio viene affrontato a partire dal contributo disciplinare del Design della comunicazione e dei possibili spazi di relazione e integrazione tra i domini delle Culture visive (Design della comunicazione) e del Design e quello delle Scienze sociali, rappresentato dai Gender Studies (Culture di Genere). L'insegnamento consente allo studente di sviluppare capacità di analisi critica e strumenti a supporto di pratiche autoriflessive (Soft skills).

Lo studente:

• conosce e comprende gli strumenti necessari per approcciarsi a un progetto che tenga conto delle tematiche di genere assumono;
• è in grado di applicare gli strumenti del design di comunicazione per studiare la tematica di genere trovando spazi di applicazione progettuale;
• è in grado di sviluppare riflessioni critiche per indagare le forme di rappresentazione delle identità di genere;
• di effettuare analisi di contesto sia in modo autonomo, sia attraverso attività di gruppo.

Il corso ha l'obiettivo di fornire strumenti per meglio comprendere l’articolazione che le tematiche di genere assumono nell’ambito del design e per contrastare ogni forma di discriminazione di genere, rispondendo a quando dichiarato dagli obiettivi dell’Agenda Onu 2030 per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile ( SDG 5., Parità di genere ) e nello spirito della Risoluzione europea 8 marzo 2011, della Direttiva europea 113 del 2004 e della Cedaw (Convenzione sull’eliminazione di ogni forma di discriminazione contro le donne) adottata dall’Onu e ratificata da 185 Stati.
Si intende affrontare l'oggetto di studio a partire dal contributo disciplinare del Design della comunicazione e dei possibili spazi di relazione e integrazione tra il dominio delle Culture visive (Design della comunicazione) e quello delle Scienze sociali rappresentato dai Gender Studies (Culture di Genere).
Verranno sviluppati studi e riflessioni che nascono all’interno della disciplina e che permettono al Design della comunicazione di presentare, nel più ampio contesto di ricerca sul tema, un proprio specifico percorso per promuovere la responsabilità sociale del Design e del Design della comunicazione.
In particolare, se a livello teorico gli studi di genere analizzano la persistenza di un processo di stereotipizzazione della figura femminile nella società, una visione falsata del suo ruolo nella vita pubblica e privata, una distorsione delle modalità di rappresentazione della donna attraverso i media, le Culture visive possono dare un ampio contributo in termini di critica, sensibilizzazione, informazione e “costruzione visuale” dell’ambito sociale. A livello pragmatico, invece, attraverso il progetto di comunicazione, possono fornire delle risposte per un ripensamento dei formati e delle regole alla base degli artefatti.
Il corso intende sviluppare una capacità autoriflessiva, tesa a richiamare le corresponsabilità del designer nella produzione del flusso di immagini e di oggetti-immagine che definiscono il nostro quotidiano, tramite una riflessione sull’uso dei registri espressivi, dei modelli retorici, della costruzione registica.
Assumendo che le tematiche di genere si sviluppano e si intrecciano all’interno del Design, ci si concentrerà sull’individuazione di marche di genere nei prodotti della progettazione, nelle sue diverse specificità disciplinari, per indagare le intersezioni tra Design e Culture di genere.
Il corso si rivolge a futuri progettisti e progettiste per contribuire allo sviluppo di una consapevolezza intorno a questi temi, rafforzando gli strumenti espressivi e critici dei soggetti al fine di incrementare la sensibilità verso il tema della rappresentazione di genere.
Il corso si articola in tre fasi: la prima costituita da lezioni ex cathedra; la seconda dedicata ad attività di workshop che prevedono il coinvolgimento attivo degli/delle studenti al fine di esplorare, comprendere e contrastare i meccanismi alla base dei processi di stereotipizzazione dal punto di vista del design; la terza, di tipo seminariale, affonterà alcuni argomenti specifici tramite contributi disciplinari complementari.
Le lezioni verteranno sui seguenti argomenti:

• Coordinate quadro e riferimenti teorici: Gender Culture e Gender Studies
• Disparità di genere. Il mondo della formazione e del lavoro: ruoli e forme di riconoscimento
• Quadro normativo e quadro istituzionale
• Il luogo comune e la nozione di stereotipo
• Processi di stereotipizzazione nei media: la rappresentazione di uomini e donne e lo sguardo maschile
• Comunicazione sessista: manifestazioni, ricadute, azioni di contrasto
• Il linguaggio neutro e il maschile universale
• Gendered marketing
• Dal maschile al femminile e viceversa. Codici espressivi e processi traduttivi
• Androcentrismo grafico
• Bambini/bambine e stereotipi di genere: unconscious bias, condizionamenti, ricorsività visuali
• Violenza di genere ed enunciati iconici

Prova orale obbligatoria
Altro
Le valutazioni verranno formulate tenendo in considerazione i seguenti elementi: partecipazione all'attività del corso, risultati delle attività seminariali e preparazione bibliografica secondo modalità che verranno indicate all’inizio del corso.
È prevista la possibilità di sostenere l’esame da non frequentante; durante la prima lezione verranno fornite indicazioni dettagliate nel merito, così come verrà fornita la bibliografia per la prova d’esame.

Bucchetti, Valeria, Cattive immagini. Design della comunicazione, grammatiche e parità di genere, Editore: FrancoAngeli, Anno edizione: 2021
Bucchetti, Valeria (a cura di), Design e dimensione di genere. Un campo di ricerca e riflessione, Editore: FrancoAngeli, Anno edizione: 2015
Baule, Giovanni; Bucchetti, Valeria (a cura di), Anticorpi comunicativi, Editore: FrancoAngeli, Anno edizione: 2012
Cheng, Eugenia, X+Y. Un manifesto matematico per ripensare la questione di genere, Editore: Ponte alle Grazie, Anno edizione: 2021
Caratti, Elena, Rimediazioni Gender-Sensitive. Contributi e progetti per la formazione di un immaginario consapevole, Editore: FrancoAngeli, Anno edizione: 2015
Decataldo, Alessandra; Ruspini, Elisabetta, La ricerca di genere, Editore: Carocci, Anno edizione: 2014

This course explores branding as a strategic, cultural, and aesthetic process, with a focus on the translation of intangible brand values into tangible brand expressions. Through a mix of theory, semiotics, and design-driven practice, students will analyze brand identity and develop branding strategies across communication, product, and retail. The course also considers digital transformation, heritage branding, and storytelling as key drivers in contemporary brand management.

Students will:
Understand the theoretical foundations of brand and communication management.
Decode and define brand identity through strategic, cultural, and design perspectives.
Explore the impact of digital transformation and customization on branding.
Translate brand values into communication, product, and retail strategies.
Apply branding frameworks to real-world cases.
Collaborate in diverse teams on design-driven assignments.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
Apply analytical skills to decode brand identity and aesthetics.
Integrate creative and managerial competencies across brand strategies.
Plan and coordinate branding strategies for products, services, and communications.
Work effectively in multicultural teams and lead discussions on branding topics.
Evaluate the impact of cultural, technological, and ethical factors on branding.

Course Structure
I. Theoretical Background
Week 1: Brand Pillars and Brand Identity
Week 2: Brand Portfolio Management
Week 3: CSR & Servitisation in Branding
Week 4: Co-creation and Customisation
Week 5: Digital Transformation & Branding
II. Applied Practice & Guest Involvement (Weeks 9–12)
Public Forum Debate with peers interaction on selected readings
Hands-on assignments (step 1) with weekly reviews
Guest lectures
Final branding strategy development (step 2) for real brands
Assignments & Projects
Step 1 – Group Assignment: Analysis of Brand Management Strategy
Weekly thematic analysis (Brand ID, Portfolio, Retail, Communication)
Coupled reviews with peer groups
Final Presentation
Step 2 – Group Assignment:
Special Project on Branding Strategy Development
Propose new branding strategies based on Step 1
Coupled reviews
Final Presentation
Final Delivery

Prova scritta obbligatoria, senza prove in itinere
Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Assessment & Evaluation Criteria
Component
Weight
Team Collective Debate
20%
First Group Assignment (Analysis)
30%
Second Group Assignment (Strategy)
20%
Final Individual Test (MCQ)
30%
Written Test (MCQ): January 2025 (Date TBD)
Non-Attending Student Policy
Non-attending students are evaluated based on:
Oral exam (40%):
Mandatory reading:
Keller & Swaminathan (2019), Strategic Brand Management
Choose 2 additional texts from:
Davis & Hunt (2017), Visual Communication Design
Wheeler (2017), Designing Brand Identity
Rossolatos (2015), Handbook of Brand Semiotics
Bonsignore & Sassoon (2014), Branded Content
MOOC (20%):
Content Branding and Digital Storytelling for CCIs
https://www.pok.polimi.it/course/view.php?id=64
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT (40%)
Analysis of Brand Management Strategy on a selected brand agreed with professor

Il corso si pone i seguenti obiettivi:

• riconosce al design il ruolo strategico di disciplina di elezione nella valorizzazione dei beni culturali, superando il mero concetto di conservazione;
• fornisce una matrice operativa applicabile nei diversi contesti dei beni culturali;
• persegue l’elaborazione di un prototipo meta-progettuale calato nella realtà individuata da ciascun allievo di concerto con il Docente.
  I beni culturali: dalla conservazione alla valorizzazione
  Il ruolo del design strategico nei progetti culturali
  Da rigenerazione urbana a innovazione sociale
  Piano strategico territoriale

Sviluppare la consapevolezza della necessità di interventi coordinati e interconnessi in chiave cultural driven, attraverso un metodo e un linguaggio che aprono al designer la sfera del management della cultura.

Il corso fornisce un metodo di lavoro specifico, fondato su una matrice metodologica applicabile ai differenti ambiti territoriali, che propone una lettura critica e propositiva del contesto capace di concretizzarsi in un «prototipo» attuativo scalabile ed espandibile nel tempo e in un «manuale applicativo» di sintesi.
Il corso prevede:
A – parte introduttiva su caratteri generali del metodo e della matrice operativa
B – parte attuativa di esercitazione e sviluppo del prototipo di progetto di valorizzazione con workshop finale
C – contributi esterni da parte di esperti del settore
AA 2026-2027
La Lombardia è una delle regioni con maggiore varietà culturale e territoriale, con un sistema produttivo solido che generalmente è stato capace di integrarsi con il senso più profondo dei luoghi, al punto che quando le inevitabili trasformazioni produttive hanno prodotto dismissioni e vuoti, questi si sono trasformate in traumi difficili da superare che ancora oggi frenano nuovi sviluppi e visioni propositive.
Quest’anno il corso, partendo dai Beni Culturali, sarà quindi concentrato sulla valorizzazione territoriale della regione Lombardia e quindi sulla valorizzazione di Piazza Lombardia a Milano attraverso un sistema di promozione generale dei territori e le loro caratteristiche prevalenti.
Il processo metodologico si sviluppa su alcuni punti chiave nelle 12 province lombarde:
Analisi delle peculiarità territoriali;
Analisi delle peculiarità culturali;
Analisi delle peculiarità produttive;
Definizione di una tipologia di bene culturale comune – materiale o immateriale;
Costruzione di una relazione virtuosa tra bene culturale e sistema territoriale;
Definizione di focal-point del progetto nei musei civici locali;
Definizione di un processo di pratiche di valorizzazione sistemico: un percorso integrato che superi le convenzionali attività sequenziali per costruire un processo circolare attorno alla strategia definita e che generi economie stabili sui territori;
Strategia quindi come elemento guida delle azioni per il valore del brand territoriale: costruzione di valore e non mero posizionamento di MKT effettuato a posteriori;
Definizione di una installazione permanente – con contenuti a rotazione annuale – in piazza Lombardia;
Applicare i risultati ottenuti agli stand di presentazione della Regione Lombardia;
Costruzione di un sistema di relazione: piazza Lombardia/territori, capace di intercettare i mutamenti dei territori e valorizzare i suoi attori principali anche in relazione a un palcoscenico internazionale.
Il corso si svolgerà tra settembre 2026 e gennaio 2027 e prevede la presenza di alcune personalità di riferimento per il progetto: esponenti del mondo politico e istituzionale, esperti del settore, etc., che saranno di aiuto per inquadrare il rapporto tra progetto e politica, perché come dico sempre: il design senza politica si chiama marketing.
Stiamo lavorando affichè, al termine del corso, i risultati dei lavori di progetto possano essere presentati presso il Palazzo della Regione Lombardia.
Alcune delle lezioni si terranno presso ADI.

La valutazione finale si baserà su: presenza alle lezioni, partecipazione attiva alle verifiche in itinere, esercitazioni di esame.

C. Bishop, Museologia radicale, Editore: 2013
F. Bucci, A. Rossari (a cura di),, I musei e gli allestimenti di Franco Albini, Anno edizione: 2015
M. Cacciari, L'arcipelago, Editore: 1997
E. Canetti, Massa e potere, Anno edizione: 1990
E. Carmi, Branding design oriented. Progettare la marca. Una visione design oriented, Anno edizione: 2020
L.Carroll, Le avventure di Alice nel paese delle Meraviglie, Editore: 1865
Impresa Cultura: progettare e ripartire, 17° rapporto internazionale Federculture 2021 Lavoro e innovazione: le strategie per crescere, 18° rapporto internazionale Federculture 2022
L. Galimberti, Che razza di design, Anno edizione: 2011
L. Galimberti, Trentatrè piccole storie di design, Anno edizione: 2001
E. Manzini, Politiche del quotidiano,, Anno edizione: 2018
F. Caporale, La valorizzazione dei beni culturali-analisi giuridica delle trasformazioni in corso, Anno edizione: 2024
L. Galimberti, Angelo Cortesi - una vita nel progetto, Editore: ADIper, Anno edizione: 2024
Barbara Carnevali, Emanuele Quinz, Teorie del design in Italia 1954-1989, Editore: Einaudi, Anno edizione: 2026
Michele Kettmajer, La coscienza delegata. L'intelligenza artificiale sulla Terra, Editore: Luca Sossella Editore, Anno edizione: 2026

L'obiettivo del corso è trasmettere agli studenti abilità e competenze per comprendere, progettare e sviluppare strategie digitali per la gestione degli utenti dei servizi e delle attività aziendali.

Attività didattica svolta all'estero riconosciuta per crediti a scelta dello studente.

L'insegnamento ha come obiettivo quello di fornire una metodologia pratica e articolata per la progettazione completa di un evento inteso come 'fatto unitario e complesso' finalizzato a comunicare in forme e modalità diverse 'qualcosa a qualcuno' in relazione alle esigenze dei committenti ed ai budget disponibili.

Lo studente:

• apprenderà una metodologia per progettare un evento,
• sarà in grado di rispondere alle richieste della committenza nel rispetto dei vincoli indicati.

Brief, concept, progetto, budget, comunicazione, produzione e feedback rappresentano tutte le fasi del ciclo di creazione di un evento che verranno analizzate, approfondite e sperimentate durante il corso con lezioni teoriche, l'esperienza di chi lavora da anni nel mondo degli eventi e l'esercitazione pratica.
Il corso, alla sua decima edizione, prevede di fornire una metodologia pratica e articolata per la progettazione completa di un evento inteso come 'fatto unitario e complesso' finalizzato a comunicare in forme e modalità diverse 'qualcosa a qualcuno' in relazione alle esigenze dei committenti ed ai budget disponibili.
Il corso si svilupperà seguendo le reali modalità e tempistiche del ciclo completo della vita di un evento: dall'analisi delle esigenze del committente alle prime formulazioni creative, dalla definizione del concept alla prima analisi di fattibilità, dalla presentazione del progetto di massima alla stesura del budget di riferimento, alla verifica dei feedback.
Sopralluoghi, visite e ricerche, aiuteranno ad approfondire metodologie di progettazione dell'evento in ogni sua particolare espressione concettuale, comunicativa e pratica.
Il budget, strumento di previsione e controllo di gestione, sarà al centro dell'attività sia creativa sia esecutiva e fornirà utili e basilari indicazioni anche per la definizione in termini economici e gestionali del proprio personale business sia per i futuri liberi professionisti, dipendenti o collaboratori a vario titolo. Verrà affrontato il tema delle location, dei fornitori di beni, servizi e mano d'opera, della loro ricerca, selezione e gestione.
Gli studenti si troveranno a doversi confrontare con tutti gli aspetti economici relativi all'organizzazione di un evento dovendo contabilizzare le ore di lavoro, le consulenze, la mano d'opera e i materiali richiesti per la riuscita del progetto. In questo panorama sarà chiesto loro di assegnare un valore anche alle ore di lavoro personale da loro svolte e verranno forniti gli strumenti per farne una stima.
Per rientrare nei budget forniti si troveranno a dover trattare con sponsorizzazioni, found raising, e a dover valutare vantaggi in comunicazione e possibilità a lavorare sottocosto o l'opportunità di alzare il preventivo.
La struttura stessa della materia di studio e del corso prevede una forte componente di interdisciplinarietà. Nella progettazione di un evento risultano fondamentali componenti di comunicazione, servizi, allestimenti e prodotto, per questa ragione gli studenti vengono spinti a creare gruppi misti trovandosi così, per la prima volta, nella condizione sviluppare la capacità di gestire un team con competenze diverse e complementari. Verranno organizzati alcune ore di lezione in scambio con altri corsi (ad esempio: Allestimenti) al fine di fornire agli studenti una molteplicità di stimoli.
Viene, inoltre, considerata interessante la possibilità di avere nei team di lavoro studenti stranieri che risultano spesso in grado di portare esperienze e punti di analisi innovativi.
Nella prima parte del corso viene chiesto agli studenti di analizzare sul campo uno degli eventi top nel panorama Italiano.
Gli studenti sono portati a realizzare un elaborato, cartaceo e digitale, che dimostri in maniera sintetica l'osservazione di dettaglio e l'analisi con occhio critico dell'intero format.
Durante tutta la durata del corso viene chiesto, inoltre, agli studenti di sviluppare un progetto, applicando le strategie e metodologie apprese a lezione.
L'esercitazione risulta particolarmente stimolante poiché il Brief di progetto viene fornito e presentato da un'azienda secondo le reali necessità di mercato.
Parte non secondaria avranno le tematiche relative alla comunicazione e ai linguaggi, come anche alle tecnologie e alla sostenibilità; quest'ultima sarà oggetto di approfondimenti, ritenendola tema strategico e spesso in rapporto contraddittorio con il carattere effimero degli eventi.
Gli studenti si troveranno a dover affrontare il tema della sostenibilità a 360 gradi dovendo così porre particolare attenzioni agli aspetti economici, ambientali, etici e alle logiche di sistema che regolano il mercato.
Durante il corso verranno presentate agli studenti, direttamente dalla viva voce dei protagonisti che ne hanno curato il progetto, alcune tra le più interessanti case-history di 'design degli eventi'.
Il corso tiene in sempre più ampia considerazione l'ambiente digitale sia come terreno comunicativo a supporto ed in sinergia con la progettazione di un evento fisico, sia come ambiente di sviluppo per eventi interamente virtuali. In entrambi i casi vengono vagliate con occhio critico le possibilità fornite dalla tecnologia e dal web 2.0 al fine di creare una cassa di risonanza in grado di colpire i target sensibili in relazione al cliente, creare comunità o inserirsi in quelle esistenti rafforzando il proprio posizionamento.
La docenza risulta sempre disponibile ad organizzare revisioni, sia in presenza che in via telematica, sia in orario di lezione che fuori. Questa opportunità è stata sempre ampiamente sfruttata dagli studenti che hanno generalmente manifestato grande interesse nel corso e lo hanno trasmesso con una grande dedizione al progetto e con la produzione di elaborati di altissima qualità.

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Risultati di apprendimento previsti:
La completa padronanza delle sette fasi che compongono il ciclo dell'evento e una particolare attenzione analitica del contesto e degli eventi che l'esperienza quotidiana ci sottopone. Un buona base per intraprendere collaborazioni sul tema o sviluppare propri progetti.
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PROVA IN ITINERE: Esercitazione su Awards - I saloni e Fuorisalone
Durante la settimana del Salone del Mobile e del Fuorisalone agli studenti verrà chiesto di visitare e vivere il maggior numero di eventi possibile, di documentarli e di dare 21 premi ad altrettanti eventi.
La valutazione dell'esercitazione si baserà su tre giudizi: coerenza e pertinenza dei contenuti, qualità e sintesi del linguaggio comunicativo e ampiezza e varietà dei casi presi in esame e documentati.
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ESAME FINALE
Durante tutta la durata del corso viene chiesto agli studenti di sviluppare un progetto, applicando le strategie e metodologie apprese a lezione fino alla completa progettazione di un evento.
Il progetto risulta particolarmente stimolante poiché il Brief di progetto viene fornito e presentato da un'azienda secondo le sue reali necessità di mercato.
I risultati della progettazione, dopo frequenti revisioni in aula costituiranno il cuore dell’esame finale del corso e le valutazioni si baseranno su tre giudizi: coerenza e pertinenza dei contenuti in funzione di tutti gli obbiettivi, di comunicazione e budget, qualità,sintesi ed efficacia del linguaggio comunicativo e infine ampiezza e varietà dei casi presi in esame e documentati.
Verranno valutate anche le capacità espressive di ogni singolo studente.
Durante il corso saranno possibili revisioni periodiche del progetto.

Schede e relazioni fornite durante il corso
Note: Le schede e le presentazioni presentate durante il corso verranno messe a disposizione degli studenti, diventando così materiale didattico.
Saverio Monno, Organizzare eventi. Guida pratica, Editore: Edizioni Dal Sud, Anno edizione: 2013
F. Golfetto, Fiere e Comunicazione, Editore: Egea, Anno edizione: 2004
Roberta Cocco, La magia degli eventi
Accattino Alfredo, Dizionario degli Eventi
Varriale Luisa, L'organizzazione degli eventi
Cozzi Pier Giorgio, Eventi. Strumenti di comunicazione per le imprese del terzo millennio, Editore: Lupetti
Cercola Raffaele, Izzo Francesco, Bonetti Enrico, Eventi e strategie di marketing territoriale. I network, gli attorni e le dinamiche relazionali, Editore: Franco Angeli
Argano Lucio, Bollo Alessandro, Dalla Sega Paolo, Vivalda Candida, Gli eventi culturali. Ideazione, progettazione, marketing e comunicazione, Editore: Franco Angeli
Bistagnino Luigi, Design sistemico. Progettare la sostenibilità produttiva e ambientale, Editore: Slow Food
Anil Seth, Il cervello in 30 secondi, Editore: Logos Edizioni
Fernando Savater, Politica per un figlio, Editore: Laterza, Anno edizione: 2008
Daniel Goleman, Intelligenza emotiva, Editore: Bur Rizzoli, Anno edizione: 2013

This course explores the role of fashion design within emerging post-growth scenarios in which reduced consumption, resource awareness, and adaptive living redefine the relationship between people, garments, and material culture. Moving beyond product-centred approaches, fashion is investigated as a systemic design discipline capable of responding to complex environmental, social, and technological transformations.
Drawing on theories of minimalism as both an aesthetic language and a design strategy, the course examines how reduction can generate greater functional, environmental, and experiential value rather than deprivation. In this perspective, garments are conceived as multifunctional, adaptable, and durable systems that privilege quality, longevity, and meaningful use over accumulation and planned obsolescence.
During this course, special attention is devoted to the relationship between the body and performance, considering clothing as an interface that mediates interactions between the human body, technology, and the surrounding environment. Students will investigate how garments can enhance both technical performance, including comfort, protection, ergonomics, mobility, adaptability, and functionality, and sustainability performance across the product life cycle.
The course adopts a sustainable fashion design perspective in which ecological responsibility is embedded throughout the design process. Students are encouraged to develop design solutions through life-cycle thinking, material awareness, circular design principles, durability, repairability, adaptability, transformability, and reduced environmental impact, considering sustainability as a structural design principle rather than a final product attribute.
Beside the sustainable transition, the course poses particular emphasis on the integration of advanced digital technologies and traditional craftsmanship. Digital design tools, including digital pattern creation and digitisation, digital body measurement, CAD, 3D modelling and rendering, digital printing, digital cutting, laser cutting, and advanced assembly techniques such as thermo-bonding, are explored as complementary to tacit knowledge, tailoring practices, patternmaking expertise, and material culture. Rather than replacing craftsmanship, these technologies are employed to enhance precision, customization, prototyping, and manufacturing innovation within hybrid design processes.
Students will develop and prototype a capsule collection conceived as an integrated wearable system for essential and adaptive lifestyles. Garments will be designed to respond to variable living conditions such as mobility, outdoor environments, and temporary housing, by combining multifunctionality, adaptability, and material efficiency within coherent and future-oriented fashion systems. Both digital and physical prototyping will support the evaluation of design concepts, construction methods, user interaction, and manufacturing feasibility, fostering an informed dialogue between conceptual research and material experimentation.

By the end of the course, students will acquire a comprehensive and future-oriented set of competencies for designing and prototyping wearable systems for post-growth and minimal living scenarios. They will be able to integrate sustainability, technological innovation, craftsmanship, and user-centred design into coherent fashion systems.
Specific learning outcomes include:

• Understanding future scenarios based on post-ownership lifestyles, systemic decluttering, portable living, and essential consumption, translating these socio-cultural transformations into innovative fashion concepts.
• Ability to conduct advanced research on materials and textiles, evaluating technical performance, environmental impact, provenance, durability, repairability, recyclability, and suitability for multifunctional garments.
• Ability to design and develop capsule collections conceived as integrated wearable systems rather than isolated garments, balancing multifunctionality, modularity, adaptability, and aesthetic coherence.
• Proficiency in applying advanced digital design and manufacturing technologies, to support both design development and production, including digital patternmaking, 3D modelling, simulation, and rendering, digital fabrication such as digital printing, digital cutting, and lasercutting, compared to physical prototyping.
• Ability and critical reflection in integrating advanced technologies with traditional tailoring knowledge, craftsmanship, material culture, and tacit expertise, understanding technology as an enhancer rather than a replacement of human know-how.
• Capacity to apply sustainability as a structural set of design principles throughout the entire product life cycle, from the creation of the collection and volumetric construction of garments considering durability, transformability, repairability, adaptability, circularity, and in the selection of textile through a responsible resource management.
• Ability to critically communicate future-oriented fashion concepts through visual narratives, scenario building, prototyping, and professional design documentation.

The course positions students at the intersection of fashion, sustainability, technology, and future lifestyles focusing on the relationship between body and performances. Through the design of a capsule collection for a post-ownership society, students explore how fashion can evolve into a functional, adaptive, and resource-conscious wearable system.
Key Topics
Fashion Beyond Possession
Students investigate emerging social, environmental, and cultural transformations leading toward reduced ownership, lightweight mobility, temporary living environments, and stronger relationships with nature. The course explores garments as integrated wearable systems designed to reduce accumulation while maximizing functionality, versatility, emotional durability, and long-term use.
Minimalism Through Design
The project addresses the challenge of designing fewer garments capable of performing multiple functions across different environmental conditions, supporting mobility, outdoor activities, and temporary communities.
Systemic Sustainability
Eco-design principles are embedded throughout the project, including responsible material selection, life-cycle thinking, durability, repairability, transformability, modularity, adaptability, and circular design strategies.
Digital Technology and Craftsmanship
Students investigate how advanced digital technologies, including CAD, digital patternmaking, 3D modelling, simulation, digital cutting and lasercutting, digital printing can complement traditional tailoring, craftsmanship, and material culture.
Digital and Physical Prototyping
Students develop both digital and physical prototypes to evaluate functionality, usability, comfort, adaptability, construction techniques, and manufacturing feasibility.
The course consists of an intertwined theoretical and instrumental part dedicated to highlighting new materials, design, and manufacturing technologies, together with tools and software to be used during the project's development. During the course, teaching staff will be academics and professionals from an interdisciplinary background to provide students with professional skills and methodologies to understand and delve into the complexity of developing garments with high-tech and sustainability in mind.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, senza prove in itinere
Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
The students, grouped in teams, are required to develop a fashion-tech project that integrates and interfaces with digital technologies of various types (e.g. digital design, digital measurements, digital sewing patternmaking, digital manufacturing approaches, digital printing, digital cutting and lasercutting, along with new technical and performative materials, etc.), reflecting on sustainability through eco-design approaches and textile selection.
Students are required to develop a project given a brief under the guidance of teaching staff and tutors. They have to attend classes for at least 80% of the total number of course hours. The work in the Fashion Lab is mandatory during the lectures and during the working hours outside the scheduled lectures. During the course, each group will meet professors and tutors of the faculty for team reviews to achieve the final digital and real prototypes developed throughout the project. Weekly assessments through student-faculty interactions will serve its development with intermediate evaluations that are used to evaluate students’ commitment, participation, and progress throughout the course.
The final exam encompasses:
An individual written test with open questions related to the arguments explained during the lectures.
an exhibition and/or presentation (in person and in group).
The following aspects will be taken into account in the evaluation of the projects:. Methodological coherence: constructing a path towards the project objective through analysis and research, evaluating coherence and motivated and documented choices, closely linked to the knowledge of the project context and the design constraints posed within the project brief;. Research ability: understanding the brief and developing research aimed at investigating the fundamental elements for the project concept, in a coherent and systematic manner, and through the use of appropriate research sources;. Creativity and project attitude: the ability to operate, offering a contribution of innovation and bearing witness to specific and distinctive design and creative attitudes of the student;. Representation ability: representing the project both via traditional manual (e.i., sketches, silhouettes, etc) but also via prototyping software and digital tools, showing the ability to manage the graphic elements of the project (layout, accuracy of colour, quality and definition of the images, accuracy of the application of material samples, etc.);. Communication ability: presenting the research and project orally through the use of professional language and attitude;. Commitment and participation: respecting all the deadlines and commitments set by the lecturer, and showing an active and critical participation in the various activities foreseen by the course.

Bertola, P., Casciani, D., & D'Itria, E., Designing Fashion Transitions.: Toward Sustainable, Circular and Digital Futures. Diid, (DIGITAL SPECIAL ISSUE 3),, Anno edizione: 2026, Fascicolo: 54–69 https://doi.org/10.30682/diidmics25d
Casciani, D., Chkanikova, O., & Pal, R., Exploring the nature of digital transformation in the fashion industry: opportunities for supply chains, business models, and sustainability-oriented innovations. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy,, Anno edizione: 2022, Fascicolo: 18(1), 773–795. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2022.2125640
D'Itria, E., & Vacca, F., Shaping sustainable solutions in fashion through design-led strategies, approaches, and practices. Discov Sustain, Anno edizione: 2024, Fascicolo: 5, 409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-024-00624-5
Casciani, D., Intertwining Fashion Practices Toward Industry 5.0 Through a Design-Driven Approach, Editore: In: Gambardella, C. (eds) For Nature/With Nature: New Sustainable Design Scenarios. Springer Series in Design and Innovation, vol 38. Springer, Cham., Anno edizione: 2024 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53122-4_43

The purpose of the course is to give students the instruments required for selecting materials for textiles, accessories and footwear, together with the use in fashion design of intelligent materials, new technologies (laser cutting, fast prototyping, micro-encapsulation,...) and finishing processes (waterproofing, antibacterial, stain resistance, self-cleaning).

Students:

• know and understand the instruments for selecting the materials for the textile products, accessories and footwear;
• know how to apply the instruments presented in the Fashion Sector.

The course completes the education on materials and technology given during the three years Bachelor Degree (Laurea).
The course is divided into two modules.
The module “Materials selection for product performance in fashion design” will provide theoretical tools and practical methods to understand how materials and technology affect the performance of a product, considering both technical and expressive-sensorial requirements. The main topics covered include the criteria for materials selection, focused on textiles and accessories, and a case study will be carried out as practical activity.
Main subjects are:
Materials classes: - metals and alloys - polymers - ceramics - composites - natural materials. Properties per class of materials: physical, thermal, electrical, degradation and mechanical properties. Meaning of the most relevant mechanical properties to be used in the project: elastic limit, tensile strength, elongation, Young's modulus.
Innovative and sustainable materials in the fashion sectors.
Fibres: types and classification. Yarn, fabric and textiles. Fibre properties: natural and synthetic fibres; thermal, mechanical, aesthetical properties.
Fundamentals of environmental sustainability; Life Cycle Assessment of materials; environmental performance of materials and selection criteria.
Materials selection with the aid of the software GRANTA EduPack available from POLIMI services to students.
The "Process and Materials Innovation in Fashion Design" module focuses on cutting-edge technologies and finishing processes for textiles, footwear, and accessories. Key topics include:
Laser Material Processing: Exploring the role of laser technologies in fashion design and manufacturing.
Additive Manufacturing: An overview of various approaches and material families used in 3D printing and related technologies.
Surface Modification of Textiles: Techniques such as plasma treatment, sol-gel processes, and nanotechnology.
Smart Fabrics and Wearable Technology: The integration of innovative, functional materials for the creation of connected and responsive clothing.
Revival of Ancient Fiber Materials: Investigating the role of traditional fibres and their modern applications in today's textile industry.
These topics will be explored with a strong emphasis on sustainability, building on the knowledge gained in the first module, Materials Selection for Product Performance in Fashion Design.
During the semester, some industry seminars on materials and sustainability will be held.
Slides and other contributions will be published online during the semester.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, senza prove in itinere
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Students will be divided in groups (up to 5-6 people) and will have to design a fashion product of their choice; the report should focus on chosen materials and their selection criteria, then on production/finishing technologies and sustainability aspect of material and production. At the end of the course, they will submit a report in A4 form and they will be requested to discuss it in classroom. The design will not require the students to realize any prototype.
The mark to the project will be given to the group but then the final evaluation will be individual and based on the written exam, which will be focused both on the project and also on the theory exposed during the course. There will be a written test. (estimated time duration 2 h).
The final score will be the arithmetic average of the two scores: project discussion and written test.

Michael Ashby & Kara Johnson, Materials and Design, 3rd Edition The Art and Science of Material Selection in Product Design, Editore: Butterworth-Heinemann, Anno edizione: 2014, ISBN: 9780080982052 2nd ed. Available online at http://www.biblio.polimi.it/
A cura di B. Del Curto, C. Marano e M.P. Pedeferri, MATERIALI PER IL DESIGN, Editore: Casa Editrice Ambrosiana, Anno edizione: 2015, ISBN: 978-8808-18750-5

The course faces the themes on fashion system-product, representation and display systems, as well as those on territorial systems in which the project is set up. Skills in the fashion retail sector, above all in relation to shopping experience, in relations and emotive exchanges between companies and the reference public.

Students:

• know and understand the processes, methods and instruments for interpreting, in a critical manner, the themes of the project tied to the shopping experience, in relations and in emotive exchanges between companies and the reference public;
• can elaborate a project with particular attention on the fashion design and merchandising aspects;
• autonomously and in group, operate and communicate the design choices made, developing attitudes for negotiation, team building, leadership and conflict handling

Course Description
The course explores the ongoing transformation of fashion retail and supports students in developing innovative retail experience concepts across physical, digital and urban contexts.
Through a research and design process, students investigate changes in the fashion system, emerging consumer behaviours, service innovation, technological opportunities and the evolving role of retail spaces and channels. Particular attention is given to the relationships between people, brands, products, services and environments, and to the potential of retail to activate new cultural, social and sustainable practices.
The course combines:

• theoretical and methodological lectures;
• instrumental lectures and design tools;
• contributions from guest speakers;
• in-class activities, workshops and project reviews;
• the development of a long-term design project.
  Lectures and activities provide the theoretical references, methods and tools required to frame the design challenge and progressively develop a coherent retail experience proposal. Teaching materials and course-related resources are made available through the institutional online platform.
  The main assignment is developed in teams and may include individual contributions or activities aimed at assessing each student's understanding, skills and contribution to the project.
  Didactic objectives
  The main objective of the Fashion retail experience studio is to provide students with the knowledge, methods and tools required to analyse, interpret and design contemporary retail experiences within the fashion system.
  The course guides students through the main phases of a research-driven design process, from the exploration of contexts, trends and user needs to the definition, development and communication of a coherent retail experience concept.
  By the end of the course, students are expected to have developed:
• the ability to analyse transformations in fashion retail and identify relevant design opportunities;
• the ability to conduct research and translate findings into strategic design directions;
• the ability to conceive integrated experiences across physical, digital and service dimensions;
• the ability to develop coherent and innovative design proposals;
• the ability to work collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams;
• the ability to communicate and present the design process and its outcomes clearly and effectively;
• critical awareness of the cultural, social, technological and environmental implications of retail design.

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Examination and evaluation system
Students work in teams to develop a new retail service-system experience through a research-driven and iterative design process supported by theoretical and instrumental lectures, in-class activities and practical tools.
The project is articulated into a sequence of interconnected assignments, each addressing a different stage of the research and design process. The assignments are developed under the supervision of professors and teaching assistants and are presented through intermediate deliveries and a final presentation.
During class hours, teams are expected to work collaboratively on the project and to participate in weekly reviews. Each team presents its work in progress to professors and tutors, receiving feedback on methods, contents and design development. Reviews are an integral part of the learning process and attendance is mandatory.
Each assignment is evaluated according to the following criteria

• Research skills and critical thinking: understanding of the brief; relevance, depth and consistency of the research; ability to select and critically interpret reliable sources.
• Creativity and design attitude: ability to identify design opportunities and develop critical, original and meaningful solutions.
• Design development: coherence between research findings, strategic direction, service-system concept and proposed retail experience.
• Representation and visual communication skills: quality, accuracy and appropriateness of the visual, spatial and digital representations; quality of layouts, images, diagrams and other communication materials.
• Oral communication skills: clarity, structure and effectiveness of the presentation and ability to discuss and justify the design choices.
• Team collaboration: fair distribution of tasks, contribution of individual members, cohesiveness and effectiveness of the collaborative process.
• Motivation and participation: timeliness, accountability, continuity of work and active and critical participation during lectures, in-class activities and reviews.
  The final grade is not determined through the arithmetic mean of the individual assignment grades. It is based on an overall qualitative assessment of the project's progressive development and the learning demonstrated by the team and each student throughout the course. Particular attention is given to the ability to incorporate feedback, improve the proposal and achieve an increasingly coherent and well-developed outcome.
  Completion of all required assignments, deliveries and the final presentation is necessary to pass the course. The results of the project activities and intermediate assessments are valid for the academic year in which the course is delivered.

Valeria M. Iannilli, Alessandra Spagnoli, Design dynamics: Navigating the new complex landscape of omnichannel fashion retail, Editore: FrancoAngeli, Anno edizione: 2023, ISBN: 978-88-3515-737-3 https://series.francoangeli.it/index.php/oa/catalog/book/1065
Valeria M. Iannilli, Alessandra Spagnoli, Phygital retailing in fashion: Experiences, opportunities and innovation trajectories, Editore: ZoneModa Journal, Anno edizione: 2021 https://zmj.unibo.it/article/view/13120
Valeria M. Iannilli, Visual Retailing. Shaping The Sense Of Spaces, Editore: Esculapio, Anno edizione: 2016, ISBN: 9788874889549
Valeria M. Iannilli,, Retailing Made in Italy: An Evolutionary Reading towards Emerging Paradigms, Editore: Fashion Practice, Anno edizione: 2014 https://doi.org/10.2752/175693814X14035303880678

Aim of the course is to make students aware of the possibilities, constraints, philosophy and terminology of electronics, in order for them to conceive the design of a product with electronics functionalities, knowing in advance what is feasible and what is not, according to the project boundary conditions in terms of space, power consumption, balance of cost and added functionalities.

Students:
-understand the terminology and philosophy of electronics
-are aware of the added value electronic systems can give to a product
-are aware of the physical appearance of an electronic system
-know in which ways an electronic system can be integrated within a product
-given a certain electronic function to be implemented, are able to design, in terms of building blocks, an electronic system that can solve the problem
-for the aforementioned electronic system, they are able predict the order of magnitude of the space occupancy, power consumption, and to understand whether the electronic system is compatible with the product design boundary conditions.

In the following the main topics dealt with by the course are highlighted
what electronics is and what electronics does
(general statements and definitions: acquire, elaborate, actuate information)
electronics: an abstract, end-user, functional point-of-view
bottom-up approach: general concepts, building blocks (sensors, actuators, microcontrollers, analog to digital and digital to analog converters, LEDs, communication modules, energy management), the elements of an electronic system
top-down approach: how electronics can help my project? (specific examples)
fundamentals of electronics circuits: ohms law, voltage and current partitioning, sinusoidal regime, operational amplifiers, acquisition signal chain
how components really look like
Classification
Dimensions & appearance
Constraints: power supply & dissipation, shielding, temperature/humidity range
how to connect components
The traditional way: printed circuit board (PCB), a 2D approach
The soft way:
conformable, non-planar PCB
flexible/bendable/stretchable interconnects
Others: 2.5D rigid thermoplastic circuits
Product seamless integration: structural electronics
Methods and processes
Integration in composites
Integration in sheet metal structures
additive manufacturing
Case studies
Beyond traditional electronics
Ultrathin chip package
Flexible&Printed electronics: everything goes flex, status and perspectives
Application scenarios:
Internet of Things
Structural health monitoring
Electronic skin
Intelligent materials (shape memory alloys, piezoelectrics, magnetostrictive)
Product life cycle monitoring

Prova scritta obbligatoria, senza prove in itinere
Course evaluation will take place by means of a written test.
Student need to show they understand the terminology, philosohpy and approach of electronics and are able to solve simple electronic circuits. In addition, given a certain target, student need to show they are able to design, in terms of functional blocks, an electronic system.

P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, Editore: McGraw Hill, Anno edizione: 2016, ISBN: 978-1259587542

Il corso intende offrire agli studenti gli strumenti per comprendere una delle trasformazioni più significative del design italiano contemporaneo: il passaggio dal progetto inteso come produzione di oggetti al progetto come sistema di relazioni, ricerca, comunicazione, esperienza e innovazione.
Attraverso l'incontro diretto con i protagonisti di questa stagione, gli studenti saranno guidati a leggere criticamente i diversi modi di interpretare il mestiere del designer, comprendendone il metodo di lavoro, i processi creativi, il rapporto con le imprese, la costruzione del linguaggio progettuale e le strategie attraverso cui ogni autore ha saputo confrontarsi con i cambiamenti economici, tecnologici e culturali del nuovo millennio.
Il corso si propone inoltre di collocare questa generazione all'interno della storia del design italiano, evidenziandone il rapporto con i grandi Maestri del Novecento. Non una semplice continuità, ma un dialogo critico capace di trasformare l'eredità ricevuta in nuove forme di ricerca, sperimentazione e innovazione.
Particolare attenzione sarà dedicata all'ampliamento dei confini disciplinari del progetto. Gli studenti saranno invitati a osservare come il design abbia progressivamente esteso il proprio campo d'azione verso il digitale, la comunicazione, i servizi, la moda, il food, gli allestimenti, l'innovazione sociale e la cultura d'impresa, acquisendo un ruolo sempre più trasversale nella società contemporanea.
L'obiettivo finale non è soltanto trasmettere conoscenze storiche, ma sviluppare uno sguardo critico sul progetto contemporaneo. Attraverso il confronto con esperienze e percorsi professionali differenti, gli studenti saranno chiamati a costruire una propria capacità di interpretazione, riconoscendo nel design uno strumento di lettura della realtà e di trasformazione del futuro.

Lo studente:

• sa individuare elementi di significato e simbolici corrispondenti a specifici contesti di riferimento per il progetto che si andrà a sviluppare;
• sa analizzare autonomamente e in maniera critica i contesti di riferimento;
• sa come orientarsi nell'approfondimento critico di specifici argomenti.

Design italiano.
Eredi_Eretici_Esploratori
Una generazione del progetto italiano (1965–1975)
Ogni epoca riconosce i propri Maestri. Esiste però un momento in cui una nuova generazione entra in scena senza poter più essere definita "giovane" e senza appartenere ancora alla storia. È la generazione che raccoglie un'eredità, mette in discussione le regole ricevute e apre nuovi territori del progetto.
Dopo il primo ciclo Maestri, dedicato ai protagonisti del design italiano nati tra il 1935 e il 1955, questo corso è rivolto ai progettisti nati fra la metà degli anni Sessanta e la metà degli anni Settanta: designer che hanno ridefinito il significato del progetto nell'età della globalizzazione, della rivoluzione digitale e della contaminazione tra discipline.
Tre parole ne sintetizzano il profilo: Eredi, perché raccolgono il patrimonio culturale del design italiano; Eretici, perché ne mettono in discussione linguaggi e gerarchie; Esploratori, perché conducono il design oltre il prodotto industriale, aprendolo ai servizi, alla comunicazione, al digitale, alla moda, al food, agli allestimenti, all'innovazione sociale e ai nuovi sistemi produttivi.
Tra la fine degli anni Novanta e i primi Duemila questa generazione emerse con forza, trovando una prima ricognizione nella mostra The New Italian Design (2007). A quasi vent'anni di distanza, quei progettisti possono essere riletti come gli autori che hanno costruito il lessico del design contemporaneo, conquistando una riconosciuta autorevolezza internazionale.
La loro affermazione coincide con una profonda trasformazione del progetto: il design non è più soltanto oggetto industriale, ma processo, esperienza, ricerca, comunicazione e sistema di relazioni. Pur seguendo percorsi differenti, questi protagonisti condividono un rapporto libero e maturo con i grandi Maestri del Novecento, assunti non come modelli da imitare ma come patrimonio da reinterpretare criticamente.
Il corso offrirà agli studenti l'opportunità di incontrare direttamente questi progettisti, comprenderne il metodo di lavoro, il rapporto con le imprese e i processi creativi, collocando il loro contributo in una prospettiva storica.
Ogni incontro prevede un'introduzione critica della docente, una lectio magistralis dell'ospite e un dialogo finale con gli studenti. Durante il semestre ciascun partecipante realizzerà un Diario, strumento personale di osservazione e riflessione critica che accompagnerà l'intero percorso.

Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i facoltativo (a scelta dello studente), individuale, senza revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
La frequenza è obbligatoria. Il corso si fonda sull'incontro diretto con i protagonisti del design italiano contemporaneo: ogni lezione è un'occasione di confronto tra docente, autore e studenti. L'ascolto delle testimonianze, il dialogo e la partecipazione attiva costituiscono parte integrante del percorso formativo e non sono sostituibili con il solo studio individuale.
Esame
L'esame si svolgerà in forma orale e prenderà avvio dall'approfondimento critico di due autori scelti dallo studente. A questa parte si affiancherà, a scelta, un elaborato progettuale da svolgere singolarmente o in gruppo: 1) progetto/metaprogetto ispirato a uno dei designer del corso; 2) progetto curatoriale di una mostra dedicata a cinque autori, definendone concept, percorso espositivo e criteri di selezione.

Questo corso introduce principi e metodologie per la progettazione di tecnologie digitali in grado di garantire la diversità e l'accessibilità a tutti. Gli studenti apprenderanno un quadro metodologico che li aiuterà ad analizzare gli utenti del sistema e il contesto d'uso, a riconoscere i bisogni specifici, ad esempio legati alle abilità fisiche, al genere e allo status socio-economico, e a considerare questi bisogni nella progettazione di sistemi digitali che si comportino nel rispetto di tale diversità. Questo approccio progettuale è particolarmente rilevante quando si progettano le interfacce utente dei sistemi digitali; ma può anche essere critico quando si considerano algoritmi che producono previsioni non corrette a causa dell'adozione di set di dati incompleti, errati e pregiudizievoli. Nel complesso, l'obiettivo è quello di portare gli studenti a imparare a mettere gli utenti al centro fin dall'inizio del processo di progettazione, a riconoscere l'esclusione e a imparare dalla diversità, a risolvere per uno e a estendere a molti, raggiungendo così progetti che possano portare benefici universali alle persone.

This teaching examines landscape design through the lens of evolving historical and contemporary processes and their interactions with people and communities. It also raises critical questions concerning widespread, planetary-scale human practices and the extent to which they may be considered sustainable or unsustainable. A critical perspective will constitute a foundational component of the course. Students will also be invited to participate in a specially curated online lecture series developed in collaboration with metaLAB (at) Harvard.

By the end of this teaching, students will be able to analyse and understand the complexity of contemporary public landscapes, ecosystems, regenerative ecological processes, and emerging approaches to ecology. Students will complete the course having developed an independent and informed critical perspective on landscape design.

Evolving Landscapes
The course aims to provide students with a critical understanding of the complexities involved in landscape planning and of the environmental challenges currently affecting the planet. Particular attention will be devoted to the analysis of public landscape projects, history of gardens and natural and anthropic ecosystems from different parts of the world. Human-made and human-altered open spaces—including squares, parks, streets, abandoned sites, historic gardens, and installations—as well as natural landscapes and ecosystems will be examined across a wide range of geographical contexts, including Europe, North, Central, and South America, Africa, Indochina, and Australia. These examples will be analysed in order to identify the visible and invisible dynamic systems that shape landscapes over time.
The course also seeks to stimulate the development of visionary approaches to landscape design capable of fostering stronger human relationships, supporting land conservation, inclusivity, advancing non-anthropocentric perspectives, encouraging co-existences, improving interspecies interactions, and creating distinctive ecological identities within public spaces.
Topics for the Digital Works
Sustainable? _Nature: The New Rebel Citizen_Urban Landscape and Feelings_New Public Coexistences.
Students will be encouraged to engage in open discussion and to develop bold, visionary ideas or strategies for public spaces and communities.

Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, senza revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Students Attending the Course.
Assessment will consist of a group-based final discussion addressing the content of the online lectures, together with the production of two digital works: ONE A3 MANIFESTO; ONE SHORT MOVIE, with a maximum duration of three to five minutes.
Students Not Attending the Course.
Assessment will consist of an individual final discussion based on: TWO BOOKS OR ESSAYS selected by the student on contemporary or historical landscape design or architecture; ONE SHORT MOVIE, with a maximum duration of three to five minutes.

L’insegnamento esamina le variabili di avvio e gestione di un progetto di Licensing, esaminando le relazioni sempre più stringenti con le attività di Brand Extension, Contract, Merchandising, Brand Protection, aree e attività oggi interconnesse con un obiettivo comune: perseguire la crescita del business attraverso la valorizzazione del brand in tutti gli ambiti e settori merceologici. Nel corso verranno approfonditi i rapporti di partnership tra PMI (Piccole e Medie Imprese) italiane e i grandi brand internazionali nel realizzare nuovi prodotti.

L’insegnamento fornisce gli strumenti atti a potersi esprimere nel campo del lavoro, da subito, a buoni livelli professionali.
Lo studente alla fine dell’insegnamento sarà in grado di:

• Costruire la catena del valore del brand attreverso il merchandising, la brand-extension, il licensing, la brand-protection.
• Progettare lo sviluppo delle licenze peri brand attraverso il Marketing, la strategia, la comunicazione, la distribuzione.

High-level training course to develop specific competencies on Brand Extension, licensing, franchising and merchandising in fashion and upper class.
The educational setting of seminar is innovative and interactive. It takes the covered topics with synergy and cross-reference, correlating them in a sort of “direction” enabling the student to check through the educational path the combined learning of a different subjects, directly putting into practice with the partnering Companies, different stages of creativity.
Traditional classes are integrated with case studies, interviews with well known entrepreneurs, group sessions and exercises, Company visit.
The subjects included in this course, will be developed crossing application classes into different research fields such us: the brand value chain, the brand communication values, the brand extension (vertical and horizontal), from third partying to partnership, creativity and licensing, product personalization, retailing identity, the brand as an asset. During the project work, in particular, the participants, thanks to the extensive use of small working teams supervised by a tutor, can test and implement the knowledge and the teamwork skills so far developed.

• - - - - - - - -
  I perchè di questo Corso
  Il desiderio di offrire un Corso sul tema della Brand-Extension e del Licensing, ha l’ambizione di nascere in un panorama economico in continua evoluzione.
  Il Corso esamina le variabili di avvio e gestione di un progetto di Brand Extension, analizzando le relazioni con le attività di Licensing, Franchising e Merchandising, aree e attività con un obiettivo comune: ricercare la crescita del business. Un accesso privilegiato a un network di eccellenza incontri e dibattiti con imprenditori e manager di successo.
  Valore aggiunto del Corso è offrire agli studenti le linee guida per comprendere l’interesse ad approfondire temi legati alla Brand Extension. Offriamo agli studenti gli strumenti per comprendere se vogliono intraprendere una carriera di Brand Manager o Brand Extension Manager. Vogliamo trasmettere ai “futuri manager” una sensibilità al design e allo stile e, al tempo stesso, fornire ai futuri designer la capacità manageriale per sviluppare progetti sostenibili economicamente.
  La formula didattica utilizzata è fortemente orientata alla gestione pratica del lavoro grazie a workshop svolti in collaborazione con importanti brand in cui si studieranno e progetteranno le strategie più innovative.
  L’impostazione didattica è di tipo innovativo e interattivo, in quanto affronta in modo sinergico e trasversale i temi trattati, e li correla tra loro tramite una sorta di “regia”.
  Lo studente avrà la possibilità di legare tra di loro diverse materie, mettendo in pratica i diversi ambiti di creatività anche grazie alla partecipazione e agli interventi delle aziende partner.
  Durante il Corso si ascoltano le testimonianze di professionisti e top manager per iniziare ad avere un’overview sul mondo di riferimento con testimonianze da tutto il mondo.
  Alle lezioni tradizionali si alternano discussioni di casi, incontri con esponenti del mondo imprenditoriale, esercitazioni e lavori applicativi:
  · Company Visit: attività sul campo per valorizzare sul campo le competenze acquisite;
  · One Day Challenge: veri e propri progetti commissionati dalle aziende e da presentare ai top manager aziendali che daranno il loro giudizio

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, individuale, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Valutazione continua obbligatoria
Il Corso si compone di lezioni frontali con testimonianze di operatori del settore in cui verranno approfondite le diverse tematiche. A supporto di queste si svilupperanno project work applicativi direttamente con le aziende partner.
La frequenza è obbligatoria (con un monte-ore minimo pari all'80% del totale).
I project-work saranno individuali
La valutazione sarà la media dei voti riferiti ai project-work sviluppati durante il corso.

Marco Turinetto, Idee in Movimento: il valore economico dell'innovazione, Editore: Lupetti, Anno edizione: 2018, ISBN: 978-88-8391-278-8
Marco Turinetto, From Italy: l'unicit  del saper pensare e fare italiano, Editore: Lupetti Editore, Anno edizione: 2012, ISBN: 978-88-8391-366-2
Marco Turinetto, From Italy: Value as an Attitude, Editore: Lupetti Editore, Anno edizione: 2014, ISBN: 978-88-8391-332-7

Obiettivo dell'insegnamento è quello di sviluppare la sensibilità del futuro progettista nei confronti delle tecnologie e dei materiali più innovativi per il settore del design e in particolare delle nanotecnologie e dei materiali funzionali in un’ottica di sviluppo sostenibile ed economia circolare.

Lo studente:

• Conoscenza e capacità di comprensione (knowledge and understanding): conosce e comprende le tecnologie e i materiali più innovativi per il settore del design e in particolare delle nanotecnologie e dei materiali funzionali;
  -Conoscenza e capacità di comprensione applicate (applying knowledge and understanding): sa integrare nanotecnologie e materiali funzionali nel processo di sviluppo di nuovi prodotti.

Il programma affronta le innovazioni e l'evoluzione nei materiali e nelle tecnologie industriali. Il corso analizza le soluzioni ingegneristiche e nanotecnologiche più innovative — tra cui sol-gel, leghe a memoria di forma e materiali fotocromici — con particolare focus sui materiali funzionali e sulle loro applicazioni concrete nel mondo del design.
I partecipanti acquisiranno competenze chiave sugli aspetti associati alla sostenibilità, attraverso la trattazione di argomenti quali biopolimeri, materiali da valorizzazione di scarti, ma anche di active e smart packaging.
Le varie tematiche verranno trattate integrando casi studio recenti attraverso una discussione attiva con la classe sulle performance ingegneristiche, caratteristiche estetico-sensoriali e proprietà di fine vita.
Il corso integra una parte relativa a basi metodologiche per la ricerca scientifica, il reperimento delle fonti e la redazione di elaborati tecnici e accademici, a supporto del raggiungimento dei risultati di apprendimento attesi.
L’insegnamento si articola in lezioni frontali, seminari e incontri con aziende ed esperti del settore, e una sessione laboratoriale. Sarà possibile organizzare visite presso realtà industriali e/o presso istituzioni rilevanti per l’innovazione nei materiali (es. ADI Design Museum).

Prova scritta condizionata (a scelta del docente), senza prove in itinere
Prova orale condizionata (a scelta del docente)
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Durante il semestre sono previste esercitazioni facoltative, utili per supportare la preparazione.
Tutti gli studenti, frequentanti e non frequentanti, svolgeranno un lavoro di approfondimento obbligatorio, preferibilmente in gruppo. L’elaborato risultante verrà valutato considerando la capacità di organizzare le conoscenze acquisite in un testo coerente, sviluppare e comunicare un pensiero critico, nonché comprendere e integrare le innovazioni nel processo di sviluppo di nuovi prodotti.
Studenti frequentanti:
Al termine delle lezioni, verrà proposto un quiz finale di valutazione. Qualora studenti e studentesse frequentanti otterranno valutazione sufficiente ad almeno il 70% dei quiz proposti, verranno esentati/e dall’esame scritto. La media dei voti del quiz costituirà il 50% del voto finale.
Il lavoro di approfondimento obbligatorio peserà per il 40% del voto totale.
Studenti e studentesse frequentanti presenteranno il lavoro di approfondimento sotto forma episodio di podcast alla fine del corso. Quest’ultimo peserà nella valutazione per il rimanente 10% del totale.
Studenti NON frequentanti:
Secondo il calendario stabilito dalla Scuola, è previsto un esame scritto composto da domande aperte e quiz a scelta multipla, relativi agli argomenti trattati durante il corso. Le prove, atte a verificare la conoscenza e la comprensione, peseranno per il 35% e 15% sul voto finale, rispettivamente.
Similarmente a studenti e studentesse frequentanti, il lavoro di approfondimento obbligatorio peserà per il 40% del voto totale. Il lavoro verrà presentato in sede di esame mediante una presentazione con slide e peserà nella valutazione per il rimanente 10% del totale.

Asbhy, M.F., Materials and sustainable development, Editore: Butterworth-Heinemann, Anno edizione: 2022
Daniel L. Schodek, Paulo Ferreira, Michael Ashby, Nanomaterials, Nanotechnologies and Design, Editore: Elsevier Science & Technology, Anno edizione: 2009
Addington, M., Schodek, D., Smart Materials and Technologies, Editore: Elsevier, Anno edizione: 2005
Ritter, A, Smart materials in architecture, interior architecture and design, Editore: Birkh¤user Verlag AG, Anno edizione: 2007
Ashby, M., Johnson, K, Materiali e Design, Editore: CEA Casa Editrice Ambrosiana, Anno edizione: 2010
Note: edizione italiana a cura di M. Levi, MP. Pedeferri, B. Del Curto, V. Rognoli
Del Curto B., Nanotecnologie e materiali funzionali. Strumenti per una nuova progettualità, Editore: Epitesto, Anno edizione: 2008
Del Curto B., Fiorani E., Passaro C., La pelle del design. Progettare la sensorialitÂ, Editore: Lupetti, Anno edizione: 2010
Eric. H. Cornish N., Materiali progetto industriale e design, Editore: Hoepli, Anno edizione: 1992
Pacchioni, G., Materiali fantastici e come crearli. Dal grafene al computer quantistico, le nanotecnologie che ci cambiano la vita, Editore: Zanichelli, Anno edizione: 2023

The course aims to equip students with the ability to design Employee Experiences that are aligned with organizational culture, a competency that is increasingly relevant in contemporary organizations.
The course includes a collaboration with a partner company, which will be presented as a case study.
Students will learn how to analyze and map existing organizational culture through the company’s processes and will acquire methods and tools to design new Employee Experiences aligned with a desired cultural vision.
Students will work in teams on the company brief and will have the opportunity to interact directly with company representatives, as well as to explore the organizational context as part of their research activities.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:
analyze and map the Employee Experience
analyze and map the key elements of organizational culture
design effective cultural interventions, including the definition of distinctive behaviors and nudging strategies
apply behavioural design principles to support the design process

Organizational Culture Design is a course grounded in the principles of Service Design, aimed at exploring its application within the domain of Organizational Culture. Specifically, the course focuses on how Service Design and Design Thinking methods and tools can be applied to design the key elements that shape organizational cultures.
The course introduces the main phases of the Employee Experience, understood as the lifecycle of an employee within an organization, and provides students with techniques to design effective and meaningful processes and experiences.
Students will explore the core components of a Cultural Manifesto, including its underlying values, and will be guided in designing the distinctive behaviors that embody these values, making organizational culture tangible and coherent.
In addition, the course introduces the fundamentals of Behavioural Design and Nudging as key approaches to support behavior design.

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Valutazione continua obbligatoria
Students will be evaluated based on assignments given during the course.
The final evaluation of the student will be the result of the sum of the different evaluations.
There will be individual and group assignments.

Serena Leonardi, Martina Rossi, Eleonora Valè, Organizational Culture Design, Editore: Guerini Next, Anno edizione: 2025
Schein, E.H. and Schein, P.A., Organizational Culture and Leadership, Editore: Wiley & Sons, Anno edizione: 2017
Martina Rossi, Human Resource Design, Editore: Springer
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow
Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R., Nudge, Editore: Penguin, Anno edizione: 2009

The Retail Strategies Course is designed to introduce students to the world of fashion retailing, exploring the various types of retailers and the channels they adopt in response to digitalization, as well as the resulting changes in consumer behavior.
Specific retail strategies will be analyzed to provide an in-depth understanding of the strategic decisions made by retailers to develop long-term competitive advantages within a target market segment.
Case studies will enable students to apply course learnings and concepts to a range of business scenarios across various topics and disciplines.
Experienced retail professionals will be invited to share their practical expertise, further enriched by an industry field trip.
Students will gain an understanding of the terminology, concepts, and key performance metrics used to analyze existing businesses.
Note: The course is part of the FIT in Milan curriculum. For this reason, students who choose to attend the course will join a Fashion Business Management class of FIT students spending their semester at Polimi, following the FIT academic pace and calendar. Therefore, the course starts in mid-January and ends in mid-May. This interdisciplinary course not only represents an excellent opportunity to explore the practice of retailing, but it also offers a chance to collaborate with international students and gain a distinctive cultural perspective, preparing you for a career without cultural barriers.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Compare and contrast the different characteristics associated with the various retail formats with emphasis on retail mix, sustainable competitive advantage and customer experience.
2. Analyze the many channels of commerce, the importance of each channel, the metrics used to measure success, and the key customer touchpoints across channels.
3. Evaluate big data applied in the retail environment to drive performance and create more relevant customer experiences. This includes areas of customer relationship management, in-store analytics, and digital analytics. Key concepts include predictive analytics, augmented reality, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning applied in the retail environment.
4. Examine the required skills for managing the assets of the business in terms of people, property, and inventory control. A focus will be on controlling operational costs, finance and protecting assets.
5. Learn how brand identity values are expressed and translated into retail experiences and explore how design serves as a key lever to distinguish the brand in the market, fostering customer retention and driving conversions.

The course will explore current practices in the retail industry. Topics and disciplines include retail landscape, channel classification, industry segments, retail market strategies, data analytics, customer relationship management, financial strategy, supply chain structures, and retail design & management.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, con prove in itinere
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Valutazione continua obbligatoria

Criteria
Weight
Comments
Attendance
10%
Assignment 01
25%
Retail ID Analysis of a selected brand
Assignment 02
35%
Retail Strategies Analysis for the brand
Collective Reading & Participation
15%
The student will search for a reading/magazine article/report (covering lessons’ key concepts) to introduce to the class and will prepare some key questions to be addressed in a collective discussion.
Midterm
15%
Multiple-choice quiz based on lessons contents

Levy, M. and Weitz, B.,, Retailing Management, Editore: McGraw Hill, Anno edizione: 2022, ISBN: 1264157444

The "Smart Wearables Design and Prototyping" teaching will provide practical hands-on skills for prototyping a whole smart wearable, from electronic board, frame 3D printing, microprocessor and sensors programming, to Android App development. Students will become familiar with microprocessors, sensors, communication protocols, and CAD tools used to develop low-power, small-size wearables. The course addresses the fundamental concepts and tools for developing sensing electronics and low-power embedded processing, within the new cross-disciplinary Major on "Smart Wearable Technologies". Case studies of industrial interest will be discussed.
The course will include 12 hours of "lessons" on design basics, including many examples and use-cases, and 38 hours of practical "laboratories", during which teams of 3-4 students will design and prototype their own smart eyewear, from the printed-circuit board and glass-frame to the microcontroller firmware and smartphone app.
Starting from basic templates of both main-board (with STM32U5 microcontroller equipped with BLE, NFC, flash, IMU, USB-C peripherals), firmware, housing, smartphone app, each team will customize and prototype a smart-eyewear, by designing flex sensors-probe (PPG, IMU, barometer), firmware, custom eyewear frame, and smartphone app to display acquired data.

Course topics:

• Circular economy, systemic design thinking and sustainable business
• History of the scientific discoveries and systemic thinking that led to the concept of circular economy
• Examples of regenerative city projects and circular business solutions
• Mapping the life cycle of fossil fuels and plastic applications
• Mapping the life cycle of water from oceans to air and land, including urban sewage systems, their contextualisation in different geographical areas and current issues
• Mapping of supply chains and life cycles of foods, fabrics and consumer goods
• Exploring the differences in user experiences between linear and circular economies
• EU Green Deal and recent sustainability regulations
• Scope I, II, III analysis and circular economy certifications

Through this course, students will be able to deepen their knowledge of the circular economy and the systemic approach, to eliminate externalities and waste by design, learn to minimise waste in production processes, prevent resources from becoming waste and pay greater attention to the aspects social and environmental impact of company operations.

Nations around the world have identified goals to decarbonise their economies by 2050, to keep global warming below 1.5-2°C above pre-industrial levels. To decarbonise we need two big changes in our industries: eliminate fossil fuels by switching to renewable energy sources and convert our linear economies into circular economies, infinitely more efficient in the use of resources.
Our current production system is based on a linear model that transforms productive resources into waste within a few days, months, years: these resources could instead be used for much longer and reused as separate products or materials, significantly limiting their ecological and social impact, while providing alternative sources of revenue and customer loyalty for the company.
Through this course, students will be able to deepen their knowledge of the circular economy and the systemic approach, to eliminate externalities and waste by design, learn to minimise waste in production processes, prevent resources from becoming waste and pay greater attention to the social and environmental impact of company operations.
Regenerative design is the practice of designing along with the Planet and not against it, starting from common goods, from what is available now and from what can be sustainable in the future, regenerating ecosystems compromised by human activities, restoring the balance between man and nature.
Part of the course will be dedicated to the analysis of historical climate achievements, global cooperation on climate, future climate scenarios and limits to growth. The course will integrate systems thinking with design forecasting.
Student work:

• Analysis and understanding of systemic design tools
• Exploring a topic of interest, contextualised in a specific geography and city, and understanding the issues related to the topic in a linear economy
• Analysis of the environmental and systemic impacts of the explored solution and the design variables from a systemic perspective
• Analysis of the future scenarios and opportunities related to the explored topic
• Final presentation
  Suggested reads:
  Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows, Dennis Meadows et al., Club of Rome https://www.clubofrome.org/publication/the-limits-to-growth
  Limits and Beyond by Club of Rome http://www.clubofrome.org/ publication/limits-and-beyond
  Gaia by a James Lovelock https://global.oup.com/academic/product/ gaia-9780198784883
  Silent Spring by Rachel Carson https://www.rachelcarson.org/silent- spring
  Drawdown edited by Paul Hawke https://drawdown.org/the-book
  The Whole Earth Discipline by Stewart Brand https:// www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/09/whole-earth-catalog-book- review
  Climate Capitalism by Akshat Rathi https://akshatrathi.com/book
  The Climate of History in a Planetary Age by Dipesh Chakrabarty https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/ bo8642262.html
  The Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth https:// www.kateraworth.com
  Suggested websites:
  Project Drawdown https://drawdown.org
  The Ellen MacArthur Foundation https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org
  Climate trace, backed by Al Gore https://climatetrace.org
  Circle Economy https://www.circle-economy.com
  Plastic Free https://plasticfree.com/
  Our World in Data https://ourworldindata.org/
  Other contents:
  Circularity in Europe strengthens the sustainability of the global food system https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-023-00734-9
  Circular Economy Action Plan - European Commission https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en
  Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation - European Commission https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en
  Green Claims Directive - European Commission https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/circular-economy/green-claims_en

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Valutazione continua condizionata (a scelta del docente)
Students will develop a project that will test their knowledge of design for regeneration, the circular economy and future climate scenarios. The project could be focused on a specific city or company. Students will be assessed on:

• use of systemic design tools (provided by the teacher with a template on Miro, possibly also printed)
• understanding of the circular economy and its business models, learned during the course
• involvement in the classroom and during project sessions
• creativity and feasibility in the development of your project
  Students will be assessed on their final project and potentially with an individual in-person exam. Their abilities to conduct research and systemic analysis will be the focus of the evaluation, together with the outcomes of the final project.

The course has the purpose of giving the students an overview of technologies applied onto the fashion product throughout the whole making process and within every area of application.

Students:

• Learn about the variety of possibilities offered by the state-of-the-art of the technology panorama;
• Learn to identify different techniques and understand the value of the product development process in their application;
• Understand the meaning of product research and how technologies can be key in the definition of innovative concepts or solutions.

Nowadays technologies are key in the making of innovative concepts, yet the wide offer, excitement on discovering new techniques and tight timings often do not allow the proper understanding of their full potential in the design process. The importance of knowing the product and all the phases in its development are a very important prerequisite to approach a new technology, as its successful application often depends on the ability for the new technique to be combined within an establish process as also, random innovations or the simple application of new techniques are not enough to enhance the value of a product.
Having the chance of understanding the key features and the functioning of a technological process can widen the inspiration for designers and can support the product development - starting from the product concept, up to its completion – in adding value to a certain project. The course has the goal of giving the students - the designers of the future – an overview of the available technologies on the market through most of the product making processes and product categories. The students will learn about a variety of technological innovations across the fashion industry panorama, from raw materials to processes, with focuses on the different techniques, their latest innovations and a spotlight on the most responsible ones.
Innovating alone is not enough and the ability of a designer to innovate is very important in the fashion industry. Students will learn the value of research and the importance of experimentation on the product, the relevance of knowing the processes in order to be able to innovate, the ability to evaluate the application of a technique on a product or the tools to choose the most suitable one – or set of them – to enhance a certain project and to understand how different technologies can interact with each other, through their limits or for the creation of new product opportunities.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, con prove in itinere
Valutazione continua obbligatoria
Altro
For students, the exam consists in:

• Attendance and participation (10% of final grade)
• Guided exercise during class hours (Individual Assignment) – (20% of final grade)
• Extempore projects (Team Assignment) – (20% of final grade)
• Written Exam with multiple choice and open-ended questions (Individual Assignment) – (50% of final grade. Passing the written exam is mandatory to pass the course, regardless of the average from other components )
  The course does not include a non-attending student option.
  The final evaluation will cover the following aspects:
• Methodological coherence: understanding and application of the theoretical contents.
• Critical thinking: understanding of technical processes, critical and creative approach, quality and originality of ideas and solutions.
• Communication skills: use of professional language, industry terms and mannerisms.
• Motivation and participation: timeliness, accountability, active and critical participation during lectures (attending students).

Slide decks provided weekly. Any additional resources will be specified within the course.

Teaching is concentrated on the planning of temporary solutions for a host city, in close contact with local realities. Through a multi-disciplinary approach, opportunities will be explored for improving the sense of belonging to the neighbourhood, implementing social innovation and producing scenarios that can transform temporariness into permanence.
This course is proposed by the School as an optional teaching group with innovative education characteristics that support students as they acquire and strengthen their transversal skills.

Students:

• know and understand the specifications for producing a temporary installation;
• can analyse the reference context to find project solutions that are coherent with the project brief;
• autonomously and in a group make project choices, developing skills for the creative solution of problems, team building and leadership.

Cities and territories are experiencing continuous transformations driven by social, environmental, cultural, and technological change. In this evolving landscape, designers are increasingly called to engage with complexity, uncertainty, and diversity by imagining new ways of living together and activating more inclusive, resilient, and regenerative futures.
Temporary and Inclusive Urban Solutions (TIUS) explores how design can act as a catalyst for positive territorial change through situated, participatory, and systemic approaches. Rather than designing fixed solutions, the course investigates how temporary interventions, collaborative processes, and strategic actions can generate long-term social, spatial, and environmental value.
Students will work in real contexts, engaging with local communities, stakeholders, and places to understand existing dynamics and identify opportunities for transformation. Through field research, mapping, co-design activities, prototyping, and testing, they will develop interventions that activate spaces, services, interactions, and collective practices capable of fostering inclusion, participation, care, and shared responsibility.
The course introduces methods and tools from participatory design, systemic design, service design, and spatial design, encouraging students to move across different scales—from objects and services to ecosystems and territorial networks. Emphasis is placed on experimentation, iteration, and learning through action, enabling students to critically reflect on the social and environmental implications of design while translating research into tangible interventions.
TIUS is conceived as an experimental design studio where collaboration, dialogue, and direct engagement with real-world challenges become the foundation for designing more inclusive and sustainable urban futures.

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
The course is based on continuous assessment and active participation throughout the semester. Students are expected to attend all studio sessions, contribute to group discussions, and actively engage in collaborative design activities. Assessment will be based on:
Intermediate group assignments, consisting of progressive design exercises and project deliverables developed throughout the course. These outputs will be discussed and reviewed during scheduled studio sessions with lecturers and tutors, providing continuous feedback on both the design process and the quality of the proposed solutions.
Final group presentation, during which students will present the overall design proposal, illustrating the research process, methodological approach, design development, and expected impact of the intervention.
Evaluation will consider not only the final outcome but also the evolution of the project throughout the semester, including the ability to critically engage with feedback, apply the course methodologies, collaborate effectively within the group, and communicate design decisions clearly through visual, verbal, and written formats. As the course is studio-based and highly participatory, attendance and active in-class participation are essential and constitute an integral part of the learning and assessment process.
The course will take 1 half day a week from February to May/June. The course is organized around 3 blocks that composed the final evaluation: RESEARCH, CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT AND CO-DESIGN, and PROJECT DEVELOPMENT. Each block includes a specific assignment designed to consolidate the concepts and skills introduced. The final course grade will be calculated as the weighted average of all assignment grades.

Davide Fassi, Temporary Urban Solutions, Editore: Maggioli, Anno edizione: 2012, ISBN: 8838761256
Ezio Manzini, ABITARE LA PROSSIMITA'. IDEE PER LA CITTA' DEI 15 MINUTI, Editore: Egea, Anno edizione: 2021, ISBN: 9788823838208
Laura Galluzzo and Ambra Borin, Post-pandemic Scenarios and Design Strategies for Public Space Transformation, Editore: InMATERIAL, Anno edizione: 2021
Ambra Borin and Laura Galluzzo, Designing the "threshold" in Resiliency Cities, Editore: Springer, Anno edizione: 2023
Laura Galluzzo, The Interior Legacy, Editore: Maggioli, Anno edizione: 2018
Laura Galluzzo and Salvatore Di Dio (Eds.), Designing Hybrid Spaces. Envisioning Plural Ecosystems and Socio-Cultural Practices for Regenerative Urban Futures, Editore: FrancoAngeli, Anno edizione: 2025, ISBN: 9788835183594
Annalinda De Rosa, S+S Spatial Design + Service Design, Editore: Maggioli Editore, Anno edizione: 2022, ISBN: 8891656124 https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3789493.3797293
Robert Temel, Florian Haydn, Temporary urban spaces, Editore: Birkhauser, Anno edizione: 2006
Anna Meroni, Creative Communities. People inventing sustainable ways of living, Editore: Polidesign, Anno edizione: 2007 www.sustainable-everyday.net
Anna Meroni, Daniela Selloni, Martina Rossi, Massive Codesign. A proposal for a collaborative design framework, Editore: FrancoAngeli International, Anno edizione: 2018
Ezio Manzini, Francois Jegou, Quotidiano sostenibile - Scenari di vita urbana, Editore: Edizioni Ambiente, Anno edizione: 2003 www.sustainable-everyday.net
Ezio Manzini, Francois Jegou, Collaborative services. Social innovation and design for sustainability., Editore: Polidesign, Anno edizione: 2008
Ezio Manzini, Design, When Everybody Designs: An Introduction to Design for Social Innovation (R. Coad, Trans.), Editore: Mit Press, Anno edizione: 2015
Richard Florida, Cities and the Creative Class, Anno edizione: 2005
Pierluigi Nicolin, Architettura e beni comuni, Fascicolo: 153, Editore: Lotus interantional, Anno edizione: 2014
Elena Caratti and Laura Galluzzo, Designing ethically in a complex world. Multiple challenges within design for public and social systems, Editore: FrancoAngeli, Anno edizione: 2024, ISBN: 9788835167907
Elena Granata, Placemaker. Gli inventori dei luoghi che abiteremo, Anno edizione: 2021, ISBN: 9788806249007
Corubolo, M.; Baroncelli Torretta, N.; Hanmant Mahamuni, R.; Borin, A., Engaging in Peace, Dialogue, and Coexistence, Anno edizione: 2026 https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3789493.3797293
Note: PDC '26: Proceedings of the 19th Participatory Design Conference 2026, Vol. 3: Workshops, Situated Actions, and PDC Places

Course content
The course focuses on the intrinsic characteristics of objects – essentially their shapes, colours and modes of operation, where these are immediately understandable from their very form – which enable such objects to communicate with potential users without the need for intermediaries or words; in other words, to be more appealing than others precisely because of this quality, and to enjoy a competitive advantage in terms of commercial success and widespread popularity.
The course is built around a typological taxonomy of these communicative characteristics and analyses their outcomes. Each lesson examines one or more typologies, defining their characteristics and offering a series of concrete examples. It then focuses on a specific case, inviting the designer and/or the manufacturing company to present it — its genesis, its production process, and, where available, an overview of its reception (where possible, including the sociological and geographical differences in that reception).
Examination Assessments
A mid-term written assessment is scheduled for Lesson 7, covering the six lessons delivered to date. This mark will account for 50 per cent of the final mark; that is, it will be added to the mark obtained in the final assessment, and the result will be divided by 2. Any fractional marks (e.g. mid-term result 24, final assessment result 27; sum of the two 51; divided by 2 = 25.5) will be rounded up or down based on commitment and participation in lessons, at the lecturer's discretion.
Course programme
The course consists of 12 lessons. The first serves as a general introduction to the course and lays the foundations for the subsequent lessons. The other lessons, apart from the mid-term assessment, examine 10 categories of Talking Artefacts. Each lesson features a guest designer or company who comes to present a project that falls within the category covered in that lesson.
Lesson 1
Introduction to the course: definition of the "Communicative Power of the Artefacts" and "Talking Artefacts". Overview of modes of communication according to Jakobson and Peirce.
Lesson 2
History and glory. Formal citation — historical references
Lesson 3
The masters. Formal citation — references to recognisable authors
Lesson 4
Revivals and rebirths / The immortals
Lesson 5
Borrowings. References to other forms/objects
Lesson 6
Naturally. Organic forms — empathy
Lesson 7
Mid-term assessment
Lesson 8
Human pareidolia. Human forms — empathy
Lesson 9
Use me like this. Obvious ergonomics
Lesson 10
Second lives. Reuse in other ways
Lesson 11
Short circuits. Paradox/design provocation
Lesson 12
The impostors. Fakes // Summary in preparation for the final assessment

Prova scritta obbligatoria, con prove in itinere
Students must demonstrate their understanding of the concept of Talking Artefacts and their communicative power by answering five multiple-choice questions, each worth 1/30. The remaining 25/30 will relate to the proposal of an Artefact (object, architecture, project) which, in the student’s opinion, falls into one of the categories outlined, accompanied by:

• Images of the chosen Artefact.
• Images useful for demonstrating which category the Artefact belongs to.
• A text explaining the rationale, of no fewer than 1,200 characters including spaces.

The teaching has the aim of transferring to the student the skills for searching for and reading trends in the fashion sector and how these elements, from visual and research, are transformed into system-product collections.

Students:

• learn how to research and read the fashion sector trends;
• can analyse how these elements have fallen into the system-product collections;
• can elaborate research and communicate it autonomously and in groups.

Working to identify trends in fashion could seem to be an easy and fascinating profession. The abilities of observation, curiosity, and a good dose of intuition could seem to be enough. The reality is very different and complex. Working on trends means always having an overall vision. It is essential to place the observed phenomena within a wider picture, document them, tell of them, and evaluate their temporal course. Time becomes the only judge of the veracity of the analysis and previsions.
Over time, to construct a trends scenario, a single discipline is not enough (be it design or sociology, semiology, or psychology) or a point of view, but it is necessary to have an interdisciplinary approach.
Therefore, the purpose of the course is to study the process behind fashion industry actions and user reactions, that can trigger fashion innovation but also to allow students to approach research methods on how to identify evolution and opportunities for the fashion business in both online and offline contexts.
A systematic reading of socio-cultural change through the observation of the material culture and a selection of tools will offer students the skills necessary for constant/consistent monitoring of people's behaviors and industry dynamics. Therefore, the course will stimulate students' ability to envision future scenarios as a framework for generating new design proposals for the fashion industry as new solutions aligned with the evolution of contemporary society and the market.
The course aims to teach students the skills for searching for and reading trends in the fashion sector and how these elements, from visual and research, are transformed into system-product collections.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, con prove in itinere
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, senza revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Valutazione continua obbligatoria
For attending students
The exam consists in:
In-class exercises throughout the semester (Team assignments) – (50% of final grade)
Trend Report throughout the semester (Individual Assignment) – (20% of final grade)
Written Test on exam date (2 open questions) (Individual Assignment) – (30% of final grade)
The assignments’ evaluation will cover the following aspects:

• Methodological coherence: understanding and application of the theoretical contents.
• Research skills and critical thinking: understanding of the Brief; quality, level of definition, and consistency of the research; quality of sources.
• Creativity and design attitude: the capability to give a critical and original design solution.
• Representation skills and graphic project: quality of graphic elements to support the visual presentation of the project (graphic layout, color fidelity, image quality and definition, etc.).
• Communication skills: quality of the oral presentation, structure of the oral presentation, use of professional language, and mannerisms.
• Team collaboration: equal share of workload among team members, cohesiveness, and fairness.
• Motivation and participation: timeliness, accountability, active and critical participation during lectures and reviews.
  Students can take the written test once on each exam date available in the planned sessions of the academic year a student is enrolled in.
  Specific instructions for each assignment will be communicated at the launch of each assignment during the semester.
  For non-attending students
  The exam consists in:
  Written Exam (multiple choice and open-ended questions) on Required Bibliography for non-attending students – on exam date (100% of final grade) on Socrative Platform.
  Students can take the exam once on each exam date available in the planned sessions of the academic year a student is enrolled in.

Kim, E.; Fiore, A.M.; Kim. H., Fashion Trends. Analysis and Forecasting, Editore: Bloomsbury Publishing, Anno edizione: 2021
Note: Second Edition
Raymond, M., The Trend Forecaster's Handbook, Editore: Laurence King Publishing
Note: Second Edition
Rousso, C.; OStroff, N. K., Fashion Forward: A Guide to Fashion Forecasting, Editore: Bloomsbury, Anno edizione: 2024
Vejlgaard, H., Anatomy of A Trend, Editore: McGraw Hill, Anno edizione: 2007

The course aims to provide students with the tools and mindset needed to transform early-stage business ideas into viable entrepreneurial ventures.
Through a design-driven, hands-on approach, students will learn how to identify real-world problems, validate user needs, design and prototype innovative solutions, and define sustainable business models.
The course supports students in developing their entrepreneurial potential within multidisciplinary teams, culminating in the preparation and delivery of a compelling pitch to a panel of experts and investors.

By the end of the course, the student:
knows how to apply a design-driven approach to explore and validate entrepreneurial ideas;
is able to identify user needs, define a value proposition, and prototype solutions accordingly;
understands how to structure and evaluate a business model based on real-world feedback;
is capable of working within multidisciplinary teams to develop and communicate an entrepreneurial project;
can pitch a venture idea effectively to a panel of experts and potential investors.

Do you have an entrepreneurial idea you believe in? Are you part of a motivated team ready to take it to the next level?
This course is made for you.
Venture Design is a brand-new startup accelerator course designed for students who want to turn their ideas into real entrepreneurial ventures. Over the course of one semester, teams will receive dedicated support to develop, test, and strengthen their ideas—step by step—until they’re ready to pitch them in front of a panel of investors and experts.
What will you do?
Throughout the course, your team will:

• Identify and validate the problem you want to solve,
• Deeply understand user needs,
• Design and prototype your solution,
• Define your business model,
• Build and deliver a compelling final pitch.
  A unique opportunity across two top universities
  The course is co-designed and co-taught by faculty from Politecnico di Milano and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
  It is based on an original design-driven methodology, developed jointly by the two institutions.
  The focus is on understanding real-world problems, identifying user needs, and designing solutions that matter—placing design at the heart of innovation.
  The course will be held in English.
  Who can apply?
  The course is open to student teams with an early-stage business idea. To be eligible:
  Each team must include at least one student enrolled in a Master's Degree Course of the School of Design of the Politecnico di Milano.
  Other team members can come from different academic backgrounds or universities (all team members must be regularly enrolled students - Bachelor’s or Master’s level - at a university in Italy or abroad, and must retain student status until at least July 2027). Other team members will have the possibility to participate in the course!
  Why should you participate?
• Gain access to a unique learning experience, guided by faculty from Politecnico di Milano and MIT
• The whole team will have the possibility to participate in the course (which will be held every Tuesday afternoon during the second semester)
• Work hands-on with real tools and methods, validate your idea, and get ready to pitch
• Collaborate in a multidisciplinary and international environment, where design is the driver of innovation
  Access to the course is subject to a call for startups that will be managed by the School of Design before the deadline to submit the study plan. Check the website of the School of Design under ‘News and notices’ to see the call for applications which will be available from the end of July (https://www.design.polimi.it/en/school/news)

Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
The final grade will be based on the overall performance of each team and individual contributions throughout the course.
Assessment will include:
Evaluation of the team development process during the semester;
Quality and effectiveness of the final pitch;
Active individual participation during sessions and team activities;
Peer evaluation.
Given the innovative and project-based nature of the course, students are required to participate regularly and continuously throughout the teaching activities. Attendance is mandatory for all enrolled students.

T.H Byers, Technology venture, Editore: Mc Graw Hill
A.Osterwalder, Y. Pigneur, Business Model Generation, Editore: John Wiley & Sons Inc., Anno edizione: 2010

The course aims to provide students with theoretical knowledge and practical skills for the design, development, and evaluation of virtual, physical, and hybrid prototypes in the context of interaction design for products and digital applications.
Particular attention is given to the role of prototyping as a design method for exploring, testing, and communicating interactive experiences across digital, augmented, and simple physical environments.
The course also introduces Artificial Intelligence as a support tool within design and prototyping workflows, with emphasis on its critical and responsible use.

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

• distinguish among different forms of prototyping in interaction design for products and digital applications;
• analyze and structure the architecture of prototypes for products or applications;
• design and prototype interactive experiences across digital, augmented, and physical touchpoints, using Unity, Vuforia and Arduino boards;
• use AI tools to support concept generation, scenario building, interaction logic, code generation, critique, and process documentation;
• test and iteratively refine prototypes on the basis of observation, feedback, and reflection;
• communicate design processes and outcomes effectively, including transparent reflection on the use of AI.

Main topics include:
foundations of the design and prototyping process: concept generation, user scenario, interaction flow, prototype development, testing, and presentation;
user experience as a design lens in prototyping;
sensory interaction and multisensory experience in interactive systems;
digital technologies for prototyping: Extended Reality (VR/AR/MR);
foundations of AI for design and prototyping: generative AI, large language models, prompts and prompt refinement, strengths and limitations of AI, and human responsibility in AI-supported workflows;
digital prototyping methods and tools;
virtual/augmented reality prototyping with Unity and Vuforia;
introductory physical computing with Arduino;
hybrid physical-digital prototyping through Arduino-Unity integration;
testing, critique, iteration, and communication of prototype-based design work.

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Valutazione continua condizionata (a scelta del docente)
Student assessment is based on the quality of the design process, the development of prototypes, the ability to test and evaluate solutions, and the clarity of communication and reflection.
Assessment may include: in-class exercises; development of digital, augmented, physical, or hybrid prototypes; project proposed by the professor; final presentation and discussion of the developed project; process documentation, including reflection on the use of AI tools where relevant.

Bordegoni M., Caulli M., Spadoni E., Prototyping User eXperience in eXtended Reality, Editore: Springer, Anno edizione: 2023, ISBN: 978-3-031-39682-3
Burdea G.C., Virtual reality technology, Editore: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Anno edizione: 1996
Innovation in Product Design - from CAD to Virtual Prototyping, Editore: Bordegoni M. and Rizzi C. Eds., Springer, Anno edizione: 2011
Haller M., Billinghurst M., B. Thomas, Emerging technologies of Augmented Reality - Interfaces and Design, Editore: Idea Group Publishing, Anno edizione: 2007
Scateni R., Cignoni P., Montani C., Scopigno R., Fondamenti di Grafica tridimensionale interattiva, Editore: McGraw-Hill, Anno edizione: 2005

Il workshop costituisce un arricchimento in merito alle tematiche di progetto (strumenti e approcci) affrontate nel percorso di studi; fornisce allo studente strumenti e capacita di sintesi progettuale, focalizzandosi in modo particolare sulla elaborazione di un concept di progetto e sulla sua efficace comunicazione.

La produzione mediante processi tradizionali di lotti poco numerosi o al limite unitari di prodotti con geometrie ad alta complessità è sempre stata considerata come economicamente svantaggiosa. La situazione sta ora modificandosi grazie all'introduzione dei processi basati su tecnologie additive (Additive Manufacturing - AM), spesso comunemente note come tecnologie di stampa 3D. Dopo essere stati utilizzati per più di vent'anni nell'ambito dei processi di sviluppo prodotto come tecnologie per la fabbricazione rapida di prototipi, utensili e attrezzature, le tecnologie additive sono sempre più utilizzate per la produzione di singoli prodotti o prodotti personalizzati in molti settori industriali. L'insegnamento fornirà un'introduzione alle tecnologie di produzione additiva, discutendone le loro applicazioni e le implicazioni tecniche e gestionali in riferimento a tutti i possibili utilizzi di tale innovativa tecnologia di produzione.

The course aims at guiding the learner on the theme of Circular Economy through a deliberate alternation of practical cases and application examples to a more theoretical view of the phenomenon. The core of the course is the design and evaluation of business models, either of established companies willing to embrace the new paradigm or of start-ups and new ventures born on a Circular Economy idea.
Particular attention will be paid to the pervasiveness of the paradigm, with examples and good practices relating to several business sectors.

Students will learn: (i) the core meaning of Circular Economy in business environment, being able to properly recognize and distinguishing circular business models from "green", "esg" or "sustainable" business models; (ii) the tools and frameworks to design and evaluate a circular business model, in different industries; (iii) the tools and frameworks to analyse the context and the ecosystem around a circular business model, with particular reference to the role of regulations and of digital technologies in enabling circularity.
Morevoer, students will be engaged in lively debates with entrepreneurs and managers in the field of Circular Economy, thus allowing also a deeper understanding of the enablers and barriers to the diffusion of the new paradigm.

The top 12 core topics of the course can be summarized as follows:
1. The Genesis of the Circular Economy concept, the main differences between Circular Economy and Linear Economy. Circular Economy and Sustainability
2. The basic frameworks for understanding Circular Economy: the butterfly model and the RESOLVE model
3. The CE Matrix (Upstream-Downstream-Full Circular) and the classification of Circular Economy business models.
4. Cases of adoption of Circular Economy in established companies and in start-ups
5. The “Circular” Business Model Canvas: designing a successful transition towards Circular Economy
6. Circular Business Models and Circular Supply Chain: Connecting Eco-Systems for Circular Economy
7. Measuring Circular Economy: methods and tools for assessing circularity
8. The enabling role of IT & IoT in the transition towards Circular Economy
9. The "platform" business models in the Circular Economy
10. Financing Circular Economy
11. The role of Policies in Circular Economy
12. Circular Cities: adopting a broader perspective for the diffusion of the Circular Economy paradigm
The course is intented to be based on lively discussions and participated classes. In-course team works will be required.
Teaching material consists in slides (ppt format) and case studies. Further references to complementary material (books, articles extracted from scientific journals, reports by research centers, other readings) will be provided during the classes.
Additional materials can be found at the Ellen Macarthur Foundation Learning Hub ( https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/explore )

Prova scritta obbligatoria, senza prove in itinere
Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i facoltativo (a scelta dello studente), di gruppo, senza revisioni periodiche, senza presentazione/discussione finale
The course will be assessed with: (i) a written exam with open-ended questions and case-based questions, covering all the topics of the course; (ii) an oral exam, evaluating the understanding of the concepts and the ability to sustain a business discussion on Circular Economy.
The written exam will count for 50% of the total grade. It will be assessed on a scale up to 30/30. In order to be ammitted to the oral exam, students will have to pass the written exam with a minimum grade of 18/30.
The oral exam will count for 50% of the total grade. It will be assessed on a scale up to 30/30. It has to be sustained in the same call of the written exam. Students who fail the oral exam (grade below 18/30) or refuse the grade will have to retake the entire exam.
Cum Laude grade is assigned to those students who show a brilliant and well above average ability to sustain a discussion on the core topics of Circular Economy.

Davide Chiaroni, L'Impresa Circolare, Editore: EGEA, Anno edizione: 2022, ISBN: 978-88-238-3763-8

Questo corso si propone di raggiungere i seguenti obiettivi di apprendimento:

• LG1: Comprendere il contesto, le funzioni, i processi in un ambiente aziendale e industriale e l'impatto di tali fattori sulle prestazioni aziendali
• LG2: Identificare le tendenze future, le tecnologie e le metodologie chiave nel campo dell'innovazione sostenibile

The course aims to:

• Explore the different relationships between Communication Design and computation.
• Introduce conceptual and technical tools for approaching Communication Design in computational terms.
• develop skills in conceptualization, modeling, and abstraction, enabling students to formulate communication design projects as rule-based systems
• provide an overview of current computational approaches, tools, algorithms, and applications of computational design within the field of communication design

By the end of the course, the student:

• knows and understands the possible roles of computation in the communication design process and can recognize their potential application to different contexts;
• can critically assess the impact of automation and information technologies in the context of communication design.
• understands and can identify the main algorithmic principles and computational approaches relevant to communication design;
• can conceptualize, formalize and prototype a system of rules able to transform contents into dynamically generated communication design artifacts;
• can use code and AI-assisted coding tools as design instruments to turn concepts into functioning prototypes.

As digital platforms increasingly support dynamic content, interactive behaviors, and AI-driven adaptation, visual design is shifting toward more fluid, generative, and adaptive forms of expression that move beyond static representations. In the current media context, designers are increasingly called to conceive visual systems as rule-based processes, capable of generating flexible, context-aware, and responsive artifacts that adapt to diverse media environments and user interactions.
This course offers conceptual and technical tools for approaching communication design from a computational and AI-informed perspective. It aims to develop skills in abstraction, modeling, and system thinking, allowing students to articulate design strategies as structured sets of rules and behaviors, suitable for algorithmic and intelligent implementation. The course will critically examine the contemporary technological context and engage with case studies from a range of design domains, including brand design (generative identity systems), editorial design (rule-based layout engines), graphic design (dynamic visual systems), and experimental forms of AI-assisted visual communication.
The course introduces computational approaches such as parametric and generative design, covering fundamental principles of algorithmic thinking, rule-based systems, and creative coding, and providing an overview of the main computational approaches, algorithms, and concepts through case studies and focused explorations. In addition, it explores foundational architectures for generative AI (e.g. LLMs, Diffusion Models, GANs), key concepts (e.g. latent space, embeddings, tokens), and control modes (e.g. text-to-image, image-to-image), as part of a broader framework that integrates AI into computational design practice.
Alongside theoretical discussions, students will be guided through the development of a computational design project, from the conceptualization and formalization of design rules to the implementation of a functioning prototype that embodies the principles discussed.

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Valutazione continua obbligatoria
Grading is based on the work produced and the level of preparation achieved by the students. The ability to critically interpret the course contents and results in terms of design autonomy, thematic coherence, and innovation are all considered for assessment.

Helen Armstrong, Digital Design Theory: Readings from the Field, Editore: Chronicle Books, Anno edizione: 2016, ISBN: 978-1-61689-495-5
Andrew Richardson, Data-driven graphic design: creative coding for visual communication, Editore: Bloombury Publishing, Anno edizione: 2016, ISBN: 978-1-4725-7830-3
Demian Conrad, Rob Van Leijsen, David Heritier, Graphic design in the post-digital age: a survey of practices fuelled by creative coding, Editore: Onomatopee, Anno edizione: 2021, ISBN: 9789083270692 https://postdigitalgraphicdesign.com/
Karl Gerstner, Designing Programmes, Editore: Lars Müller Publishers, Anno edizione: 2007, ISBN: 978-3-03778-093-0
Frank Chimero, The Shape of Design, ISBN: 978-0-9854722-0-7 https://shapeofdesignbook.com/
Wardrip-Fruin Noah, Montfort Nick (Editors), The New Media Reader, Editore: MIT Press, Anno edizione: 2003
Golan Levin, Tega Brain, Code as Creative Medium: A Handbook for Computational Art and Design, Editore: MIT Press, Anno edizione: 2021, ISBN: 978-0-262-54204-3
Ulrike Felsing, Dynamic identities in cultural and public contexts, Editore: Lars Müller, Anno edizione: 2010, ISBN: 978-3-03778-163-0

• Understand knitting as a design paradigm beyond fashion, applicable to wearables, products, interiors and spatial systems.
• Analyze relationships between materials (fibers, yarns), techniques (stitches, shaping) and structural performance (flexibility, resilience, responsiveness).
• Apply material- and technique-driven design through experimental research, iterative testing and hands-on prototyping.
• Integrate traditional textile craft with digital workflows, computational methods and advanced manufacturing.
• Produce prototypes that demonstrate intended material behaviors and evaluate their tactile, mechanical and spatial performance.
• Develop sustainable, resource-conscious knitted solutions and document hybrid manual–digital processes.
• Collaborate interdisciplinarily and communicate research and design outcomes effectively.
• Knitting as a cross-disciplinary design paradigm: material- and technique-driven experimentation to create prototypes and systems that extend beyond fashion into wearables, products, interiors, and spatial environments.
• Explore how fibers, stitch structures and fabrication methods shape performance and behavior; integrate manual craft, digital tools and sustainable strategies to design and prototype innovative knitted solutions.
• Develop hands-on and computational skills to produce, evaluate and communicate hybrid knitted designs, working collaboratively across disciplines.

DESIGN FOR THE FASHION SYSTEM – M2 - Augmented Materials
Knitting Beyond Fashion. Designing through Materials and Techniques
TOPICS ADDRESSED
Textiles are undergoing a profound transformation. No longer confined to the domains of fashion and apparel, they are increasingly emerging as intelligent, adaptive and performative materials, capable of addressing challenges across multiple design scales and disciplines.
While the fashion and textile industries are called to respond to pressing environmental issues such as resource depletion, waste generation and circular transitions, innovation today extends far beyond sustainability alone. Advances in fibers, yarns, manufacturing technologies and computational design are redefining what textiles can do, where they can operate and how they can shape future products, spaces and experiences. Within this context, textile thinking, a design-oriented mode of inquiry in which knowledge is generated through the material and procedural logic of textile practice, can be a particularly useful lens. It links embodied making, technical understanding and reflective experimentation, allowing textiles to function not only as products but also as methods for research and innovation.
Within such perspective, knitting has its own textile logic and represents a particularly fertile field of experimentation. More than a manufacturing technique, knitting can nowadays be understood as a design paradigm, characterized by a fundamentally material-driven approach which starts already from the selection of the fiber and the yarn. Such paradigm results in a system capable of integrating material properties, structural intelligence, sustainable solutions, as well as performance and aesthetics, all within a single process.
Its intrinsic characteristics of flexibility, adaptability and material efficiency make it a powerful tool to explore new relationships between matter, form, function and production. ‘Fully-fashioning’, which stands for the possibility of creating shaped knitted panels within the process of fabric creation, frames knitting as the textile counterpart of additive manufacturing and as a zero-waste solution. Additionally, the evolution of knitting machines into highly automated CAD and CAM systems allow for advanced and digitalized design workflows. In contemporary knitting, the high number of variables contributing to the outcome of each design determines a high degree of customization, which requires deep expertise but increases technical potential and expands the fields of application. Given such premises, the course investigates knitting as a design-driven practice that moves beyond the traditional boundaries of fashion. Students will explore how knitted structures can evolve from garments to products, interiors and spatial applications, operating across different scales while maintaining their unique material and structural qualities.
Particular attention will be given to the dialogue between craftsmanship and technological innovation. Traditional knitting techniques will be combined with digital design tools, advanced knitting technologies, additive manufacturing processes and emerging material systems. Through hands-on experimentation, prototyping and material research, students will develop a critical understanding of how making can become both a cultural practice and a technological inquiry.
The course challenges students to rethink textiles not as passive surfaces, merely chosen for aesthetic purposes, but as active systems capable of generating performance, interaction and spatial experiences. By designing through materials and techniques, participants will investigate the future potential of knitting at the intersection of fashion, product, interior and material design, envisioning applications that seamlessly connect the body, objects and the built environment.
COURSE OBJECTIVE
‘Knitting Beyond Fashion. Designing Through Materials and Techniques’ explores knitting as a design paradigm that transcends its conventional association with fashion and apparel. Through a material- and technique-driven approach, the course investigates how knitted systems can become vehicles for innovation across multiple scales and disciplines, from wearable applications to products, interiors and spatial environments.
Participants will engage in an experimental process that combines material research, structural exploration, and hands-on prototyping to understand how design can emerge through the interaction between fibers, techniques and fabrication processes. Knitting will be approached as a dynamic system capable of generating unique material behaviours, adaptive performances and new aesthetic and functional possibilities.
The course encourages the exploration of innovative knitted solutions through the integration of traditional textile knowledge with contemporary design tools and technologies. By combining manual experimentation, digital workflows, computational design methods and advanced manufacturing processes, students will develop hybrid approaches that challenge established boundaries between craft, technology, and design.
Particular attention will be given to the relationship between material properties and structural performance. Through iterative testing and prototyping, participants will investigate how different fibers, yarns, stitch combinations, shaping strategies and production techniques influence flexibility, resilience, tactility, spatiality and responsiveness. This process will foster a deeper understanding of knitting as a medium for designing material experiences and functional systems.
Working within a collaborative and interdisciplinary environment, students will critically examine the potential of knitted structures to address contemporary design challenges through sustainable, adaptable and resource-conscious strategies. The course ultimately aims to expand the understanding of knitting beyond a textile technique, positioning it as a powerful framework for designing through materials and techniques, where innovation emerges from the continuous dialogue between making, experimentation and technological development.
Design for the Fashion System 26.27 - Syllabus 03.09.pdf

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
COURSE STRUCTURE AND EVALUATION CRITERIA
The course activity will be carried out in groups. Groups will be built merging different student backgrounds in terms of knowledge and skills owned. A specific role will be assigned to each member, ensuring that everyone participates and contributes to the overall result of the project.
Activities will be carried out over the semester and based on an iterative, hands-on and material driven process. The investigation will start from searching and sourcing emerging textile materials (fibers, dyes, finishings…), derived from unconventional resources or from the recontextualization of established ones, evaluating their potential and production ways in the shift from the scale of the body towards the one of other fields of application. Then, students are required to investigate their application through the knitting technique, developing concepts and material explorations.
The design outcome is the creation of a textile collection made of mainly knitted samples which may explore and/or integrate manipulations, embroideries, prints, finishings or any other valid technique that resonates with potential applications across the various scales of the project.
Students will organize the materials produced into a material book, freely designed for the purposes of the project. Based on each group’s specific investigation, a physical prototype to test the application of such materials and/or solutions may be integrated, even if in small scale or low/mid fidelity.
A series of reviews will be organized during the semester to assess the development of each project and provide students with feedback and suggestions for the finalization of the collection.
Based on the general level of the class at the beginning of the semester, a series of extra hands-on technical classes may be organized, to integrate the project reviews with practical knowledge and tools.
The evaluation will be based on the following criteria:

• the final presentation of the results obtained by each group
• the visual appearance and coherence of the resulting textile collection and of supporting material (color palette, materials, layout, props..)
• clarity, professionality and comprehensiveness of the whole process documentation.
• ability to recognize opportunities, limits and potential improvements of the investigation.
• methodological coherence and consistency throughout the design process.
• peer-to-peer anonymous evaluations within each group, taking into account the role assigned and agreed between the members of the group.

Carlo Vezzoli, Giovanni Maria Conti, Luca Macrì, Martina Motta, Designing Sustainable Clothing Systems, Editore: Franco Angeli International, ISBN: 9788835140115
Guarino, Nicla; Conti, GIOVANNI MARIA, Living textile ecosystems: exploring three future scenarios of livingness at the intersection of biodesign and fashion, Editore: Franco Angeli International, ISBN: 9788835179306
Conti, G. M.; Franzo, P., Centring and Decentring the Human: New Alliances with Nature and Technology in Fashion Materials, Editore: Springer, ISBN: 978-3-031-53121-7
Diego Dani; Giovanni Maria Conti, Knitwear and Technology. A Critical Analysis of the Contemporary, Editore: Springer, ISBN: 978-3-031-83185-0
Motta, M.; Conti, G. M.; G,; Scocco, Lo; Didero, R., Craftmanship and Digitalization in the Italian Knitwear Industry. A Paradigm Shift for the Narrative of Made in Italy, Editore: Springer, ISBN: 978-3-031-49810-7

DRIVING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION BY DESIGN
Fashion is a complex and stratified phenomenon which connects the traditional material culture with contemporaneity in its social, cultural and manufacturing organization. Its inner complex nature, where cultural and material production are matched, has to be faced into a multidisciplinary teaching and learning environment.
The Final Synthesis Design Studio is aimed at driving students to complete their master education with a specific focus on exploring multidisciplinary advanced knowledge and skills to be applied in increasingly changing professional contexts and job markets.
It is especially conceived to transfer theoretical concepts, instrumental capabilities and intensive design experiences enabling future designers to face the transition from the traditional “product centred” fashion system into a more sustainable and user centred paradigm, taking full advantage of the digital transformation potential. The format of the course includes different educational experiences with a mix of lectures and discussion based modules and design-studio activities, breaking the traditional linear rhythm of the semester.
In the end of the studio the students will be supported in drafting their thesis proposal and its implementation plan within a Thesis Hub intensive two days workshop.

The students will be driven by the course to deepen the impacts of key on going phenomena on the fashion system and fashion design professionals and in particular of:
Digital transformation
Socialization of sustainability issues
New production and consumption
Dynamics (from products to services, sharing economy, social interaction & social innovation)
Specific learning outcomes will be:

• Ability to plan and direct complex projects;
• Language maturity;
• Ability to research and manage innovation and change processes;
• Advanced knowledge and tools for fashion design;
• Ability to dialogue with other disciplinary contexts;
• Ability to synthesize multidisciplinary contributions into possible innovation tracks and solutions;
• Critical skills and awareness of the ethical dimension of the profession.

DESIGN FOR THE FASHION SYSTEM _ AUGMENTED PRODUCTS
Fashion is a complex and stratified phenomenon that connects the traditional material culture with contemporaneity in its social, cultural, and manufacturing organization.
Its inner complex nature, where cultural and material production are matched, has to be faced in a multidisciplinary teaching and learning environment.
The Final Synthesis Design Studio is aimed at driving students to complete their master's education with a specific focus on exploring multidisciplinary advanced knowledge and skills to be applied in increasingly changing professional contexts and job markets.
It is especially designed to transfer theoretical concepts, instrumental capabilities, and intensive design experiences, enabling future designers to face the transition from the traditional “product-centred” fashion system into a more sustainable and user-centered paradigm, taking full advantage of the digital transformation potential. The course format includes various educational experiences, combining lectures, discussion-based modules, and design-studio activities, thereby breaking the traditional linear rhythm of the semester.
Indeed, students will be exposed to a wide array of topics at the intersection of design, craft, technology, critical theory, and sustainability, to equip them with both conceptual depth and practical skills necessary to operate within a fast-evolving creative landscape. Throughout the various course modules, an emphasis is placed on the exploration of emerging tools and methodologies that are reshaping the way fashion and design are conceived, produced, and experienced. These include generative artificial intelligence, computational design, advanced manufacturing processes, and sustainable innovation.
Students will be exposed to:
The discipline of aesthetics and its object of study, exploring the evolution of aesthetic thought from traditional to digital paradigms, addressing topics such as the nature of art, beauty, intentionality, and image consciousness about AI-generated content. Concepts such as authorship, genius, originality, and authenticity are interrogated through the lens of contemporary technological developments, offering students critical tools to reflect on the cultural and philosophical transformations that accompany digital creativity. These reflections are not purely speculative but directly inform practical projects, stimulating students to consider how meaning and value are produced and perceived in the context of algorithmically driven art and design.
Alongside the technological and theoretical components, sustainability remains a foundational pillar across the curriculum. Students are introduced to the principles of responsible innovation within fashion and design ecosystems, learning how to rethink production models, supply chains, and value systems to support long-term environmental, social, and economic well-being. The goal is to foster a mindset that sees design not only as a means of expression but as a strategic and ethical act with systemic implications. Through case studies, collaborative projects, and scenario-based learning, students explore ways in which design can become a driver of positive transformation, whether by promoting circularity, enhancing material efficiency, or supporting communities and local economies.
The world of fashion 4.0, focusing on digital fabrication technologies for the design and production of interactive fashion-tech garments and accessories and reflecting on sustainable eco-design practices. Whether through the development of fashion-tech garments using digital fabrication tools or the design of immersive brand experiences and spatial concepts, students are encouraged to work collaboratively, combining their diverse skill sets to co-create innovative outcomes. Techniques such as 3D modeling, virtual prototyping, laser cutting, and electronic embedding are explored alongside traditional craftsmanship, highlighting the importance of hybridity in contemporary making.
Technological disruption is not only presented as a tool but as a context to be critically engaged with, inspiring students to reimagine design processes themselves as sites of innovation. Design-oriented workshops play a central role in this approach, guiding participants through the development of physical and digital artefacts that push the boundaries of innovation. These practical modules regard (i) deconstructing iconic and archetypical branded pieces, inviting students to reinterpret and narrate them through contemporary technological advancement, material experimentation, or shifting social dynamics, (ii) exposing students to cutting-edge developments in process design, including the integration of digital fabrication techniques, AI-assisted ideation, and sustainable production workflows. (iii) In parallel, communication-oriented projects allow students to explore the narrative dimension of design, focusing on the creation of compelling immersive experiences, designing with tools such as virtual reality, augmented reality, interactive media, and spatial prototyping to conceive environments and interfaces that emotionally and intellectually engage their audiences.
In the end of the studio, the students will be supported in drafting their thesis proposal and its implementation plan within a Thesis Hub intensive two-day workshop.
Expected learning outcomes
The course will drive the students to deepen the impacts of key ongoing phenomena on the fashion system and fashion design professionals, and in particular of:
Digital transformation
Advanced craft processes
Socialization of sustainability issues
New production and consumption dynamics (from products to services, sharing economy, social interaction & social innovation)
Managing Design processes within contemporary transformations
Specific learning outcomes will be:
Ability to plan and direct complex projects;
Language maturity;
Ability to research and manage innovation and change processes;
Advanced knowledge and tools for fashion design;
Ability to dialogue with other disciplinary contexts;
Ability to synthesize multidisciplinary contributions into possible innovation tracks and solutions;
Critical skills and awareness of the ethical dimension of the profession.
PRESENTATION LAB: Design for the Fashion System 26.27 - Syllabus 03.09.pdf

Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Valutazione continua obbligatoria
Evaluation Criteria
Each module presentation included in the detailed Syllabus, which will be provided in the beginning of the course and uploaded on the BeeP platform, will include details on the assignment and evaluation mode applied by each professor.
Overall, the final evaluation will take into account the grades and evaluations acquired in each module, covering the following aspects:
Methodological coherence: Understanding and application of the process and phases proposed within the different modules;
Reading preparation and active discussion: preparing the readings suggested in the modules, participating in collective discussion;
Research skills and critical thinking: Understanding of the Briefs; quality, level of definition, and consistency of the research; quality of sources;
Creativity and design attitude: Capability to give a critical and original design solution;
Representation skills and graphic project: quality and accuracy of freehand and computer-assisted drawing skills, quality of graphic elements to support the visual presentation of the projects (graphic layout, color fidelity, image quality and definition, accuracy in the application of material samples, etc.);
Communication skills: Quality of the oral presentation, structure of the oral presentation, use of professional language, and mannerisms.
Team collaboration (for team activities): Equal share of workload among team members, cohesiveness, and fairness.
Motivation and participation: Timeliness, accountability, and active and critical participation during lectures and reviews. Motivation and active participation will also be measured using a peer-to-peer evaluation system, consisting in a team self-evaluation by each team member for each required delivery.
The final evaluation will not be based on the arithmetic mean of all grades but will be based on the assessment of the gradual qualitative advancement, the above-mentioned aspects, demonstrated by each team and each team member through the sequence of assignments and activities planned. The deliveries planned will show students' growth and maturity in terms of understanding and application of knowledge and skills transferred, design methodology, quality and depth of research, creativity, and design attitude. Individual assessment will be supported by the quality of the student-professor interaction during weekly interaction, individual assignment evaluation, where present, peer-to-peer evaluation
Class Attendance Policy
Class attendance is mandatory. Students whose absences are more than 30% of the total class meetings (more than 3 absences out of the total of scheduled class meetings) may be dropped from the course. No absences are excused on the day of deliveries and presentations in class.
Unavoidable absences should be reported to professors as soon as possible.
Here are two examples of unavoidable absences that will be considered excused absences: an illness confirmed by medical certification or a certified accident; a serious family emergency. Doctor/dentist appointments and travel plans are not considered acceptable reasons for excused absences. It is students’ responsibility to plan their agenda ahead in consideration of course calendar and due dates.
Team Policy
It is the students’ responsibility to plan and commit to a suitable number of outside meetings with their team to develop and deliver assignments as appropriate to ensure a professional and on time delivery and presentation. If not able to attend a team meeting it is student’s responsibility to deliver his/her part of the work to the team within a reasonable timeframe, allowing the team to meet the assignment requirements and due date.
It is the responsibility of the whole team to respect the assignment’s requirements and keep all team members active and participative, enhancing the competencies and skills of each team member. Missing parts of the work due to one team member’s responsibility will not be excused.
A team is required to contact and inform the faculty team as soon as possible in case of a lack of active participation of one or more team members in the teamwork. Professors will make an appointment with the whole team to clarify and manage the unfair situation.
At the end of each team assignment, each team member will be asked to provide a peer evaluation of all team members (including him/herself) in terms of their contribution to the assignment. These evaluations will be used in assigning the team grades to individuals.

SUGGESTED READINGS
Note: Each module Syllabus (BeeP Platform) will include details on bibliography. Please note that for some modules some readings are pre-requisite to the attendance of the class, and will be communicated in advance to the start of the module.

La diminuzione del costo marginale delle informazioni, lo sblocco delle catene logistiche, la disponibilità di finanziamenti e la creatività ottenuta attraverso le dinamiche basate sulla "folla" stanno rendendo più facile e meno costosa la creazione di start-up e nuove iniziative imprenditoriali. Inoltre i progettisti - in parte a causa di queste condizioni mutevoli e a causa della crisi del mercato del lavoro - stanno progressivamente diventando imprenditori di se stessi. Il flusso di start-up e nuove imprese sta caratterizzando anche l'industria della moda, dove le nuove marche/griffe, con l'avvento di nuovi servizi emergenti e nuovi modelli di vendita al dettaglio, stanno cambiando le regole della concorrenza tradizionale imponendo nuovi modelli di acquisto e tendenze socio-culturali. Il corso sarà incentrato sulle nuove forme di imprenditorialità nel settore della moda. La start-up verrà concepita come nuova ipotesi competitiva da testare sul mercato. Saranno affrontati, nella prima fase del corso, i seguenti concetti: (i) start-up come nuova ipotesi di business; (Ii) design thinking e riformulazione competitiva delle start-up; (Iii) start-up come nuovo modello di business (da testare) e organizzazione temporanea; (Iv) start-up e relazione con gli eco-sistemi aziendali; (V) start-up e nuova imprenditorialità nel settore della moda; (Vi) lean start-up; (Vii) nuovo coinvolgimento dell'utente nella start-up. Nella seconda fase del corso gli studenti saranno coinvolti nel concepire e progettare le proprie start-up.

L'obiettivo principale del corso è quello di studiare le sfida del (sotto)sviluppo economico e sociale, utilizzando modelli di teoria economica e strumenti quantitativi. Nello specifico, l'obiettivo è quello di apprendere gli elementi di base della teoria dello sviluppo, e di sviluppare le competenze necessarie per valutare in maniera oggettiva i programmi e le soluzioni di policy utilizzate (e da utilizzare) a fronte di problemi reali di sviluppo.
Per fare ciò, la discussione dei modelli fondamentali sarà accompagnata dall'applicazione di modelli econometrici per condurre rigorose analisi diagnostiche e stabilire le relazioni di causalità tra le variabili che intervengono nella determinazione delle diverse dimensioni dello sviluppo.
Il corso utilizza anche metodi di insegnamento innovativi; in particolare è previsto in modulo ad aula invertita (l'attività è svolta in collaborazione con UNCTAD): gli studenti formeranno gruppi di 4/5 studenti e lavoreranno sullo sviluppo di progetti volti all'elaborazione di modelli volti al raggiungimento di obiettivi di sviluppo sostenibile.

Il Digital Business è la trasformazione di un business aziendale generato dall'Information and Communication Technology (ICT) e, più in generale, dalla Digital Innovation. Può coinvolgere i processi interni, (ad esempio la gestione della supply chain, la gestione delle relazioni con il mercato, ecc.), le persone e l'organizzazione (ad esempio le capacità digitali, l'organizzazione digitale e agile, la trasformazione delle risorse umane) ma anche l'intero modello di business. Digital Business significa anche trasformazione di intere industrie e filiere, creazione di nuovi settori (es. quelli delle App, dell'eCommerce, ecc.) e di aziende completamente nuove (es. Startup). L'obiettivo di questo corso è duplice. In primo luogo, mira a fornire le metodologie e gli strumenti per sviluppare e valutare progetti di innovazione digitale (sia in aziende / mercati esistenti che nuovi). In secondo luogo, mira a creare un'arena in cui gli studenti possano applicare le metodologie a casi reali in diverse aree digitali.
Obiettivi:
a) Comprendere il contesto, le funzioni, i processie le prestazioni (DdD1)
b) Identificare tendenze, tecnologie e metodologie chiave in un dominio specifico (DdD2)

The course will introduce students to various methods and tools useful for project representation and presentation during the fashion product development process.

By combining their expertise in virtual modeling with the ability to create captivating narratives and engaging interactive content, students will be well-equipped to thrive in the evolving landscape of fashion product development and digitalization.

The Virtual Modeling module aims to provide students with the theoretical and practical elements for the digital representation of accessories in the fashion industry. The module introduces basic knowledge of Virtual Prototyping tools for garment development and addresses 3D modeling tools for rigid accessories, with particular attention to developing and modifying complex shapes and to creating physical prototypes based on these 3D models.
The Digital Interactive Narratives module builds on the concepts and skills acquired in the Virtual Modeling module and introduces advanced Virtual Prototyping tools for garment development, enhancing students' skills and knowledge in developing 3D virtual prototypes of garments and in fabric simulation.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, con prove in itinere
For students who will attend at least 75% of the scheduled lectures, the exam will consist of two in-progress practical tests that will take place during the semester. In addition, an additional facultative written test will be provided to students who intend to improve their final marks.
For non-attending students, the exam will consist of a theoretical and practical test to be taken on the scheduled exam dates.

Attività didattica svolta all'estero riconosciuta per crediti a scelta dello studente.

Il corso "Proprietà Intellettuale e Brevetti nell'Innovazione" fornisce competenze teoriche e pratiche per guidare e coordinare le attività di R&S&I. Più in dettaglio, si compone di due parti complementari: la prima riguarda lo sfruttamento dei brevetti come fonte di informazioni tecniche per l'intelligence competitiva e l'estrazione di informazioni a supporto delle attività di innovazione. Questa parte del programma copre i fondamenti della Proprietà Intellettuale e i criteri di brevettabilità; fornisce competenze teoriche e pratiche per la ricerca e l'analisi brevettuale, sia attraverso strumenti manuali sia informatici. Particolare attenzione è dedicata alle risorse nel campo delle "Green Technologies". La seconda parte del modulo è dedicata a un'indagine sui principali meccanismi che caratterizzano la concorrenza tra tecnologie alternative, i principali modelli che descrivono le dinamiche di innovazione e una rassegna di metodologie di previsione tecnologica. Il corso fornisce anche competenze applicative per supportare l'analisi del panorama tecnologico mediante indagini brevettuali.

Il corso fornisce una descrizione dei quattro maggiori component di sistemi IoT: i sensori, le tecnologie di comunicazione, le piattaforme di gestione e le piattaforme di elaborazione e immagazzinamento dei dati provenienti da sensori. Nella prima parte, il corso fornisce una panoramica sulle caratteristiche dei componenti hardware dei nodi sensore (micro-controllori/micro-processori, memorie, sensori e apparati di comunicazione); successivamente, sono descritte nel dettaglio alcune tecnologie di comunicazione usate in sistemi IoT distinte tra soluzioni a breve raggio (ZigBee, 6LoWPAN) e soluzioni a lungo raggio (LoRaWAN, NB-IoT). Infine, il corso si concentra sui protocolli di livello applicativo per sistemi IoT (COAP, MQTT) e sull'analisis delle piattaforme di gestione per sistemi IoT. Il corso comprende attività di sviluppo al calcolatore e lezioni erogate in modalità flipped classroom e/o blended learning.

Tirocinio curriculare

Tirocinio curriculare

Obiettivo dell'insegnamento è sviluppare negli studenti la capacità di comprendere e padroneggiare i processi d'innovazione guidata del design, di sviluppare pensiero strategico, di ingaggiare nei progetti attori diversi in modo costruttivo e finalizzato, di definire partnership e di cogliere gli elementi di base della competizione.

Lo studente:

• conosce e comprende i processi d’innovazione con particolare riferimento all'innovazione generata dal design e alle relative strategie di marketing;
• conosce e comprende i fondamenti di gestione dell'innovazione e organizzazione aziendale;
• sa definire la struttura di massima di business model e business plan per soluzioni nuove, effettuando macro-valutazioni di fattibilità economica e organizzativa.

Prospettiva generale del corso
Oggi è impossibile essere un designer che guida la strategia di innovazione senza competenze di leadership, ovvero senza la capacità di immaginare direzioni strategiche, coinvolgere gli altri, trovare risorse e realizzare la visione. Allo stesso modo, oggi è impossibile essere un leader senza pensare in modo innovativo, cioè senza la capacità di guidare le organizzazioni in un contesto in continuo cambiamento, dove i profili organizzativi sono indefiniti e dinamici. In sintesi, oggi strategia di innovazione e leadership camminano insieme. Questo legame si rafforza ulteriormente quando le sfide riguardano lo sviluppo sostenibile del business e della società, ovvero la capacità di crescere senza compromettere la disponibilità di risorse per le generazioni future.
In questo corso integriamo questi due temi, che tradizionalmente vengono affrontati separatamente. Il corso è un percorso unico, pensato per sviluppare le capacità e le competenze necessarie a diventare leader efficaci in grado di promuovere l’innovazione sostenibile.
L’obiettivo si raggiunge lavorando su due dimensioni:
(1) su ogni studente come persona (come diventare uno stratega dell’innovazione);
(2) e sulle relazioni organizzative (come nutrire un team e un’organizzazione capaci di generare innovazioni).
1.1. Obiettivi
Più nello specifico, il corso si propone di permettere ai designer di:
Comprendere la propria identità come leader dell’innovazione nella società e nelle organizzazioni aziendali;
Contribuire alla strategia di innovazione come creazione e cattura di valore attraverso innovazioni radicali di prodotti, servizi e modelli di business;
Aumentare la consapevolezza di sé riguardo ai diversi atteggiamenti cognitivi e al ritmo del proprio processo individuale di integrazione e individuazione come leader dell’innovazione;
Comprendere il ruolo della leadership nel generare empatia e coinvolgimento con diversi attori (clienti, utenti, investitori, colleghi, interpreti, enti pubblici e organizzazioni non profit);
Comprendere il contesto tecnologico e socioeconomico in evoluzione, focalizzandosi sulle sfide dell’intelligenza artificiale e della sostenibilità, e individuare possibili direzioni innovative per sé e per la propria organizzazione;
Comprendere le dinamiche della creatività e del cambiamento all’interno dei team e tra team (coppie, piccoli team, team estesi) e organizzazioni;
Comprendere la natura del concept (di un prodotto-servizio radicalmente nuovo) come artefatto organizzativo che abilita i processi decisionali sull’innovazione.
1.2. Contenuti principali
Gli studenti apprenderanno metodologie e strumenti sia per la strategia di innovazione di prodotto-servizio, sia per i processi organizzativi interni legati alla leadership e all’innovazione.
Il corso è composto da tre parti:
Parte 1 – Strategia di Innovazione e Processo di Innovazione
Innovazione e vantaggio competitivo: creazione e cattura di valore
Quattro tipologie di strategie di innovazione
Quattro modalità cognitive di pensiero orientato al futuro
Due principi dell’innovazione del significato: Inside-Out e Criticism
Il processo di innovazione del significato
Parte 2 – Leadership e sviluppo di nuovi concept di servizio
Leadership, organizzazione e gestione dell’innovazione
Quattro tipi di processi decisionali organizzativi
Dalla leadership transazionale alla leadership e innovazione del significato
Il concept di un servizio radicalmente nuovo come artefatto organizzativo
Organizational sensemaking e la relazione speculare tra esperienza del cliente ed esperienza del dipendente
Parte 3 – Project Work (Individuale, in coppia, Small Circle, Large Circle): Leadership e innovazione del significato per una specifica categoria di servizio (es. un servizio retail)
1.3. Dettagli sul Project Work
Durante il corso, i team di studenti svilupperanno un project work adottando l’approccio Design Driven Innovation, focalizzato sull’innovazione del significato e sull’innovazione della soluzione rispetto ad una sfida di innovazione dei servizi.
I progetti verranno sviluppati attraverso quattro tipi di attività:
Attività di sparring partnering, supervisionata dai docenti ma gestita autonomamente dagli studenti tramite diverse fasi: pensiero individuale, critica in coppia, critica in piccoli circles radicali, critica in circles radicali estesi.
Attività di raccolta insight, supervisionata dai docenti e condotta dagli studenti con metodi diversi di raccolta dati, con particolare attenzione alle tecnologie e al loro ruolo nella società e nella vita delle persone.
Attività di costruzione dello scenario, gestita durante l’ Enlightening Workshop (Meaning Factory). Le istruzioni verranno condivise dai docenti.
Attività di sviluppo del concept, gestita durante le sessioni di lavoro in team. Le sessioni saranno autogestite dai team, ma i docenti saranno disponibili per momenti di revisione progettuale.
Il Project Work si articola in tre fasi:
1. Coppie
a. Gli studenti formano autonomamente coppie e condividono idee e insight.
b. Completano i template forniti e li caricano su Webeep entro quattro settimane dall'inizio dell'insegnamento.
c. I template sono rivisti e discussi in vista delle fasi successive.
d. Una sessione in aula di revisione e feedback con i docenti si terrà il xx ottobre.
2. Small Circles
a. Le coppie vengono aggregate dai docenti in team da 4 persone per sviluppare il manifesto dell’idea.
b. Gli studenti completano i template forniti e realizzano un video di max 5 minuti del manifesto, da caricare su Webeep entro otto settimane dall'inizio dell'insegnamento.
c. I materiali (template + video) saranno valutati in trentesimi secondo i criteri di capacità di critical thinking, completezza, correttezza, creatività e chiarezza.
d. Una sessione in aula di revisione e feedback con i docenti si terrà il xx novembre.
3. Large Circles
a. I Small Circles vengono uniti dai docenti in team da 8 persone per sviluppare la soluzione di servizio.
b. Gli studenti completano i template previsti e preparano una presentazione di 5 minuti, da caricare su Webeep entro la fine dell'insegnamento.
c. I materiali (template + presentazione) saranno valutati con un punteggio da -1 a +2 da sommare al punteggio dello step precedente. Criteri di valutazione: capacità di critical thinking, completezza, correttezza, creatività, chiarezza.
d. Le discussioni finali si terranno il 21 dicembre con i docenti.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, senza prove in itinere
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i condizionato (a scelta del docente), di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Il voto finale sarà determinato secondo i seguenti criteri:
Project Work: 1ª, 2ª e 3ª revisione (ogni team riceverà un unico voto): 50% del voto finale
(Criteri di valutazione: Capacità di Critical Thinking, Completezza, Correttezza, Creatività, Chiarezza)
Esame scritto individuale finale ed eventuale prova orale (ogni studente riceverà un voto individuale): 50% del voto finale
(È necessario ottenere almeno 18/30 nello scritto per superare l’intero esame).
I voti del Project Work rimarranno validi fino all’ultima sessione dell’a.a. ( settembre 2027 ).
Altre informazioni: valutazione individuale (Project Work individuale)
Valutazione:
Project Work individuale: report finale → 50%
Tutti i materiali del progetto (es. template, video, presentazioni, ecc.) devono essere consegnati.
Criteri di valutazione: Completezza, Correttezza, Creatività, Chiarezza
Non sono previste revisioni intermedie
Esame scritto individuale → 50%
Altre informazioni: valutazione individuale (Project Work individuale)
Valutazione:
Project Work individuale: report finale → 40%
Tutti i materiali del progetto (es. template, video, presentazioni, ecc.) devono essere consegnati.
Criteri di valutazione: Completezza, Correttezza, Creatività, Chiarezza
Non sono previste revisioni intermedie
Esame scritto individuale → 30%
Esame orale individuale (teoria e discussione del progetto) → 30%

Roberto Verganti, Overcrowded, Editore: Hoepli, Anno edizione: 2018
Note: capitoli selezionati
Schilling MA, Strategic Management of Technological Innovation, Editore: McGraw-Hill, Anno edizione: 2010
Note: capitoli selezionati
Fox, Erica Ariel., Winning from Within: A Break Through Method for Leading, Living, and Lasting Change., Editore: Harper Business, Anno edizione: 2013, ISBN: 9780062295309

L'obiettivo del corso è lo sviluppo delle conoscenze orizzontali dello studente e delle sue abilità di lavorare in gruppo in modo efficace. Verranno fronite lezioni online (Alta Scuola Politecnica) che si concentreranno sui design-methods (compresi gli aspetti cognitivi dei singoli, la progettazione collaborativa e gli approcci socio-tecnici), e sull'innovation and decision managment. I progetti saranno basati sulle cutting-edge ICT technologies e saranno sviluppati da gruppi fino a quattro studenti. I progetti saranno seguiti da almeno due tutor, uno proveniente dall'area di ricerca DEIB del dipartimento di Ingegneria Informatica, e uno da un altro reparto del Politecnico. Lo studio di fattibilità (sia tecnica che economica) e la progettazione della soluzione sono i principali risultati attesi di questo corso.