Italian Design History

The course examines the role of the Italian contribution to the history of modern design. As a result of a long social and formal process that has its origin, more than in other circumstances, in the avant-garde movement of Futurism, design culture in Italy has always been much more than a mere, functional planning approach: thanks to the efforts and the ideas of the many actors that have taken part to its (practical and critical) definition, the word “design” has entered in the core of Italian creativity as one of its most powerful component. Students are introduced into this fascinating world through the analysis of several (cultural, social, artistic, industrial) aspects and a chronological comparison with the international debate and production. The course also intends to provide an overview of the history of graphic design in Italy as mirror of society’s evolution.