Design Philology Essays. Issue Zero. Design at Politecnico di Milano: The Beginning of a Story

Design Philology Essays. Issue Zero. Design at Politecnico di Milano: The Beginning of a Story edited by Paola Bertola, Giampiero Bosoni and Agnese Rebaglio, published by FrancoAngeli.

In October 1993, the first Bachelor’s Degree Program in Industrial Design in Italy was inaugurated at Politecnico di Milano. Since then, a thirty-year journey has marked the growth of this discipline across numerous universities in Italy and the recognition of design as a fundamental feature of Italian culture. This volume – Issue Zero – launches a publishing initiative that, grounded in a reflection on the historical memory and cultural roots of Politecnico di Milano’s Design System, aims to sustain the distinctive forward-looking spirit of Polytechnic design culture. Its goal is to place design at the service of today’s cultural, social, technological, and environmental challenges.

The first section explores the opportunities presented by the "digital humanities" to enhance the history of design at the Politecnico di Milano, along with its traces and testimonies, realized in Design Philology and launched in 2023. The second section provides an initial collection of historical-critical reconstructions of the events that led to the establishment of a Design System at Politecnico di Milano.

The volume was produced within the framework of the Dipartimenti di Eccellenza initiative, for which the Department was selected by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) with "Design for Systemic Change", a project that addresses the complex challenges of ecological and digital transitions through an integrated and experimental design approach, with the aim of developing circular and sustainable solutions.

The volume is available here.