STUDY PROGRAMME
Design

AFAM CODE
ABST48

DISCIPLINARY AREA
History of applied arts

DISCIPLINARY FIELD
History of design

CREDITS
6

APPROACH
Theoretical

The purpose of this course is to provide a comprehensive overview of Italian design, throughout the 20th Century and the contemporary age, in the wider context of modern and post-modern history in the western world. The course is based on the identification of links and implications between the role of design and the development of social, cultural and political systems in the contemporary history of Europe and the United States.

This teaching is made of a single module of 6 CFA credits.

Successful students will be able to:

• Acquire thorough knowledge of the historic, artistic, cultural, social and economic roots of interior design and of its aesthetic models

• Apply historic research tools to the search for project references

• Apply design solutions and strategies learnt from case studies of historic and historiographic nature

• Enhance their critical-analytical skills and their overall project awareness

• From decorative arts to industrial design in Europe

• The road towards a new architecture in Europe

• The modern movement in Europe

• The modern movement in America

• Italian design: the history and the masters

• The season of radical design in Italy

• Postmodernism

• The new masters

• The new industrial revolution 4.0 and the design of the future

This is a theoretical course. Didactic activities may include:

• Classroom lectures

• Use of tutorials, videos or other media tools for detailed study

• Debates and presentations during classes

• Individual study and research

• Exercises and revisions

• Field trips

Assessment is based on the overall competence of the students and may include:

• Oral exam

• Written exam

• Submission of papers, projects or research work

Further details on specific tests can be provided by the professor during the course. Assessment criteria include commitment, active participation and personal growth of the students over the course.

• Curtis, W. (2002) Modern Architecture Since 1900, Phaidon.

• Frampton, K. (1980) Modern Architecture. A Critical History, London, Thames and Hudson.

• Raizman, D. (2010) History of Modern Design, Laurence King.

• Woodham, J. (1997) Twentieth Century Design, OUP Oxford.

Further bibliographic recommendations may be provided by the professor during the course. A lot of the referenced material, together with other in-depth study material, can be consulted online in MyNaba, in the Library section.