Design Philology Essays. Issue One.

Edited by Paola Bertola and Agnese Rebaglio

The volume extends Design Philology Essays publishing project from origins to an expanded, research-driven atlas of Italian academic design.

The collective volume, anchored in the platform’s digital archive, editorial environment, and hypertextual infrastructure of the Design Philology digital platform, the volume explores the genealogies, platforms and frontiers that have shaped the Design System at the Politecnico di Milano and, more broadly, the Italian landscape.

The essays follow a rhizomatic and open structure, interconnecting documents, data, and narratives. The opening contributions reconstruct the key moments that introduced design into the Italian university system, followed by a comparative mapping of international doctoral platforms and research networks that consolidate a shared epistemic community.

On the left: Program of the Artistic Design for Industry course, published in the Official Bulletin of the Politecnico di Milano, ch. 1, p. 23; on the right: Student Guide – A.A 2001-2002, ch. 3, p. 44.

The subsequent chapters trace the development of distinctive areas within the School of Design, including Fashion, Interior, and Yacht Design, analyzing their origins, the pedagogical and research infrastructures that supported their growth, and their connections to social, cultural, and industrial contexts.

The frontier domains focus on Space Design, where methodological experimentation confronts extreme conditions, and on Infopoetry, where data visualization becomes a tool for conceptual and aesthetic inquiry. A place-based perspective on territorial systems and their networks further highlights one of the earliest experiences of design aimed at local communities and territories.

The closing focus highlights the pivotal figure of Carlo De Carli, whose editorial and educational practices anticipated the establishment of the School of Design at Politecnico di Milano.

Infopoem "Confini" by Alessandro Riva: which shows the kilometres of walls that have not been freely accessible built since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989; ch. 7, p. 130.

Overall, the volume aims to compose a plural narrative that documents institutions, actors, and cultures of design in motion, inviting readers to explore, across times, domains, and media, the evolving memory of a discipline.

Contributors: Agnese Rebaglio, Laura Carugati, Paola Cordera, Beatrice Gobbo, Francesca Mattioli, Fabio Antonio Figoli, Lucia Rampino, Valeria M. Iannilli, Alessandra Spagnoli, Francesco Scullica, Chiara Lecce, Silvia Piardi, Andrea Ratti, Arianna Bionda, Annalisa Dominoni, Salvatore Zingale, Arianna Bellantuono, Marina Parente, Vincenzo Cristallo, Alfonso Morone, Graziella Leyla Ciagà e Maria Teresa Feraboli.

Design Philology Essays. Issue One is available on Design Philology platform and in FrancoAngeli open access catalog.

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