INTERDEPENDENCE: past, present, future
For the third consecutive year, the School of Design, the Department of Design, and POLI.Design return to Milan Design Week with INTERDEPENDENCE: past, present, future, a series of initiatives reflecting on connections across the temporal dimension through projects curated by students from Politecnico di Milano and over 50 international design universities.
INTERDEPENDENCE @ FABBRICA DEL VAPORE
Location: Spazio Messina, Fabbrica del Vapore, Via Giulio Cesare Procaccini 4, Milan
Opening: Thursday April 16th, 5:00 pm
Exhibition hours: April 16th, 5:00–7:00pm / April 17th–25th, 10:00am–7:00pm / Aprile 26th, 10:00am–4:00pm
An international exhibition, co-curated with CASVA, combining student projects with a selection of historical pieces from its archives. The exhibition is enriched by a public program including talks, workshops, performances, and networking activities. The projects on display explore how knowledge of the past, the complexities of the present, and the possibilities of the future converge to shape equitable, resilient, and meaningful realities.
Date: April 21, 2026 from 11:00 am
NOVA: The AI Experience will join the "INTERDEPENDENCE: Past, Present, Future" exhibition. NOVA is an immersive art exhibition focused on the intersection of AI and human creativity. This meeting marks the official public debut of NOVA, where we will peel back the curtain on the first large-scale immersive exhibition dedicated entirely to Artificial Intelligence. Rather than just a showcase, NOVA represents a sophisticated blend of art, design, and culture, driven by a proprietary tech platform designed to push cultural consumption into "Version 2.0”. The goal is to move beyond passive observation, leveraging AI to create a truly visitor-centric experience that adapts and responds to the public. At the heart of this session is the unique synergy between entrepreneurship and research. There will be open dialogue featuring the creators of NOVA alongside Elisa Giaccardi and the Politecnico di Milano students who were instrumental in the project’s developmental study. Together, they explore how the intersection of agile startups and academic excellence can open unexpected doors, shaping the future of design and technology in ways neither could achieve alone.
***
INTERDEPENDENCE @ SALONE SATELLITE
Location: Stand A18/A20, Rho Fiera Milano, Corso Italia, Rho
Exhibition hours: April 21st–26th, 9:30am–6:30pm
Mobility Futures is a monographic selection of three projects from the Master degree in Digital and Interaction Design focused on the future of experiential automotive ecosystems. Here, the projects reinterpret driving as a ritual, rethinking established interactions and directly engaging visitors in simulated and immersive experiences oriented toward possible future scenarios.
From the collaboration between Italdesign Giugiaro and the School of Design comes an initiative to develop interactive digital prototypes that explore the future of mobility, driven by AI, connectivity, and emerging technologies.
From fluid motion design concepts (project 6Sense), which use smooth animations and clear system states to make interfaces more intuitive and safer, to new in-vehicle entertainment experiences (project BonGO), which integrate tangible controls, a shared console, and multimodal feedback to support activities such as interactive storytelling and shared music management. In a scenario where mobility models are multiplying, personalization becomes the bridge between shared services and ownership (project SIMON), enabling coherent, adaptive, and meaningful experiences.
Exhibiting students: Alessandro Chiarion, Viola Falchi, Dogan Mert Güven, Xiangran Liu, Kexin Ma, Özlem Yilmaz, Yuxin Zhang.
Scientific supervisors: Marco Ajovalasit, Matteo Valoriani.