73456 - History of Industrial Design T-I

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student knows history of industrial design as a part of history of contemporary architecture on a period of time ranging from half of XIX century to half of XX century. 

Course contents

The course is about the reaction of artistic and architectonic culture to industrial revolution and metropolis with a focus on industrial design between half of the 19^th century and the Thirties of 20^th century.

The course is organized in two modules.

The module held by Prof. Giovanni Leoni is structured in front lessons.

The module held by Prof. Stefano Ascari is structured in exercises.

The two modules are thematically connected.

The final exam is one and integrated with the exam of the course held by Prof. Borsari (Aesthetics).

 

Week 1

Lesson John Ruskin: two lights, two truths

Exercise: Sign and calligraphy

 

Week 2

Lesson Happy work: Morris and Arts and Crafts Movement

Exercise Text and image: configuration

 

Week 3

Lesson Substantial architecture, transparency, commodity: Crystal Palace

Exercise Instruction booklets : behavior and physical reality of the and object

 

Week 4

Lesson Casamondo: tales of homes and things

Exercise Narrative dynamics: notebook as a story

 

Week 5

Coordinate Workshop (Aesthetics and History)

Descriptions, images, aesthetics of things, places and designed environments

Lesson: Ugo Cornia, writer, Descriptions. Tales of things, places, streets

Exercise The story of an object

 

Week 6

Coordinate Workshop (Aesthetics and History)

Descriptions, images, aesthetics of things, places and designed environments

Lesson: Stefano Ascari, scriptwriter, Images. Things and environments in graphic novels, comics and design

Exercise The sequence and the object: comics storytelling

 

Week 7

Lesson The expressionist object

ExercisePublic reaction: emotion and advertising

 

Week 8

Lesson The dadaist object

Exercise The end of the object: storing , destroying , reuse

 

Week 9

Lesson The futurist object

Exercise Montage and motion

 

Week 10

Lesson The cubist, neoplasticist and constructivist object

Exercise Read and deconstruct the story of the object

 

Week 11

Lesson Man and technique: Mies meets Guardini

Exercise Class review

 

Week 12

Final workshop

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography

Books to be studied

M. De Micheli, Le avanguardie artistiche del Novecento, (1988), Feltrinelli, Milano 2007

R. De Fusco, Storia del design, (1985), Laterza, Roma-Bari 2002, cap. I-V

T. Maldonado, Disegno industriale, un riesame, (1991), Feltrinelli, Milano 2008, cap. III-V

M. Vitta, Il progetto della bellezza. Il design fra arte e tecnica dal 1851 a oggi, (2001), Einaudi, Torino 2011, cap. I-VI

Additional readings

B. Munari, Design e comunicazione visiva. Contributo a una metodologia didattica, (1968), Laterza, Roma-Bari 2007

G. Dorfles, Introduzione al disegno industriale, (1972), Einaudi Torino 2001

M. Tafuri, La sfera e il labirinto: avanguardie e architettura da Piranesi agli anni ’70, Einaudi, Torino 1980

A. De Martini, R. Losito, F. Rinaldi, Antologia di saggi sul design in quarant’anni di “Op. cit.”, Franco Angeli, Milano 2006

R. Falcinelli, Critica portatile del visual design. Da Gutenberg al social network, Einaudi, Torino 2014

F. Orlando, Gli oggetti desueti nelle immagini della letteratura, Einaudi, Torino 2015

Teaching methods

Ex cathedra lessons Multimedia exercises

Assessment methods

The exercise must be approved by Prof. Ascari before the final exam.

The final exam is an oral discussion about the programme explained in the classroom integrated by the bibliography. The day of the final exam student must take with him: the diagram, the exercise and the notebook.

Teaching tools

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Leoni

See the website of Stefano Ascari