Italian Design Research Articles

Japonisme, New Japonisme, and Pop Japonisme in Italian Fashion

Abstract This article examines the profound impact exerted by Japanese fashion and culture on the evolution of Italian fashion. In Italy, the assimilation of Japanese clothing and aesthetics occurred particularly during three periods: 1870s–1920s (the era of Japonisme), 1970s–1990s (New Japonisme), and the early decades of the twenty-first century (Pop Japonisme). Throughout these periods, the kimono was a significant source of inspiration for Italian designers, who progressively reinterpreted this garment with increasing creativity. With the onset of New Japonisme, the influence of avant-garde Japanese fashion also became pronounced in Italian fashion, further evolving during Pop Japonisme to include inspiration from the kawaii style. In exploring the distinctive features of Japonisme in Italian fashion, this article offers a comparison with other forms of Japonisme in Europe, particularly in France.

Respons-Able Trees. On Permaculture Ethics of Responsibility in the Films of the Exhibition "Cambio" (2020)

The extensive research project Cambio (2020) by the Italian designer duo Formafantasma focuses on the tree, the forest in its function of securing the existence of humans, animals and other plants. The project uses various forms of critical representation and storytelling to explore the connections between exploitation, consumer culture and colonialism in the face of the industrial timber industry. The question is: What responsibility do we bear in relation to the treatment of trees and what response-ability do trees themselves have? Based on three essayistic short films and other objects from the Cambio exhibition, my contribution addresses these questions of responsibility and respons-ability with regard to the relationship between humans and trees. In the sense of Donna Haraway, the what and how of artistic representation and narration itself becomes a question of response-ability - i.e. the possibility of becoming responsible in responding. Here, with Haraway in mind, the ethically necessary perspective unfolds of not having to distinguish between a real world and a world of stories and narratives, but of being able to think material-semiotic worlds in a (responsible) situated way and allow them to emerge. This paper proposes response-ability as a conceptual and analytical rubric and as a guiding ethical practice for the new materialist-inspired endeavor to rethink human and non-human interdependency in relation to trees. I will intruduce the exhibition Cambio and three of its films as an exemplary site of narrative and representational modes that have the potential to sensitize us to those relations of interdependency.

From Modern Ideas-Theories, and Pandemic, Garden-Cities of To-Morrow, and Today

This research delves into the come-back of the garden-cities in the wake of recent pandemic changed urban dynamics and reshaping cities, particularly Istanbul. At the onset of the 20th century, E. Howard's book on Garden-cities of To-morrow and his idealized garden-city models gained global prominence. The Pandemic led to people to rethink their living and working conditions and patterns in a way that had not been considered before. Thus, with the regulations imposed by the pandemic, the people began to look for an airier, and greener lifestyle in nature. Initially in the popularized cities in the late-20th century, first innovative housing models resurfaced on the urban agenda in the context of climate-change concerns, green architecture, and sustainable design. While architectural and urban planning changes have historically revolved around innovative housing models driven by sustainability, the impact of COVID-19 prompted a renewed focus on these old models. The pandemic's effects surpassed initial expectations, became nearly permanent leading people to question old planning theories and the metropolitan life model imposed throughout the 20th century. Presently, with growing awareness of green architecture and renewed interest in historical concepts, E. Howard's garden-city model was the previous century’s phenomenal idea have recently come-back and unexpectedly regained attention following the recent pandemic. These models, widely recognized as English garden-city models in Europe, also found prevalence under different terms like <i>cité-jardins</i> in France and <i>Garten-stadts</i> in Germany. In Istanbul, the model was introduced by European, French, and Italian architects, adapting creating unique model for city, <i>cité-parc</i>, (park-city) Bosphorus-Heights by French architect-urbanist Henri Prost. According to the findings of case-study focused specifically in Istanbul, it is achieved that another unique model a healthy-city concept emerged during the pandemic as a novel derivative of E. Howard’s old garden-city model originally. Consequently, this study proves that not only come-back of the old garden-city models, but also it is possible to their adaptability within contemporary urban agendas, considering such as sustainability and pandemics.

The Industrial Design Model in Italy at the Stage of Formation. The Aemilia Ars Group

The article considers the formation of the industrial design model in Italy in the peculiarity of socio-political conditions at the turn of the 20th century. Orientated towards the prospects of the design industrial culture, the progress of new art tended towards two vectors of development: a strong influence of traditional heritage of the great classical past and passion for modern examples of European design schools. The design, formed within the boundaries of the Italian regional version of the Art Nouveau style, stile Liberty, became a product of a specifically Italian design and artistic culture with a strong designer’s original creative beginning. It allowed freedom of experimentation in the search for its own unique means of expression. The industrial model of design was determined by the experience of the great craft heritage in addition to the influence of the artistic traditions of the new style. The new “revival” of the artistic industry of Italy took place in symbiosis of the activities of an artist-designer and artistic craft and industrial production. The Aemilia Ars group, as a regional design and production association, became an exemplary model of industrial design in Italy. The multidisciplinary structure of the association, which included a collaboration of architects, designers, and artisans specialising in various areas of the art industry, allowed the implementation of interdisciplinary tasks: from architectural restoration to interior design solutions. The group was an example of a unique design culture focused on a scientifically based approach, regional craft artistic traditions and an original style of a creative experiment. The great design-artistic and technological heritage as well as design potential of the Aemilia Ars craft traditions can still be found in the practice of a number of local associations of embroiderers of modern Bologna.

The experience of a dweller: exploring the concept of modernist planning in Ataköy housing

ABSTRACT Designed by local urban planners and architects in the 1950s, led by Italian architect Luigi Piccinato, the Ataköy housing in İstanbul has become a modernist landmark. While Ataköy satellite city has received criticism for its urban form and impact on the texture of urban life, in today’s globalised world, the specificity of place is often lost, and Ataköy satellite city can evoke and strengthen a sense of place and belonging. This article addresses the concept and experience of home in Ataköy and as experienced through autoethnographic analysis. Given the lack of an ‘insider’ understanding of home in the existing literature, this article makes a unique contribution to the literature by providing an autoethnographic account of Ataköy. The analysis illustrates that architecture and urbanism are more than just design fields, strategies or narratives generated by planners; they are lived realities experienced and felt by those who inhabit spaces. By considering my own lived experiences and those of the dwellers and incorporating these into placemaking, I aim to develop an ‘insider’ approach to evaluating housing design that transcends and integrates the deficiencies commonly identified in modernist environments. This approach helps to develop a more comprehensive understanding of housing in urban environments.

Reinterpretation of catenary vaulted spaces: Construction of a prototype and structural evaluation through Multibody Rope Approach

The paper aims at describing an innovative way to build catenary-shaped structures by fixing the geometry of a hanging chain through welding. This works according to the principle of the inverted catenary arch. The obtained catenary frames can be used to create architectural pavilions. A preliminary case study inspired by the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, designed by the Italian Architect Guarino Guarini is presented. The Chapel is built with a series of entwined superimposed arches In the second part, the study for the realization of a prototype composed of a “winged structure” that has been built and exposed in Turin in June 2023 is reported. Both the configurations are described and an evaluation of their behavior is presented. Their shape has been compared to a corresponding funicular form.The digital representation of these structures is made using the multi-body rope approach (MRA). Different MRA enhancing strategies are explained and discussed.

Italo-Soviet Architectural Exchanges and Postmodernism under Late Socialism

A global movement, architectural postmodernism cannot be reduced simply to the cultural logic of late capitalism, nor should its analysis be restricted, as in recent revisionist histories, to the geo- graphical confines of the Eastern Bloc. By revealing that the ideas, design strategies and images that make up postmodern architecture did not belong squarely to either side of the Cold War geopolitical divide, this paper argues that a full understanding of the movement requires an inquiry going beyond the scope of a single ideological context. The emergence of architectural postmodernism is to be located in the interstitial space between the 'capitalist West' and the 'socialist East'. Yet familiar narratives of knowledge transfer from the former to the latter are reductive and fail to capture historical reality in all its complexity and ambiguity. For instance, Aldo Rossi's work was known and may have been consciously replicated by Soviet architects. Less acknowledged is the fact that, in the Italian context, the rise of architectural postmodernism went hand in hand with the consolidation of a 'tradition of study of Soviet architecture'. Rossi was just one among many Italian architects —  such as Paolo Portoghesi, Carlo Aymonino or Vittorio Gregotti —  who, undertaking a critique of modernism, drew crucial inspiration from Soviet architecture, particularly Socialist Realist theory and practice.

Giancarlo De Carlo’s Realistic Utopia

To seek a possible means to navigate the apparent divergence between participation and criticality in architecture, this paper returns to the notion of the “realistic utopia,” developed by one of the leading early exponents of participation, the Italian architect, urbanist, writer and educator, Giancarlo De Carlo. Through a close reading of De Carlo’s principal theoretical works on participation, in this paper it is argued that the realistic utopia offers a distinct conception of the interaction between architectural objects, the processes by which they are formed and the societal structures which frame this formation. It shows that beyond being a means to understand the multi-directional relationship between architecture and society, the realistic utopia offers a conceptual tool to aid action within the complex set of forces at work in this relationship. In this way, it locates the realistic utopia as something of importance beyond an assessment of the work of De Carlo, or even the broader project of participation he fostered, and is here opened up for renewed use by practitioners today.

What Italian furniture companies do towards sustainable transition? Design actions and strategies showcased during Milan Design Week 2023

AbstractManufacturing companies find themselves at the crossroads of innovation and sustainability in an era of growing emphasis on corporate social responsibility. This paper delves into Design for Sustainability, aiming to understand the practices Italian design furniture companies are implementing towards sustainability through case studies analysis of sustainable actions (SA) showcased in Milan Design Week 2023. The study categorizes SA according to the Design for Sustainability Framework, determining their role in furniture companies’ transformative learning approaches towards sustainability.

Palladian Architecture in Thailand : Its meanings and Evolution

This research aims to study Palladian architecture in Thailand focusing on its meaning and evolution Palladian architecture is originated from an Italian architect, Andrea Palladio, in the Renaissance period. The distinctive identity is that it has beautiful proportions that are harmoniously consistent, with the style which unraveled from ancient Greco-Roman architecture. Around the 17th century, Palladian architectural style was popular in Europe. Therefore, It can be clearly reflects as a symbol of Western architecture. In 19th century, Western powers began to gain more influence in Southeast Asia as well as in Thailand. The arrival of Westerners led to the development of western architecture in many cities. The Palladian architectural style was used as a model for the design of many buildings. This study finds that Western architects worked in Thailand had applied their knowledge of classical architecture to design the buildings according to Thai’s cultures. Palladian architecture in Thailand are mostly applied for large buildings. Its layout is outstanding. The main circulation uses the central hall as a link to different functions. Palladian architecture reflected luxury, simply majestic, easy to be applied to suit the terrain and modernity equivalent to the developed western nations.

Andrej and Matvej Frjazin: the First Italians in Moscow

The arrival of Italian architects and masters of art and other skills in the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the second half of the 15th century, and the businesses of the “Frjazins” in Moscow and other cities, make up a bright page in the history of Italian-Russian relations. However, it is not common knowledge that the first Italians came to Moscow a century earlier. Between 1363 and 1389, the Grand Duke Dmitrij Ivanovič gave a charter for hunting to a certain Andrej Frjazin. According to the charter, Andrej Frjazin’s predecessor was his uncle, Matvej Frjazin, who arrived in Moscow during the great reign of Dmitrij Ivanovič’s grandfather, Ivan Danilovič Kalita, between 1328/1331 and 1340. The businesses of the uncle and nephew in the Arctic North region were encouraged by the grand dukes of Moscow and carried out with their financial participation. Apparently, Matvej and Andrej Frjazin had trading relations with the Venetian trading post Tana, and they were likely not the only Italian merchants in Moscow in the 14th century. Among the citizens who defended Moscow from the attack of the Tatar troops in the summer of 1382, Russian chronicles mention a certain cloth merchant, Adam, who was most likely an Italian, and who could have had some trading relations with the Genoese colony of Kafa in the Crimea.

When I dream of Michelangelo: an exhibition on postwar Italian architects

A review of: Luca Galofaro with Pippo Ciorra, Laura Felci, Elena Tinacci (curators), Architetture a regola d’arte: Dagli archivi BBPR, Dardi, Monaco Luccichenti, Moretti. Rome: Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (MAXXI),7 December to 15 October 2023. The exhibition displays materials from collections that have been recently acquired by the museum and publicly exhibited for the first time. It includes numerous sketches, perspectives, and technical drawings indicating that architecture aims to establish a common language in interaction with other art forms: this language is drawing.

Francesco Placidi and Ludwig Ladislaus. On architect and sculptor partnership in the 1740s and 1750s

Two artists, Francesco Placidi from Rome and sculptor Ludwig Ladislaus from Opava, played a significant role in Krakow artistic circles of the 1740s and 1750s. Placidi was brought to Poland by another Roman architect, Gaetano Chiaveri, under whose guidance he directed the construction of the court church in Dresden, and was active in Kraków since 1742. Ladisalus was first recorded in the records of the city of Krakow in 1741. The two lived in the same parishes, first All Saints’ and then St Mary’s, and were connected both socially and professionally. Following the study of sources and styles, it was determined that Placidi designed and Ladilaus executed the interior furnishings of the parish church in Morawica (c. 1748–55) funded by Aleksander August and Maria Zofia Czartoryski, the main altar in the Sanctuary of the Crucified Christ in Kobylanka (c. 1750) funded by Jan Wielopolski, and the main altar in the former collegiate church in Sandomierz (1756–57). A detailed investigation outlined the origin of architectural solutions defined by Placidi and captured the stylistic and formal features that Ladislaus’s sculptures share. The case is but a contribution to further research on the mutual relations between designers and makers of architecture and sculptures. Especially with respect to the roles of both the Italian architect imposing (or not) the general and/or detailed concept of the work, and the sculptor following (or not) the designer’s ideas, yet also contributing his own formal and stylistic solutions resulting from his individual artistic path of development (in the case of Ladislaus: in the Austrian Silesia). Beyond doubt, with his extensive contacts with ecclesiastical and secular aristocracy and the royal court, Placidi played an important role in Kraków, providing a link between artists of various professions, and maintaining familial and social contacts with some.

LOCUS THEOLOGIAE W ARCHITEKTURZE I SZTUCE SAKRALNEJ – STUDIUM PRZYPADKU

The article, in the theological and philosophical key, shows the Christian understanding of beauty and its place in the broadly understood sacred art. The author points to a specific evolution of beauty, which from the Renaissance to modern times lost its original mysticism of beauty in favor of its individualistic interpretations, closing the need to find divine-human unity in sacred art. This is expressed in the liturgy and the eternal connection with it of the arts, both structural and expressive. Looking for patterns reaching the essence of beauty in sacred arts, the author brings out two Italian architects: Ciro Lomonte and Guido Santoro, who in a small parish church in Sancipirello reached for the primal instinct of beauty in sacred art and, through simple forms, made a kind of sacralization of the "naked" church interior.

The restoration of the Theatre of Arts Academy in Tirana - Acoustic analysis and design of the new Orchestra pit

The origin of the Theatre of Arts Academy of Tirana dates back to the early 20th Century, based on the design of the Italian architect Gherardo Bosio. It was almost abandoned in the last 20 years and only recently a complete renovation has been undertaken, including the extension of the Orchestra pit. Measurements were carried out at different points in the platea, in the gallery and in the lodges, using both balloon bursting and sine sweep convolution technique. The results of the measurements achieved in each of the areas with the two different techniques were compared with each other and with the reference values given by literature. According to the measurements, the Theatre appears to be rather dull, but is nevertheless listed as one of the best theatres in Albania. Acoustic measurements (monaural and binaural IRs) were then used to calibrate the 3D simulation model and to elaborate the new acoustic design of the Theatre, the most important part of which concerns the reopening of the Orchestra pit, which had been closed and unused for the past decades. The paper briefly reports the history of the Theatre and the most important outcomes of measurements and simulations.

Extending RiC-O to Model Historical Architectural Archives: The ITDT Ontology

Historical architectural archives enjoy attention from diverse audiences, acting as a primary source of information for architects, historians, public authorities, and common citizens alike. In Italy, the interest in architectural archives has grown slowly but steadily for the last 20 years. However, architectural archives do not generally follow the trend common for museums and galleries in publishing digitized materials and providing standard metadata for individual records. The information that is available online usually includes only an archival finding aid, instead of metadata about the individual records, or fully digital versions of the records. While cataloguing standards for archival descriptions of architectural records have existed at least since the 1980s, the rise of Linked Open Data as a framework for publishing cultural heritage data has allowed archivists to enhance these archival descriptions with richer contextual information and links to external knowledge bases. In this paper we present the ITDT ontology, an extension of the Records in Contexts Ontology that facilitates the representation of architectural records and of the context related to architectural projects, its process, and participating entities. We discuss the application of the ontology to the project files of Italian architect and engineer Dino Tamburini (1924–2011), and the creation of a digital archive offering multiple perspectives over the records.

Italian Design Factories in Between from the Borderline and the Artificial Intelligence

Italian Design Factories in Between from the Borderline and the Artificial Intelligence

On the structural behaviour of existing RC bridges subjected to corrosion effects: Numerical insight

The evaluation of the structural behaviour of existing reinforced concrete (RC) bridges represents one of the most current structural engineering research topics due to their strategic importance, especially if they are subjected to corrosion effects which can lead to a significant reduction of load-bearing capacity of the main structural elements (e.g., the piers). In the last decades, different types of numerical approaches have been proposed for the evaluation of the structural behaviour of these strategic infrastructures, especially after the recent collapses that have affected this type of structures during last years. In this paper, the structural behaviour of an existing RC bridge subjected to corrosion effects due to carbonation is analysed by means of an efficient procedure based on the implementation of a Finite Element Model (FEM) where the main structural elements are implemented using only Timoshenko beam elements. The safety level of the bridge has been evaluated considering different load conditions (e.g. traffic load, seismic action, etc.) calculated according to the Italian Design Code (NTC2018). Finally, a retrofitting intervention is proposed in order to guarantee and adequate safety level of the bridge under the considered different load combinations.

Roots of Design Futures in art, architecture, and design

Design Futures is herewith proposed and discussed as a conceptualization of existing methodological streams in corporate design history, in the analysis of Italian Design Districts, and in other creative industry fields, inspiring a fundamental tension to anticipate what will come next, which artists, architects and designers naturally embody. Purpose of this paper is to identify some examples of anticipatory movements, to then contextualize them in their historical background, thereby scoping the domain of Design Futures at least at the level of a first draft, in progress. In the rich history of art, architecture, and design, the selection herewith presented is purely exemplificatory and not intended yet as a systematic, complete, critical review on universal terms.

The construction of the modern factory. The introduction of prefabrication in Terra di Lavoro

This paper focuses on the investigation and understanding of the industrial heritage designed and built in Campania region, between Naples and Caserta, by the most important Italian architects and engineers in the post-war season. The principal aim of this paper is to present the rich and heterogeneous catalogue of factories designed in these years through unpublished drawings and photos from the building sites.
 These examples show a notion of modularity that brings interesting innovations in terms of on-site prefabrication of modular components and construction systems. The construction of these factories is therefore in contrast with Italy’s traditional building techniques based on craft approach and intense use of labour. The project of these factories is the outcome of the effort of famous architects and engineers, such as Lugi Figini e Gino Pollini, Angelo Mangiarotti, Marco Zanuso, Eduardo Vittoria, and Gigi Ghò, who experimented new structural solutions based on the orderly and coherent composition of prefabricated elements. This research stems from the revitalised interest in studies of prefabrication in Italy between the 50's to the 70's of the last century, and about the innovative aesthetic outcomes developed from it. In addition, this paper contributes to evaluate the qualitative connections between construction, geography and labour, assessing the friction between the advanced products and knowledge imported from the North and the agricultural vocation of these regions. The paper will also put in relation the development of prefabrication systems in the less-developed South of Italy in the wider context of the great industrialization boosted by political decisions and state financial helps of “Cassa del Mezzogiorno”.