Thirteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

This research was conducted within a theoretical design class that aimed at investigating various design issues of our time. In particular the aim is to analyze what kind of relationships are establish between man and technology in a context, where technological innovation has led to globalization, distorting the paradigms that characterized the last historical context (industrial age), thus taking the name of the post-industrial era. The methodology of this work consists in starting from the analysis of the case study of Andrea Boscolo, with the project named Metaball Table, and then continuing to deal with all the issues that are among the four protagonists: the designer in an era where everyone design, the prosumer as an active part of the design, the extraordinary product, and the customizable process. Then we describe how the quality of the project is changing, the way of working and the role of the designer in contemporary society and how it is changing the role of the consumer in relation to them; up to the conclusion in affirming to find ourselves in a hybrid context, better expressed by the technical-scientific definition of the “Metaball” in the digital world. Through analogy, the relationship between man and technology is defined by an influence, positive or negative, without one dominating the other.