Fifteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Project design verve: this is the key concept on which the experience in project design pedagogy of the Milan Polytechnic Design School (Italy) is focused in the field of research and training. It is also the key concept that this paper summarizes and formalizes in terms of results and intuitions. The theoretical and methodological evolution of industrial design project is shaped by cultural, economic, and social frameworks. The paper analyzes issues related to design project pedagogy in an economic context that interests universities, large corporations and international companies, researched through a survey on the new figure of the designer in the era of the information society and through a wide range of case studies, true evidence of project experience in training. The main purpose of this paper is therefore to indicate pedagogical guidelines for the university project that will help fine-tune the student’s training path, seen as a real experiential path, whilst at the same time demonstrating the need and the effectiveness of this kind of path. Four main topics are examined and investigated: cognitive processes, the new figure of the designer, new products and intangible goods, and tools and experience in project design pedagogy .