The rediscovery of the relationship between the design system and traditional applied arts and local culture is now evident and growing. In the last X years, multiple exhibitions, publications, events, and collaborations initiated by designers in synergy with the traditional production network seem to confirm the potential of a profession that---through an experimental approach---proves to be a bridge between disciplines (Da Empoli in Against the Specialists: The Revenge of Humanism. Marsilio, 2013). Aware of the urgency covered by the issue of sustainability, the design system is charting new paths (Gambardella in Handmade in Italy. Altralinea, 2020), identifying craftsmanship as an irrefutable resource to draw on for sustainable production. Indeed, the latter is proving to be attentive to processes and their impact on human capital, the landscape, and the planet. If, in the past, made in Italy represented a production model rooted in the tradition and culture of territories (Micelli in Future Artisan. Innovation in the Hands of Artisans. Marsilio, 2011), the urgency of linking innovation to the local-traditional dimension presupposes a change in approach, with respect to the conventions and stereotypes long associated with the “handmade.” Moreover, it seems equally necessary to revalue individual objects, projecting them into different logics, distinguishing history and criticism from chronicle, self-evaluation, as well as a different form of organizing reflections and judgment (Bassi in Contemporary design. Istruzioni per l’uso. Il Mulino, 2017). In this context, the paper explores the role of the design discipline as an activator-facilitator, with reference to the Mediterranean area. From a methodological point of view, it investigates the design approach of thirty designers whose work interweaves tradition, geography, and identity, enhancing an intangible heritage that, despite all predictions, today survives in the post-industrial and globalized world (Branzi in Design Portraits and Self-portraits. Marsilio, 2010). The purpose of the operation is realized in the codification of a potentially virtuous process that validates the role of design as an element of innovation, in line with a production sensitive to local cultural-material peculiarities and resources.
Crafting the Future: New Interactions Between Manufacture and Design in Italy
Luca Parodi
2026-01-01
Abstract
The rediscovery of the relationship between the design system and traditional applied arts and local culture is now evident and growing. In the last X years, multiple exhibitions, publications, events, and collaborations initiated by designers in synergy with the traditional production network seem to confirm the potential of a profession that---through an experimental approach---proves to be a bridge between disciplines (Da Empoli in Against the Specialists: The Revenge of Humanism. Marsilio, 2013). Aware of the urgency covered by the issue of sustainability, the design system is charting new paths (Gambardella in Handmade in Italy. Altralinea, 2020), identifying craftsmanship as an irrefutable resource to draw on for sustainable production. Indeed, the latter is proving to be attentive to processes and their impact on human capital, the landscape, and the planet. If, in the past, made in Italy represented a production model rooted in the tradition and culture of territories (Micelli in Future Artisan. Innovation in the Hands of Artisans. Marsilio, 2011), the urgency of linking innovation to the local-traditional dimension presupposes a change in approach, with respect to the conventions and stereotypes long associated with the “handmade.” Moreover, it seems equally necessary to revalue individual objects, projecting them into different logics, distinguishing history and criticism from chronicle, self-evaluation, as well as a different form of organizing reflections and judgment (Bassi in Contemporary design. Istruzioni per l’uso. Il Mulino, 2017). In this context, the paper explores the role of the design discipline as an activator-facilitator, with reference to the Mediterranean area. From a methodological point of view, it investigates the design approach of thirty designers whose work interweaves tradition, geography, and identity, enhancing an intangible heritage that, despite all predictions, today survives in the post-industrial and globalized world (Branzi in Design Portraits and Self-portraits. Marsilio, 2010). The purpose of the operation is realized in the codification of a potentially virtuous process that validates the role of design as an element of innovation, in line with a production sensitive to local cultural-material peculiarities and resources.
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