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The literature on circular economy has highlighted the need for more studies focused on investigating the journey of individual companies in the transition toward sustainable processes. This paper addresses this need by focusing on the furniture design industry, showing how the transition requires the re-organization of knowledge regarding materials, processes, technologies, and product quality. This assumption is demonstrated through the design research activity conducted in 2019–2020 as the first part of broader research by Cassina LAB, a collaboration between Cassina Research and Development Centre and POLI.design of Politecnico di Milano. Based on the analysis of the Italian furniture industry between constraints and opportunities, the aim of the research is to identify critical issues and propose sustainable and circular solutions, tailor-made for Cassina. Through this example, the paper contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it adds to the understanding of how companies are adopting the circular economy paradigm. Secondly, it contributes to defining tools to implement new forms of knowledge of materials and re-design processes to deliver products that are compatible with a circular economy model. more...

Smartness is generating several new contentions in terms of pragmatic aesthetics and interaction design, stimulating a debate on how design and advanced technologies can impact on reshaping human l... more...

espanolEn el panorama contemporaneo del diseno, los materiales ganan un papel preponderante. Somos testigos de una increible aceleracion en la evolucion de las practicas de diseno y de los procesos relacionados con los desarrollos de materiales y aplicaciones. En este paper queremos introducir y formalizar el concepto de “materialidad difusa”, con el objetivo de describir estos cambios significativos en el campo de los materiales para el diseno. De hecho, todas las clases de materiales se estan transformando en algo diferente: los plasticos se convierten en bio, los materiales compuestos se convierten en inteligentes, los residuos agricolas se convierten en materiales de cultivo, los de produccion industrial en materiales avanzados y el material organico se convierte en frontera del diseno futuro. Para definir el concepto de materialidad difusa nos hemos centrado en el contexto europeo, y hemos recogido varias contribuciones de los academicos que describen su perspectiva personal acerca de los materiales. En la siguiente introduccion, hay una breve descripcion de todos estos articulos. EnglishIn the contemporary panorama of design, materials are gained an important role. We are the witnesses of an incredible acceleration in the evolution of the design practices and processes related to materials developments and applications. In the present issue, we want to introduce and formalised the concept of “diffuse materiality” for describing these significant changes in the field of materials for design. In fact, all the classes of materials are transforming in something different: plastics become bio, composite materials change into smart, agricultural wastes turn into growing materials and those of industrial production in advanced materials, and the organic material becomes the border of the future design. For defining the concept of diffuse materiality we focused on the European context, and we collected various contributions from scholars describing their personal approach to materials. In the following introduction, there is a short description of all these articles. more...

Based on the principles of emerging bio-smart materials, in the framework of design-driven material innovation approach and cross-disciplinary research practices, the aim of this paper is to make clear how these materials are creating new opportunities to realize answers to the complex needs of contemporary society, while defining bio-smart materials main qualities, and questioning the implications on research design practices. We present a review of case studies of bio-smart materials applications in order to demonstrate that their diffusion is underway, especially in some application sector characterized by more complexity and a higher propensity for the use of biotechnological innovations. The examples described, are framed in three specific areas: biomedical design, sports design, and design for the environment that are particularly interested of the development and application of novel materials for both their performances and sustainability. more...

This chapter gives a general outlook on methods used for the manufacturing or small-scale fabrication of kinetic materials. Some conventional processes are used to manufacture shape memory materials. Common metallurgical processes are suitable for shape memory alloys while special training and heat-treatment procedures are required for customized shape recovery. Shape memory polymers require polymerization processes to obtain the raw polymers. Such polymers are shaped to the final form by various industrial techniques such as injection molding or casting. 3D printing is becoming an alternative to conventional processes. Specialized techniques have been developped for different kinetic materials and desired shapes. Thin films and coating of shape memory alloys are prepared by processes such as magnetron sputtering, ion plating, and laser ablation. Some procedures used to obtain shape memory composites are also explained in this chapter. more...

In the last years, new classes of advanced materials are emerging, influenced by computing, Internet of Things, and hybridization of design with science. These materials are overpassing conventional smart materials, by presenting additional degrees of intelligence. These are ICS Materials, an acronym for Interactive, Connected, and Smart Materials. While research centers around the world are experimenting with these new materials, there is the need to reflect on their definition, develop a classification, and identify constraints, potentials, and their impact on design. This paper is a step in this direction and provides the initial results of a basic research project focused on studying ICS Materials. In this paper, we provide the theoretical foundations and present a tentative map for them. This map is the result of an ongoing process of analysis of about one hundred best examples and practices. In conclusion, emerging issues and questions arisen from this study are presented. more...

Living organisms move in search for food; they move to protect themselves from enemies, to search for shelter, to multiply and perpetuate the existence of their species, and for many other reasons. A great variety of motion exists in animals, plants, and bacteria. The majority of animals move by muscle contractions. Mammalians depend on their muscles to move their limbs, walk, jump, or keep a certain posture. Birds and winged insects use their muscles to fly. Sponges do not have muscles, but they are able to contract thanks to their epithelial cells. Plants move at a much slower pace compared to animals but there are several exceptions such as found in carnivorous plants. All these life forms and the ways they move offer great sources of knowledge for study of motion and implementation in the arficial world. This source of knowledge is being tapped by researchers with the use of biomimetics, and related approaches. The aim of this chapter is to introduce some of the natural mechanisms that lead to motion. Some examples discuss the biomimetic approach and its implementation for design with kinetic materials. more...

This paper joins the debate on emerging materials and on the attention that design reserves for scientific innovations, interpreting them in terms of the trends and application scenarios being opened for design research. The two main trends in technical and scientific evolution â intelligence and bio â are considered in order to propose a new definition of Bio-smart Materials that takes into account the development of scientific research with its advances and the influence it has in industrial product scenarios. â Bio-smartâ defines the new quality criteria of design, in which materials will play a priority role. more...

The capacity of kinetic materials to respond to environmental stimuli or external signals offers a unique opportunity for interface, interaction, and experience design. This signal can be in the form of user input that may be sensed by the kinetic material directly or transformed into a signal suitable for that particular material. Interaction is a two-way process taking at the product (system) - user interface. Tangible user interfaces may replace graphical user interfaces in the future. Research, art, and design projects implement kinetic materials along with other technologies to attain tangible interfaces. This field is at its infancy and there are many possibilities to be explored. A theoretical framework is essential for the successful implementation of interaction design with kinetic materials. Several elements are presented to start this theoretical discussion. These are aesthetics of interaction and interfaces, symbolic possibilities and meaning associated with kinetic materials, and emotions as part of human experience. more...

Some of the difficulties designers and design educators face when attempting a project with smart materials are their limited availability, high cost, and lack of practical but reliable information. The design community responds to these problems in many creative ways. Tinkering and experimentation with materials and simple tools is becoming popular as a process to generate valuable knowledge for practitioners. Web-based platforms, blogs, databases, and videos specifically aim to share information and create networks for collaboration. Some kinetic materials are prepared from more accessible materials. Workshops are organized during studio projects and workshops. Some of these projects from different parts of the design world are briefly presented in this chapter. New material visions that emerged from design experiments are discussed. These visions aim to leap into a new era of materiality including the development of new interfaces or means that directly link the digital and material realities. more...

espanolEste articulo aborda el enfoque del diseno italiano de materiales, basado en una larga tradicion de desafios de intercambio entre practicas intelectuales. Sobre la base de sus estudios anteriores, los autores, centrandose en el diseno y la historia de las empresas, explican el enfoque y las razones del proceso osmotico entre la tecnologia y las humanidades en Italia y como estos intercambios desafiantes repercuten tanto en la produccion como en los desarrollos futuros. Una vision general del paisaje cultural europeo de los tiempos ayuda a centrarse en las principales teorias que todavia representan un bastion de las Humanidades del Diseno. Explorar el significado semiotico de los materiales mejora las exploraciones sobre sus aplicaciones asi como las investigaciones nuevas y en curso en el campo del Diseno de Materiales, tambien en terminos de sostenibilidad e interaccion. EnglishThis article deals with the Italian Design approach to Materials based on a long tradition of challenging exchanges between intellectual practices. Focusing on design and enterprises history, the authors, on the basis of their previous studies, explain the approach and the reasons of the osmotic process between technology and humanities in Italy, and how those challenging exchanges impacted on production as well as on further developments. An overview of European cultural landscape of the times helps to focus on the leading theories that still represent a stronghold of Design Humanities. Exploring the semiotic meaning of materials enhance the investigations on their applications as well as new, ongoing researches in the field of Material Design, also in terms of sustainability and interaction. more...

This chapter aims to discuss selected applications of shape changing materials in different fields. Most of these examples involve shape memory alloys, particularly nitinol because at the present, this is the most established and reliable material for industrial applications. However, research efforts indicate that SMAs may be replaced by SMPs, ferrofluids, bimetals, or other novel materials in the future. The final section summarizes applications based on magnetorheological fluids. more...

Despite the large number of innovative materials developed in laboratories worldwide, their application in new mass-produced products is complicated. Design can reduce the risk that the research de... more...

This paper presents and advocates a method for teaching about materials in industrial design courses. The method has been developed by the authors in the academic sphere while teaching over the last six years on a number of degree courses – both the three-year basic programmes and the two-year specialist ones – at four Italian places of learning: the Politecnico di Milano, Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Palermo and ISIA (the Higher Institute for Artistic Industries) in Florence, which is now recognized as being equivalent to a degree course. The research has a focus on a specific area of the design field which has until now been undervalued, and not sufficiently expanded upon by teaching programmes, as it has always been seen as something which is simply there to be exploited. However, it has become more prominent in recent years, thanks in part to rapid technical and scientific development and the access to numerous new materials with unprecedented capabilities. Key words: design, materials, creativity, experimentation, teaching methodology. more...

The paper here proposed introduces the Design-driven Material Innovation Methodology as a systematic approach in new material-product development processes as a possible strategic tool for design schools, practitioners and SMEs. Scientists and engineers are problem solver, but to engender innovations of success requires not only technological exploitations but also a broader understanding of materials meaningful application for consumers. For the design language, material performances are based in technological performance and also on experience, perception and cultural values. Nowadays the design knowledge and skills are approaching us to a new materials research scenario where creative communities, scientists and material industries are becoming deeply engaged in the creative challenge to achieve material functionality and meanings. Considering these and others factors, the Design Department of Politecnico di Milano promoted in October 2014 the Material Design Culture Research Center (MADEC) funded by FARB (University Funds for Basic Research). Within the MADEC research program, one critical point has been the identification of a specific methodology able to integrate tailor-made materials during the design process, in order to create new scenarios of concepts material and product. So, the Design-driven Material Innovation Methodology arose to enhance new products innovation starting from a specific material and suggesting a method able to manage the entire design process. After a brief forward of the method theoretical premises, the paper will analyzes the seven steps (Data collection about materials, Sensing, Sensemaking, Envisioning, Specifying, Setting up, Placing) suggested by the method associated with a selection of case studies to help its comprehension.Actually the DdMIM is part of the Design for Enterprises, the winner project of the Tender Capabilities for Design-Driven Innovation in European SMEs funded by EASME (Executive Agency for SMEs-European Commission). D4E is a consortium estabilished between MIP- Politecnico di Milano, D’Appolonia and ADIPER and will be a three years long European training program in order to help SMEs to manage a design process for product and services innovation where different actors like materials scientists, suppliers, creative communities and consumers are getting engaged.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/IFDP.2016.3243 more...

This essay raises issues on the evolution of design by focusing on the relationship between design and science in the contemporary era. It presents design researches that show a strong relationship between scientific acquisitions and design to highlight the emerging role of Advanced Design. The author analyses in these design research projects the mediation of the design and philosophy of design and defines three different levels and scales of this mediation: the instrumental level where design works as a tool for communication of science, the design for experimentation where design works as an explorative practice and the scenario level where design thinking grow up into the cross-disciplinary relationship with different sciences, the humanistic ones and the technical ones. On the basis of technoscientific opportunities, the Advanced Design as driving innovation factor arises between science and society. Finally in the ‘Advanced Material Design’ paragraph, the author outlines design changes in relation to the technoproductive ‘Paradigm of designed materials’'. The new scientific perspective of Advanced Material Design exploits new design methodologies. These are presented by three different case studies: Materialecology, Material Beliefs and Mathieu Lehanneur designs. more...

This chapter introduces key issues on the use of materials that change color as a design theme to experiment with its potential. It addresses issues such as the significance of color in design, design approaches toward and meaning attributed to dynamic color, theoretical implications and changes in design methodologies in the face of new tools and finally, technical and economic considerations useful for designers. Various design examples that address some of these key issues are presented. more...

This chapter aims to explain various manufacturing processes used for commercial products that involve chromogenic materials. Challenges in the use of chromogenic pigments, inks, and dyes are presented based on industrial practice and patents. Some of the manufacturing processes are applicable to more than one type of chromogenic material type (thermochromic, photochromic, electrochromic, etc.) so the emphasis is on the process and the type of colorant (liquid crystal, leuco dye, inorganic oxide) in this chapter, rather than the specific chromogenic category. One of the difficulties in the use of chromogenic pigments or dyes is their incorporation to a bulk material or to the surface without harming the chromogenic features. Therefore, microencapsulation is a key process, allowing more flexibility in manufacturing and product use. The appropriate printing technique needs to be selected for different substrates and conditions of use. Some of the processes are explained with reference to the targeted product, including chromogenic textiles, gels, windows, and displays. more...