AGATHÓN

3-4

Authors: Giuseppe De Giovanni

The beginning of the third millennium has marked a period of unprecedented change for cities, architecture and product/visual design. Over the last two decades, economic, social and environmental causes have stimulated and conditioned research and production, directing them towards substantial paradigm changes, proposing new challenges to create more smart, more resilient, more responsive and adaptive, more efficient and more sustainable urban systems, buildings and objects – from nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) to Positive Energy Architecture (PEA) – designed and built faster, with lower costs and with a positive effect on the environment, society, health and productivity: more innovative, in a nutshell. It is a common knowledge that innovation is, now more than ever, the tool needed to recover from the global economic crisis, to aim for economic prosperity and quality of life improvement, to increase productivity, to foster competitiveness, to support the challenge of globalization and environmental sustainability, both at an ‘incremental’ level (improvement of an already existing production process) and ‘radical’ (to create a new unmatched method or production system). In this regard, AGATHÓN deals with the subject of ‘Pro-Innovation | Process Production Product’ with the aim of collecting essays and critical reflections, researches and experiments, projects and creations (of new architectures, recovery and restoration interventions, art and product/visual design) that might be case studies for innovation, sustainability and social inclusion, describing the subject: 1) Process Innovation as sequence and organization models, management and control of the process stages, operating methodologies (ideational, design, productive, operational, management and of disposal of the work/product) of the whole life cycle of the artifact; regulations; new professional experts and technical skills; ways to involve professionals and users in the several decision-making stages, etc.; 2) Production Innovation, i.e. tools suitable for the optimization of the different stages of the production process including machines and robots for digital manufacturing (CNC milling, laser cutting, 3D printing, etc.), for prototyping and for prefabrication, relating to analysis and design/simulation software (also with virtual reality) CAD and CAM, BIM, digital, parametric, algorithmic and generative, environmental, structural, energetic and thermal; installation and assembly techniques and technologies, etc.; 3) Product Innovation, i.e. smart, advanced, composite, recyclable, sustainable, nanostructured, shape-memory, phase-change, self-repairing, responsive, adaptive, low-cost and high-performance materials/components/objects with a low environmental impact; automation, detection, management and control equipment for performance optimization; ‘passive’ technologies for efficient casings, including natural ventilation and cooling systems, water collection, storage and recycling, and off-grid renewable energy production. Many proposals and new visions of the process, its management and building production, showing new paths for innovation and professionals. But, at the same time, they also make us think on the (possible) loss of a cultural and technological knowledge that considered the designer as the one holding a global knowledge that nowadays seems to be increasingly fragmented.

11-20

Authors: Francesco Zurlo

In recent years, the Design has expanded its ‘design objects’ to include organization. Specifically, it is within the debate on Design Thinking that this interest emerges, in one of the typologies that characterize it: Creative Confidence. The creative dimension is functional with regard to involving the members of an organization; it allows to overcome the resistance to change and it enables the risk that every creative process entails. The aim is to innovate products and services through greater availability and acceptance, enabled by careful leadership, towards creativity. Design is a creative expression, yet, like creativity itself, it requires the creation and absorption of cultural codes and models; the assumption, in summary, of a ‘design culture’. https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/522019

31-40

Authors: Giuseppe Ridolfi, Arman Saberi

The article addresses the environmental question by critiquing the anthropocentric vision, still alive in the design debate and practice, as a remnant of the underlying dualism humanity/environment. It opposes the co-evolutionist and New Realism theses re-elaborated in the light of a new metalanguage (Digital Mathema) capable of ‘giving voice’ to the multitude of agents and to activate forms of collaborative intelligence (Computational Intelligences), enabling design explorations beyond established norms and the already known. Following is a description of Parametric and Generative Design and the Mailab research laboratory’s experiences. The conclusion is an invitation to reflect on the possible side effects that could arise from digital marking and from an excessive emphasis on the ‘know-how’. https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/542019

51-58

Authors: Maria Antonietta Esposito, Alessandra Donato, Filippo Bosi

The digital management of the construction process is required for sustainability. It imposes the definition of new roles and responsibilities and – consequently – makes it necessary to introduce new professional figures that are able to perform specific organizational and management tasks and functions in the scope of BIM process management. The contribution offers food for thought on the transversal and digital skills (soft skills) required by these professional figures on the basis of a critical analysis of examples reported in the literature, experiences and changes triggered by the adoption of the BIM methodology with respect to new activities, knowledge, skills, roles and responsibilities related to the professional figure. https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/562019

73-82

Authors: Daniela Besana, Claudia Ferrari

The research concerns a possible way for recycling plastic bottles as construction material, as an additional reuse circuit. Following a preliminary critical analysis of case studies to highlight the possible design variables, an innovative method which uses plastic bottles for the construction of load-bearing walls is proposed. Models of different constructive solutions have been designed and built, up to the proposal of a module of four bottles, filled with sand and tied together. Laboratory compression tests have shown the strength of the basic module and a f.e.m. analysis has demonstrated the stability of the structure. These first results encourage to other more accurate analysis and testify its potential versatility as building material and exportability of use even in different contexts, at a social, economic and environmental level. https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/582019

93-100

Authors: Sergio Russo Ermolli, Giuliano Galluccio

This paper aims to investigate the possibilities offered by the design and production paradigms of Industry 4.0 in the Architecture, Engineering & Construction industry, through the coordination between systems for the integrated management of the design process (Building Information Modeling) and rapid prototyping tools (Computer-Aided Manufacturing). Is hereby proposed an interpretation of the meaning that an industrial transformation of the AEC industry takes over for the Architectural design, simulating a methodology in a BIM environment for the design of residential buildings in Cold-Formed Steel with drywall envelopes, exploiting the potential of digital manufacturing and computational design advanced tools. https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/5102019

109-116

Authors: Antonio Magarò, Adolfo F. L. Baratta

The contribution presents the first results of a research conducted in the Department of Architecture, Roma Tre University, aimed at testing Machine Learning algorithms for train Neural Networks in learning data from BIM, with the purpose of generating Augmented Reality contents. The objective is to improve the living space's fruition by fragile users. Machine Learning algorithms, in computer-aided design, constitute an innovation in production, as well as an innovation in product, meaning architectural spaces as such. After describing the current research lines, this paper proposes a shared glossary about the terms borrowed from other investigation fields. Finally, it describes the applications in Augmented Reality experimented in the research and the theoretical mechanisms of interaction between these and the Machine Learning algorithms. https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/5122019

127-136

Authors: Cabirio Cautela, Lucia Rampino

In the literature, many types of product innovation are described. In this article, we analyze the three design-related innovation typologies that seem most discussed and agreed upon: i) aesthetic innovation; ii) innovation of use; iii) meaning innovation. While allowing overlaps and complementarities, each typology focuses on a specific aspect of a product’s innovation. Over time, such specificities prevented the formulation of an integrated theoretical model able to connect them together and express logical and functional relations among them. In this article – through a systematic analysis of the literature of the last 30 years – we aim to identify a theoretical model that underlines the specific drivers of any innovation typology, at the same time composing them in a coherent framework in which some are considered logical and instrumental antecedents with respect to higher level of innovation. https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/5142019

145-152

Authors: Raffaella Fagnoni, Chiara Olivastri

Our thought on innovation starts from the dichotomy between the strong and the light design’s components: on the one hand opposed, on the other complementary. Hard is the process based on the consumerist model, Soft is more sustainable. Hard is the dimension of possession, Soft is that of access and sharing. Hard is the top-down process and Soft is the bottom-up process that values social innovation. The project tools are not records to be applied. They must adapt, be customized to the needs expressed by the people who are activating themselves in the structuring of answers. The role of designers today is to face our time challenges, to which the models used in the last century are unable to respond. It is to answer to the world’s change by performing the change in the project. https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/5162019

161-166

Authors: Xue Pei, Francesco Zurlo

This paper is based on research conducted by Creative Industries Lab of Politecnico di Milano for creating the new brand image and communication strategy for Fondazione Cariplo. A Co-Design approach has involved both internal and external stakeholders in visually defining a shared future identity for rebranding this significant foundation to the public. The research results have revealed that the co-creation process has not only generated the expected objectives, but also raised a cultural change towards innovation inside the organization itself. Therefore, this experience has opened a new research realm for applying design methods and tools in organizations. https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/5182019

175-182

Authors: Mario Bisson, Shanti Andreana Alberti di Catenajo, Stefania Palmieri

This research investigates studies on multi-sensory environments (MSEs) and, comparing existing solutions on the market, offers an integrated product-service, designed to contain costs, from an industrial manufacturing perspective, with a high level of flexibility, aimed at children with intellectual and motor disabilities. Based on the studies developed by the LudoMi team, a project awarded at Polisocial Award 2017, as acknowledgment on research with a high social impact relevant for the scientific community. We report the case study of Merlino: research project, in progress, with the Design Department of the Polytechnic of Milan, which aims to increase the development of cognitive faculties and motor skills, promoting learning and improvement of communication and relational skills. https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/5202019