The evolution of doing design in Italy is steady and progressive, following the inclination to consider the design process as a characterizing element of innovation. The project has become an industry, culture is its raw material and historical continuity is the premise of its credibility. The evolution of the project process has become a fundamental concept – believing in the possibility to improve the way of conducting certain activities, to imagine impossible meetings and clashes between things, constitutes a leading field of exploration. Planning the project is the first concrete action that determines originality.

CARLO VANNICOLA is Associate Professor in Industrial Design at the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the University of Camerino. Before this he taught at both the University of Florence and at the University of Genoa where he was course co-ordinator, in charge of the five-year degree course in Product and Event design. He is a working designer with an interest in design theory looking in particular at the development of product types and technologies in various product sectors examining the ties between past and present. His current interests examine event design as a method of research and experience sharing. He has organised design exhibitions both in Italy and abroad and has lead workshops on a wide range of international design projects.