Products for Design (P4D)
Artifacts and tools for resilient futures
Milan
ENG
|
ITA
Second Level Academic Diploma in Design - Specialization in Product Design
Language
English, Italian
Start date
October 2026
Frequency
Full time
Fruition
On campus
Duration
2 Years
Credits
120 CFA / ECTS
Course Coordination
Dario Francesco Buzzini
How can product design contribute to building fairer, more resilient, and more shared futures?
Technological evolution over recent decades has opened exponential possibilities for imagining, modelling, and anticipating future scenarios for contemporary society. In this context, products are transforming: from static objects into tools for adaptation and resilience, but also into cultural devices capable of intercepting emerging signals, anticipating opportunities, and making undesired futures visible.
The Master of Arts in Products for Design (P4D) explores how design can contribute to building a fairer future by placing the physical and mental well-being of people, other species, and the environment at its core through a responsible use of technology. Situated within a perspective that redefines the role of design, the program considers design as a critical and transformative practice capable of activating new relationships between individuals, communities, and production systems.
Through an interdisciplinary approach, the program addresses the ethical, social, cultural, and environmental implications of design from a systemic perspective, encouraging the formulation of new design questions to generate meaningful change. The study of design methods, sustainable materials, and prototyping techniques extends user-centered analysis towards the creation of collaborative objects, tools, and scenarios, with the aim of counteracting the fragmentation of contemporary society. From the design of high-performance products to community empowerment program and creative micro-entrepreneurship, the course investigates how to activate commons - both material and immaterial - in order to foster new forms of collective well-being.
The professionals trained through the Master of Arts in Products for Design (P4D) will develop design, cultural, technical, and organizational competencies to operate in multidisciplinary contexts and address the contemporary challenges of design. They will be able to work across product design, product-service systems, design for the commons, and sustainable and inclusive innovation, contributing to the definition of design strategies with high social value.
Furthermore, the Master of Arts provides the tools to continue into advanced research pathways and PhD programs at Italian and international universities.
Faculty
Course Coordinator
Dario Francesco Buzzini
Designer
Marco Frigerio
Giulia Tomasello
Interaction Designer, Activist
Erica Petrillo
Curator and Researcher
Gabriela Galati
Gallerist , Professor and Researcher on Art and New Media
Alice Barki
Designer and Lecturer
Eugenia Morpugo
Designer and Researcher
Francesco Leonardi
Innovation engineer, co-founder of Puntozero
Nicola Brambilla
Industrial Designer
Giuseppe Maffei
Sales & Marketing Manage
Sara Magnone
Architect
Ben Bazalgette-Staples
Translator specialized in art and communication
What people say
The world could be otherwise: making by making strange
"The world has become so flattened by routine that we no longer fully see the objects around us; we merely recognize them."
The workshop took place at Rifugio Amprimo (Val di Susa- Italy) and has been inspired by the statement of Russian theorist Viktor Shklovsky.
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