Design for the real world
Date
11 June 2026
Time
18:30 PM - 21:30 PM
Fruition
In-person event
IED Rome presents an exhibition and public talk dedicated to the thought and legacy of Victor Papanek, one of the most influential figures in redefining the social and ecological role of contemporary design.
The project emerged from a research workshop involving 15 Product Design and Interior Design students from IED Rome, who were invited to engage with the theoretical and design legacy of Design for the Real World, Papanek’s seminal book published in 1971 and still regarded today as one of the most radical and influential manifestos of twentieth-century design.
The exhibition takes shape as a critical and visual map that reconstructs not only the objects designed or analysed by Papanek, but above all the network of cultural, political, environmental, and anthropological relationships that informed his thinking.
The workshop, led by architect and lecturer Marco Pietrosanto, developed an interdisciplinary research framework that brought together design, architecture, ergonomics, and material culture, building connections between Papanek’s ideas and contemporary design practices considered heirs to his vision, including Shigeru Ban’s Paper Log House, conceived as a low-cost, low-impact emergency housing system; Renzo Piano’s Diogene micro-dwelling, a radical reflection on the essential nature of living; and OpenStructures’ Hotel Beds, which reinterpret the principles of open design and shared modularity.
Alongside the theoretical and cartographic research, the project also included an experiential and hands-on component developed through an ergonomics workshop led by Studio Orizzontale. The resulting installations transform the exhibition into an inhabitable and relational environment where visitors can physically experience some of Papanek’s key insights on the relationship between body, space, and design.
More than a historical reconstruction, Antefatto logico. Papanek and the New Frontier of Design offers a reflection on the present and future of design in relation to issues that are increasingly central today: design as a political practice, the environmental crisis, decentralized production, system autonomy, waste reduction, and the need to imagine new forms of collective responsibility. The exhibition thus becomes an open research device, capable of exploring Papanek’s legacy not as an archive of the past, but as an operational tool for addressing the new frontiers of contemporary design.
To mark the opening, these themes will be explored further during a public talk on 11 June at 6:30 PM, moderated by Gianfranco Bombaci, Head of the Design School at IED Rome, featuring:
Marco Pietrosanto, lecturer and research group tutor
Nasrin Mohiti, lecturer and member of Studio Orizzontale
Domitilla Dardi, design curator and lecturer
Marika Aakesson, industrial designer and Product Design course coordinator
ANTEFATTO LOGICO. PAPANEK AND THE NEW FRONTIER OF DESIGN
TALK
11 June, 6:30 PM
IED, via Casilina 47, Rome
EXHIBITION
12 June – 30 September 2026
IED Corner, Via Casilina 47, Rome
Free entry
The following students participated in the project: Luana Allegretti, Romana Ashta, Anastasia Benizio, Lisa Gaia Bucchieri, Gaia Celletti, Sofy Cimarra, Federica Costantini, Nina Flego, Martina Giuliani, Marco Lutta, Matteo Haojing Sori, Elena Nisi, Giulia Palmili, Alessandra Stranges, Sonia Xu Xin Yan.
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