DESIGN HISTORY (DPN)

CODE	90717
ACADEMIC YEAR	2026/2027
CREDITS	6 cfu anno 1 DESIGN DEL PRODOTTO NAUTICO 11940 (L-4 R) - LA SPEZIA
SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINARY SECTOR	CEAR-08/D
LANGUAGE	Italian
TEACHING LOCATION	LA SPEZIA
SEMESTER	2° Semester
MODULES	Questo insegnamento è un modulo di: DESIGN HISTORY AND OUTLINES OF CONTEMPORARY ART HISTORY
TEACHING MATERIALS	AULAWEB

AIMS AND CONTENT

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Aims

«A history of design is at the same time a cultural history, in which every object connected to everyday life must be read in the context of the complex and not always linear evolution of taste, consumer habits, and the industrial universe.»

Through a reading structured on the dual register of chronological and geographical progression, the key themes and events within the discipline will be observed, starting from its establishment. Key concepts, the main theories, and the many definitions that have followed over time will be illustrated and appropriately commented on, contextualizing these non-linear evolutions with respect to historical and formal references.

During opportunities for interaction and discussion in the classroom, students are encouraged to follow the temporal sequence and geographical location of the proposed themes, preparing — at the instructor's request — an illustration of a historical framework for their classmates, for interpreting the evolution and transformations of the discipline, with regard to its cultural, social, and economic origins.

Learning outcomes

The teaching opportunities and theoretical verification are aimed at highlighting the relationships between the current course of the subject, its contemporaneity and the historical origins in different places and times, for the construction of a consistent cultural background.

The expected result of the teaching is to lead the student to understand and identify the artefact and its relationship with the specifically intended context. The progression of teaching is structured on the basis of lessons on more general themes, followed by an in-depth analysis of some key contents. The aim is to generate the capacity to connect artefacts, historical moments and their generative conditions, with the ultimate aim of achieving a cultural and selective competence allowing the composition of the final exercise and, in the long term, might constitute consistent quality foundations for the recognition of the historical and cultural background of design.

TEACHING METHODS

The course will consist of lectures (in accordance with the delivery methods established by the Degree Programme), structured around general themes and subsequent targeted in-depth analysis, enabling students to construct a path that connects historical events to their geographical location and an understanding of the social landscapes that generated them. From the beginning of the course, students will be introduced to the required texts, recommended in the bibliography section, for allowing the following of the development of the events, presented during the lectures. The progression will be summarised in the "Lessons Schedule", distributed at the beginning of the course. The course will include assessments, classroom interactions, and detailed explanations for the final exam assignment.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The teaching is allocated into frontal lessons distributed according to a temporal canon, which consists of the main topics starting from the birth of the discipline of Design History, geographically localized. General topics will be followed by targeted insights, considered of fundamental importance. The lessons will cover: presentation and definition of the discipline; the precursors and the birth of Industrial Design; the Victorian age; Thonet, Art Nouveau; the Shakers; The Deutscher Werkbund, the Secession and the Wiener Werkstätte, The AEG case; Futurism; Ford and mass production; Art Deco in France, the French rationalist design of the 1930s; De Stijl in the Netherlands, the Bauhaus school; Streamlining; Scandinavian design; the beginnings of Italian design; American furniture design; the Ulm school; Italian design in the post-war period, the personalities and context of Bel Design Italiano; Radical Design, Alchimia and Memphis; the exhibition “Italy: the New Domestic Landscape”.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LUISA CHIMENZ

Ricevimento: Encounters may be set by appointment, preferably agreed by email at luisa.chimenz@unige.it

LESSONS

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The final exam will consist of an oral presentation on the specific topics covered during lectures and listed in the "Lessons Schedule" list, mirroring the required mandatory textbooks (the "Lessons Schedule" is provided to students at the beginning of lectures and is always available on the course Teams channel).

Attending students are required to present and discuss an assignment, according to instructions provided by the instructor in a dedicated document, available on the course Teams channel. For its arrangement, the assignment will be introduced and discussed in detail with the students during lectures. The assignment is submitted concurrently with the exam presentation. The assignment must be completed in groups, and the entire group is invited to take the exams simultaneously.

Non-attending students are required to prepare a specific bibliography for the exam: they are encouraged to consult the course syllabus, available on the UniGe website and on the course Teams channel. Non-attending students are exempt from making the presenting the assignment and will have an oral exam.

The assignment is developed from an expressive point of view with methods and techniques of the students' choice since the graphic representation/material rendering will not, in any case, be the subject of evaluation. Instead, the following are evaluated: consistency with the year's macro-theme; the relevance and originality of the choices made; and finally, the appropriate and well-reasoned oral presentation during the exam.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The final exam consists of a colloquium, based on the texts recommended in the bibliography, in the section of mandatory ones. For attending students, this is accompanied by the preparation of the assignment and its commented presentation. Through the colloquium the student's preparation will be assessed, evaluated in relation to the appropriate placement and correct understanding of the moments and socioeconomic conditions that generated the artifacts, and the relationship of the personalities to broader expressions of the historical context. Through the assignment presentation the student's capacity for internalization and personal elaboration will be assess, as well as the ability to assign and construct a personal, logical narrative, based on history.