(official press release)

Scuola Politecnica di Design SPD Milano (Via Ventura 15, Milan), the first design school founded in Milan and nowadays the only one with an authentic Italian head and soul, proposes three different summer workshops held by protagonists of the International creative scene: Milan-based Spanish star-designer Patricia Urquiola, former SPD student and ironically self-defined “ex-designer” Martí Guixé and Chris Bangle, one of the most influential car designers world-wide.
The three studio-based one week experiences, held in the period from June 25 to July 15, aim at exchanging ideas and skills and at putting the participants’ creativity to the test working with leading names in the International scenario.

Patricia Urquiola // photo by Max Zambelli for Mutina Ritagliata

Who, what, when, where
Patricia Urquiola: Milan’s courtyards, June 25 – July 1, 2010
Spanish star designer Patricia Urquiola will assist analyzing the social function of courtyards in Milan, her elected hometown. “Milan’s courtyards” workshop aims at proposing solutions in “public design” by examining the traditional role of courtyards. The result of the one-week laboratory at SPD will be contemporary objects able to help re-establish a new central function of courtyards in the everyday social life of people.

Martí Guixé: Food design, July 2 – July 8, 2010
The challenge of the workshop “Food design” with Martí Guixé is to look at food as an object and work with it as though it is a design project, taking on its sustainability, ergonomics, the logic of its industrialisation, its shape, materials, naming, packaging and rituals of use. The participants are appealed to create edible objects that are different to those presented by the food industry or the gastronomic sector.

Chris Bangle: An endeavor in discontinuity, exterior car design of the future, July 9 – July 15, 2010
Reflecting on the evolution of automotive design since the invention of cars and the influence of production processes and new materials on the outer shape of cars, Chris Bangle invites the participants of his workshop to think of new and unexpected shapes, able to interpret new social habits and gestures as a part of the style concept. Discontinuity, irregular shapes and surfaces should characterize the projects resulting of this one-week design experience.

General programme
Held in English language, each of the three summer workshops organized by Scuola Politecnica di Design SPD Milano will start with a presentation and brief of the course. One day dedicated to cultural activities and one further day off will allow the participants to socialize, get to know each other, understand each other’s interests and background, implementing their involvement on personal and professional level.
During the following days, the participants, assisted by the guest designers and by the SPD staff, will develop their projects – products, systems, installations or performances - focusing on the innovation principle and on the effective communication of their concepts.
Participation to the workshop is open to candidates with a degree from design schools / universities and to professionals with significant experience and skills in the relevant creative fields (car, interior, industrial design) and companies.

History outline: Since 1954 this school has contributed to the international growth of Italian design into what we know it as today. The artist Nino di Salvatore set up SPD in 1954. As a painter and sculpturer, he has captivated and brought together artists, designers, professionals and students from across five different continents. Bruno Munari, Gio Ponti, Max Huber, Pino Tovaglia, Isao Hosoe have all taught at SPD. Gio Ponti, Achille Castiglioni, Rodolfo Bonetto and Roberto Sambonet, among the others, lectured at the school. In the most recent years the school has welcomed names such as Donald Norman, Massimo Vignelli, Stefano Giovannoni, Denis Santachiara, Andrea Branzi and Ross Lovegrove both as guest speakers and regular lecturers. Master Courses: There are always things to discover, rethink, transform. In Milan, the capital of design, SPD organises annual Master’s courses.  With over 50 years of experience in the field, these courses range from product design to interior design, from communication to multimedia. Didactics is personalised, in a human sized environment promoting easy contact with the faculty and the staff. 
The study programs have a strong orientation towards real projects, keeping in close contact with companies and professionals. Awards: An outstanding past has been extremely rewarding with exceptional recognition of the school: Boasting the exhibition at the Biennale di Venezia in 1986, at the Carrousel du Louvre and at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris; the ‘Medaglia d’Oro’ at the tenth Triennale in Milan and even the ‘Compasso d’Oro’ awarded by the ADI -Associazione Disegno Industriale in 1994; not to mention the honour of being granted twice the SMAU prize for Industrial Design.