Politecnico di Torino (POLITO)

Mission Statement

Politecnico di Torino is known both in Italy and abroad as a leading institution to study design, architecture and engineering. It is a selective and sometimes even "tough" university with a high and established reputation. Graduates from Politecnico receive an education that goes far beyond technical knowledge. The institution offers a multicultural study environment and has a close relationship to businesses, which share our premises and work with us on many projects giving students the opportunity to gain work experience while still at university. Politecnico di Torino is a research university, where education and research combine to meet the real needs of the local area and economy and most importantly those of the students. The Department of Architecture and Design (DAD)is the leading branch of learning of the Politecnico di Torinc focusing on the art and science of design, architectural and urban buildings, and product and cultural heritage design. The DAD promotes, coordinates and manages basic and applied research, teaching and training, technology transfer, territorial services related to architectural and urban design including its sustainability, economics and financial aspects, as well as restoration, enhancement and management of architectural, urban and landscape heritage, and industrial, graphic and virtual design.

International Role

In the filed of design, the Department has established some exchange programs with around 50 top universities worldwide (Erasmus program, Non-EU programme, Double Degrees, etc.) such as Tongji University, Shanghai (China), Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais – UEMG, Belo Horizonte (Brazil), Griffith University, Brisbane (Australia), Tokyo University, Tokyo (Japan), Barcelona School of Design and Engineering – ELISAVA, Barcelona (Spain), Middle East Technical University -METU, Ankara (Turkey), The Royal Institute of Technology – KTH, Stockholm (Sweden). In the design research, the Department has been working with many Institutions such as, among others, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology –MIT (Cambridge, USA), the Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) and the ZERI Foundation (Switzerland and Japan).

National Role

At a National level the Department collaborates with private and public institutions, universities, companies, associations, firms and professionals, such as: City of Turin, Province of Turin, Piedmont Region, Turin Chamber of Commerce, Mountain Communities of Piedmont, ADI Association of Italian Designers, Turin Environment Park, Italian cultural institutes abroad, Fiat Group (Fiat Style Centre, Fiat Research Centre), Lavazza, Ferrero, Telecom Italia, Epson, Juventus F.C., Castello di Rivoli – Contemporary Art Museum and Armando Testa.

Main Focus

We see design as a “place” where technical and humanistic cultures come together. Design absorbs these cultures, processing them and linking them to generate unprecedented projects in the various areas of industrial design. These are the foundations of the design courses offered by DAD – Department of Architecture and Design of Politecnico di Torino: an offer (www.polito.it/design) which is split into a three-year BSc in Design and Visual Communication, an a MSc program in Ecodesign and one Phd program in Industrial Design Production Systems, the highest level of university education. The range of courses is completed by a Master in Marketing Communication Design – a joint course, accomplished in conjunction with the Management Department of Turin University, to further the strategic and planning-related aspects of design, communication and marketing (www.polito.it/mmcd) – and the Master in Transportation 3D Modelling, to educate experts in 3D modelling applied to the transport sector. The BSc in Design and Visual Communication educates a designer capable of elaborating concepts of new products, loaded with cultural contents: environmental sustainability, design “for all”, ergonomics, in addition to the psychology of consumption and cognitive ergonomics. This educational program forms two professional figures: product designers and graphic and virtual designers. Both specialisations devote particular attention to the new behaviours and the meaning of production processes (also at artisan level) with respect to the transversal topics of sustainability and ethics. It takes an ethical attitude based on the concept of sustainable development, both from a social and an environmental viewpoint, maintaining the cultural roots of the products without impoverishing the producers and respecting the legislation which offers information on the production chain and creates development and job opportunities. The MSc in Ecodesign is one of the most innovative educational programs at International level and is pursued in close collaboration with Kyoto Club, Club of Rome, ZERI/Blue Economy and other institutions. The course in Ecodesign prepares designers capable of configuring and managing the complete industrial product design activity, with the aim of achieving “zero emissions”. This Master aims to promote and further a design culture that place man at the centre of his social, cultural and environmental surroundings. A culture in which interest in innovation relates to a vision of the problems from a different angle and with a multidisciplinary approach to the production system, which is also attentive to the humanistic components.