The future craftsman, a book by Stefano Micelli
 

The future craftsman, a book by Stefano Micelli

June 2015
 

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neo~local design

 

An invitation to rethink craftsmanship, not as as a survivor from the past, but as an active resource, looking at the very core of Italian small and medium-sized companies. To respond to the crisis, innovation is here: in our own hands.

 
 

Is it true that culture has nothing to do with the practice of making things? And that the only path towards a healthy economy leads to getting free from manual labor and by the super-specialization of abstract knowledge?

We have believed this far too long, following passively the idea of  'the Metropolis’ as the only possible place for scientific and technical innovation.
A mistake that make us underestimate a very specific Italian richness: the artisanal knowledge that has been the very cradle of Italian design – and still is, although we often don’t realize it.

In his book, Micelli claims how important it is to trace and study the practices of craftsmanship: which is everything but a futureless depressed activity bound to produce useless souvenirs. Craftsmanship practices are still at the core of the activity in Italian productive districts, in companies that produce small series and niche products, as well as in those that operate in much larger markets. Wherever the skills of the artisan are needed to transform insights and new ideas in prototypes and innovative products.

 

Marco Sironi

Designer and scholar at DADU

 

(Graphic) designer and scholar, focused on the idea of place, his background combines design skills and practice in literature. In Milan he has taught visual identity and basic design for graphics; collaborates with our Department (teaching Graphic and Product Design) since the beginning of the Design in Alghero venture.

 
Sironi