“Genova 2004: a Test-Bed for Industrial Design Students to Integrate Cultural Content and Information Technologies in Cross-Media Platforms” by Alberti, Brogi and Trapani
Conference:
Type:
Title:
- Genova 2004: a Test-Bed for Industrial Design Students to Integrate Cultural Content and Information Technologies in Cross-Media Platforms
Presenter(s)/Author(s):
Abstract:
The event Genoa 2004 is a tantalizing occasion to stimulate students enrolled in a five-year program in Industrial Design at Politecnico di Milano to produce original content to compliment the official program and to experiment with technology using a variety of media. The official Genoa 2004 calendar is structured in three main themes: Genoa, the City of Arts; the Capital of the Sea; and the Contemporary City. Students had to choose one of the three areas, make proposals of new concepts of cultural products and services, and implement the prototype.
Students were asked to consider the wide range of communication technologies available and to design cross-media prototypes, in particular new forms of interactions between classic television and new communication technologies, such as internet or mobile phone. 3D modelling, animation and movie have been used to structure the content. Students were also asked to design interaction in order to create virtual communities and peer-to-peer environments to share knowledge and experience. The authors, as the teachers of the course, valued projects foreseeing engagement, starting before and lasting after the visit to Genoa. The projects that were considered could range from games, light and sounds events in an open area, exhibitions in old renovated places, live theatre performances in the open, interactive guided tours, creative re-cycling programs, cooperative street TV, electronic live music performances; possibly done in post-industrial spaces such as the old Genoa port, restored by Renzo Piano etc.
The goal was to submit the best proposals to the Genoa 2004 Committee but the academic time schedule was conflicting with the deadline. Nevertheless, we showed a selection of projects to the President of the Genoa 2004 Committee and presented the prototypes to a general audience at a traditional meeting place of the old town: Il Caffè degli Specchi.
Acknowledgements:
Marina Giardina and Patrizia Muzio provided ideas and shared their knowledge about the fascinating city of Genoa. Mauro Zambetta helped us in running the laboratory and monitoring students work in video making. We would like to acknowledge the work of all students in the course and to mention a few. In particulart for Magazena: Luca Beltrami, Stefano Bernardi, Alessandro Busseni, Danilo Convertini; for Remescià: Elena Del Vento, Andrea Di Camillo, Stefano Di Natale, Antonio Filippo, Paolo Portaluri, Josè Mario Vuolo; and for Controsenso: Luca Dusio, Manuela Garcia, Stephan Knobloch.
