Traces on the timeline
Philology is based on a “philological” approach, meaning it lays its foundation in the reconstruction and understanding of history through concrete traces, primarily documents and texts - but also images, videos, and data - painstakingly collected and organized on a timeline that, by making the most of the potential of digital technology, may be explored in multiple dimensions.
A living memory
Philology is an open and dynamic infrastructure, meaning it presents itself as a digital archive system not oriented towards the “crystallization” of contents but rather to the possibility of being continually corrected and implemented, also exploiting the potential of the most current data-mining models in which the relationships between documents, events, places, and protagonists are more relevant than the single content.
A story made up of many stories
Philology supports the narrative dimension, meaning it embraces the possibility of anchoring narratives and testimonies to the timeline, itineraries that make room for the storytelling and in-depth analysis of different “curators” in a plural and multiple vision of history, inaugurated with the launch of seven narrative paths, that will eventually be integrated with the periodical addition of new ones.
The past to look through the future
Philology is accessible, meaning it can be enjoyed in a simple way, particularly by the new generations of researchers and designers both inside and outside the Politecnico, thus capturing the spirit of Renaissance philological research, in which the study of classical texts was not oriented towards their replication, but rather towards understanding their inspiring principles to be projected into a new vision of the future.
Scientific curators
Paola Bertola, Giampiero Bosoni, Antonella Penati, Agnese Rebaglio
Project coordination
Agnese Rebaglio, with the support of Laura Carugati, Marta Cecchi, Annalinda De Rosa, Xue Pei
Documentation research
Paola Bertola, Giampiero Bosoni, Barbara Camocini, Elena Caratti, Laura Carugati, Marta Elisa Cecchi, Luisa Collina, Clorinda Sissi Galasso, Davide Fassi, Maria Teresa Feraboli, Vincenzo Ficco, Luca Guerrini, Eleonora Lupo, Walter Mattana, Anna Meroni, Andrea Manciaracina, Antonella Penati, Giovanna Piccinno, Francesca Piredda, Agnese Rebaglio
Digital platform design
Marco Quaggiotto, Arianna Priori, with the support of Michele Mauri, Silvia Ferraris
Archive research and development
Marco Quaggiotto, Michele Mauri, Laura Carugati with the support of Walter Mattana
Digital platform development
Graphic design and visual identity
Umberto Tolino, Marco Quaggiotto, Andrea Manciaracina, Arianna Priori
Communication coordination
Eleonora De Marchi for the Communication Office of the Department of Design
Video-testimonial design
Giampiero Bosoni, Barbara Camocini, Gabriele Carbone, Francesca Piredda, Andrea Manciaracina, Anna Meroni, with the support of Antonio Aiello, Martino Zinzone and with Mattia Fagnano, Giulia Di Gregorio, Michela Mattei, Andrea Taverna, Lucia Viganego, for Service Design Drinks
Video production
Gabriele Carbone for the Lab Immagine of the Department of Design
Voice
Valentina Auricchio
Exhibit ideation and design
Barbara Camocini, Raffaella Trocchianesi with the support of Laura Carugati, Emma Torreggiani
With the support of
Venanzio Arquilla, Valentina Auricchio, Matteo Bergamini, Ruben Calegari, Alba Cappellieri, Mauro Ceconello, Flaviano Celaschi, Manuela Celi, Paola Checchi, Mariano Chernicoff, Valeria Cima, Chiara Colombi, Simona Colombo, Barbara Colombo, Giovanni Conti, Luca Cosmai, Matteo Dall’Amico, Alessandro Deserti, Emanuela Di Stefano, Silvia Ferraris, Marinella Ferrara, Valeria Iannilli, Matteo Ingaramo, Iolanda Margiotta, Marzia Mortati, Martina Motta, Marina Parente, Stefania Palmieri, Silvia Piardi, Elisa Piccinni, Lucia Rampino, Lucia Ratti, Valentina Rognoli, Marzia Saitta, Claudio Scaccini, Anne Schoonbrodt, Marco Sedazzari, Francesco Scullica, Giuliano Simonelli, Gloria Sironi, Federica Vacca, Beatrice Villari, Francesco Zurlo
Video testimonial contributions by
Andrea Branzi, Ezio Manzini, Cesare Stevan
and alumni
Giulia Bassan, Alessandro Benedetti, Paolo Casati, Patrizio Cionfoli, Giovanni Colombara, Federico Elli, Gabriele Faoro, Francesco Franchi, Simon Giuliani, Giulia Grotto, Alessandro Manzi, Jessica Prunotto, Clara Romano, Giulia Salem, Anna Vezzali, Elena Vezzali, Marta Redigolo, Alice Casiraghi, Marco Chenhao Yang, Riccardo Agosto, Sara Biancaccio, Francesca Jakin, Ana Ospina Medina
Technical support
Archivi Storici Politecnico di Milano
Area Campus Life Politecnico di Milano
Area Public Engagement e Communication Politecnico di Milano
Lab Immagine from the Department of Design
Lab Prototipi from the Department of Design
Polifactory from the Department of Design
Design Philology project and Design Convivio exhibition are promoted and supported by the Department of Design at Politecnico di Milano as part of the "Design for Systemic Change" project, funded by Ministero dell’Università e Ricerca under the Departments of Excellence 2023-2027 program.
If you have research materials, data, or relevant content that could support the development and enrichment of our platform, we warmly encourage you to get in touch. Your contribution would be highly appreciated and may significantly benefit the broader academic and research community.
The call for curatorial contributions to the Design Philology platform is now open.
This call aims to support the annual publication of digital exhibitions in the form of hypertextual Narratives, accompanied by critical Essays. The essays will be compiled into a digital book/catalog within the Franco Angeli International series, available in open-access format and subject to a double-blind peer review process.
The full call is available at the following link:
Call 2025↗
To submit a contribution, applicants are required to send the completed template to designphilology@polimi.it, available for download at this link: Template↗
Deadline for Abstract Submission: May 5, 2025
