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Introduction: Industrial Design for Architecture A vast range of design phenomena and dynamics that imply knowledge and skills borrowed from ambits other than “architecture tout court” can be seen in today’s panorama of international architecture. For instance, the architectural trend towards reconversion, by which old buildings are transformed and given over to new functions, forces the designer to elaborate design and construction solutions which presuppose a knowledge of serial production and industrial procedures typical of a scale economy. In the same way, designing the kind of temporary structures needed by special contexts such as fairs, exhibitions or top level sporting events requires not only specific formal characteristics but also the kind of assembly/ disassembly rationale typical of Industrial Design.

At an operational level too, in the great construction yards, the ongoing process of globalization compels the professionals involved (designers, builders and component producers) to use shared language and technology in order to carry through functional, homogeneous projects.

In such a development perspective, in order to interface effectively with the other professional figures involved and resolve the problems that may arise on the field, the planner, whether architect or designer, is called to demonstrate competencies generally associated with mass production, standardization and component-to-system compatibility.

These are aspects typical of Industrial Design, which happily integrate with the formative background of architecture.

The new ID4A Master program – Politecnico di Milano, Industrial Design for Architecture – aims to train all-round professionals, able to face up to the challenges posed by large scale architecture on a global scale.

Aims and objectives: ID4A the missing Master program The ID4A Master program – Industrial Design for Architecture – aims to complete the training of planning professionals by extending their expertise and problem solving skills with solutions and tools typical of Industrial Design.

Professionals of the future must be able to design buildings or components where not only are aesthetics closely bound to function, but also to the efficiency of industrial production.

Buildings become products: they are consumed, lived and lived in, and as products they must be conceived and constructed.

In this perspective, each building is made up of a complex macro-system of elements that combine and interact. The designer’s task is to evaluate the efficiency, the quality and also the aesthetics of every single component in order to optimize the result.

Thanks to a course of training that accompanies theoretical research with intense activity on the field (projects, workshops, visits and internships in the most important areas of Italian design), the ID4A Master program provides designers not only with the mindset but also the specific skills that complete them as competitive professionals on the international market.

Job description: a new professional figure The Master program has been launched in response to the needs of a constantly changing job market, with a strong demand for trained professionals able to operate in contexts other than those typically associated with architecture.

The importance given to practical training and field work means that the ID4A Master program prepares System Designers able to operate on a large scale: from the design of single elements, products or components, to that of complex systems designed to be applicable in different construction contexts. It trains versatile professionals with a flexible mindset enabling them to successfully confront the challenges of global design in the differing national and international realities of the sector.

The program sets out to train professionals who are immediately ready for placement in the sector and able to benefit the future company context. The importance given to practical training and field work, enjoying the collaboration of numerous Italian and international realities, means that companies will find in the students on the program well-rounded professionals who are able to integrate successfully in the working world and immediately appraise its operational efficiency.

Qualication awarded Politecnico di Milano, University Master Diploma in “Industrial Design for Architecture”. The master entitles participants to 60 CFU credits (university training credits) recognized both in Italy and abroad.