Sketches byGianandrea BarrecaMarco BonettoCem CansuAntonella DediniDante DoneganiGiovanni LanzoneAnnagemma LascariClaudio ModeriniElena PacentiBarbara Trebitsch

Photos Andrea RaffinEmilio Tremolada

TextsSabrina Di PietrantonioScott Rasmussen

Art directionFrancesca Valadé

Printed in March 2011

roots 7identity and recognitions 13milan 21industry network 25alumni 29student services 35

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Welcome to Domus Academy.

Since its founding in 1982, Domus Academy has been completely dedicated to helping design professionals develop their skills and advance their careers. The fact that you are reading this, indicates that you are, indeed, a serious design professional and that you’re ready to push yourself to new levels of excellence.

We are truly an international institution. We attract highly talented graduate students from all over the world, and bring them together in a dynamic envi-ronment in which diverse cultures, professional expe-riences and design ideas are shared. Here, you will be challenged and inspired by your fellow students.

However, your classmates will not be the only sourc-es of inspiration. Because when you study at Domus Academy, you will be immersed in a thriving, stimu-lating professional environment that only a world capital of design such as Milan can offer.

You will study with teachers who are practicing, successful design professionals. You will meet with leading thinkers in the profession. You will work on actual design projects with international companies. You will have a priceless opportunity to experiment, to push yourself and to develop your skills in the real working world.

And at the end of this intensive, and invaluable, year-long journey, you will find that you have grown immeasurably.

Alberto Bonisoli, Domus Academy Dean

6 7roots

Domus Academy was founded in response to a para-dox. For many decades, the Italian design industry had become a dominant international influence, producing the most interesting and sought after de-signs in the world. Yet, except for apprenticeships and mentoring that happened in the studios of indi-vidual designers, in Milan no one was teaching de-sign in a formalized way. There were no institutions specifically dedicated to design offering postgradu-ate courses.In 1983, Maria Grazia Mazzocchi saw this as a tremendous op-portunity to fill the design education void. So, along with Pierre Restany (one of the most important art critics of the 20th century), Alessandro Mendini, Valerio Castelli, Alessandro Guerriero and Andrea Branzi she founded Domus Academy. From the very beginning, Domus Academy was designed to be a unique institution. The founders envisioned a school where dif-ferent cultures and experiences would meet and exchange, and where education and research would be closely integrated. They planned a center that would promote an open environment con-ducive to reflection and criticism, and that would bring together

Left page top: Philippe Starck teach-ing in Domus Academy.Left page bottom: from left to right Mariuccia Mandelli (Krizia), Gianfranco Ferré, Carla Fendi, Laura Biagiotti at Domus Academy, 1985.

roots

Domus AcADemy. The home of ITAlIAn DesIgn.

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Opposite page: group photo, 1985-86Following page: Domus Academy founders.

students and companies to pursue real-world projects on the most important aspects of contemporary life. First and foremost, Domus Academy is a post-graduate school, of-fering one-year master courses in a wide variety of design special-izations. It has also always been an international school, open to students and teachers from all over the world. And right from the start, the school has attracted a highly diverse international en-rollment. In addition to students from Italy, Domus Academy has drawn students from Japan, Korea and other Far East nations, from North and South America, Western and Eastern Europe, Australia and the Middle East. This rich international student diversity add-ed a real richness to the school and spurred a dynamic exchange of ideas and a healthy intellectual confrontation that are still a hallmark of Domus Academy. During the first years Domus Academy invited leading designers such as Sottsass, Mendini, Trini Castelli, Santachiara, Starck, Ho-soe, Bellini, Castiglioni, Bonetto, Magistretti, Munari. The stream of ideas they brought with them was very fruitful in encouraging a collaboration between the designers who operated in the well-established product design field and those operating in the new design disciplines. In addition to the above-mentioned design leaders, Domus Acad-emy invited more than five hundred visiting professors to hold lectures, and organised seminars in various countries. An approach as unique as its founding.Domus Academy immediately instituted a very new and revolution-ary instructional method in which lectures were held by designers, psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists. This broad-based humanistic approach considered processes more important than results, and placed a priority on returning a consideration of the human being as the focal point of any project. Domus Academy has always believed that responsible design must begin with preliminary research on materials, the environment, function and service. At the macro level, Domus Academy has always believed that a de-sign school should understand how the best design serves both the economic interests of commerce and also the needs and cultural sensibilities of the society at large. To that end, the school has remained faithful to one of its funda-mental founding principles: that rather than just offering new solu-tions, design also has the responsibility of revealing new problems. In this capacity, design must be problem setting not just problem solving. This philosophy remains a touchstone for the school and is one of the leading reasons graduate students in design continue to be drawn to Domus Academy.

roots

12 13identity and recognitions

Left page: students working to-gether, 2010.

identity and recognitions

projecT bAseD leArnIng. The Domus AcADemy wAy.

Domus Academy has grown into one of the leading postgraduate design schools in all the world. And we’ve done so by following a carefully synthesized approach that reflects our nature as both academy and laboratory and that derives from our funda-mental belief in learning by doing and learning by designing.Here, we balance the theoretical with the practical. We integrate classroom study with workshop practice. We enhance hands-on training with cultural research. We bring together multidisci-plinary project teams to enrich individual creative talents. In this way, Domus Academy has stayed true to its founding mis-sion: to prepare designers for personal growth and professional success in an ever-changing market.

THE DoMuS ACADEMy APPRoACHour one-year master courses combine lectures with group semi-nars and workshops and are designed to stimulate students in a number of ways. We help them develop the ability to not only solve design problems but also to identify problems for which design can offer effective solutions. And we help students refine their ability to design products and services that meet the goals and objectives

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Art Center College of Design / INSEAD Pasadena, uSA Fontaineb-leau France or Singapore

California College of the Arts San Francisco, uSA

Carnegie Mellon university Pittsburgh, uSA

Case Western Reserve university Cleveland, uSA

Chiba university Chiba, Japan

China Central Academy of Fine Arts Beijing, China

Cranfield University / University of the Arts London Cranfield, London, UK

Delft university of Technology Delft, the Netherlands

Domus Academy Milan, Italy

Helsinki School of Economics / university of Art and Design / Helsinki Helsinki university of Technology

Helsinki, Finland

Hong Kong Polytechnic university Hong Kong

Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, uSA

Imperial College / Design London London, uK

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Daejeon, Korea

National Institute of Design Ahmedabad, India

Northwestern university Evanston, uSA

Pontifícia universidade Católica do Paraná Paraná, Brazil

Pratt Institute New york, uSA

Royal College of Art / Imperial College London London, uK

Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah, uSA

School of Visual Arts New york, uSA

Shih Chien university Taipei, Taiwan

Stanford university Stanford, uSA

Suffolk university Boston, uSA

umeå university umeå, Sweden

university of California Berkeley Berkeley, uSA

university of Cincinnati Cincinnati,uSA

university of Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden

university of Toronto Toronto, uSA

and integrated with the management processes of the companies commissioning the designs. The lectures incorporate a broad range of knowledge including the exploration of design trends and culture; the investigation of product typologies; the analysis of corporate communication, mar-keting and distribution strategies; as well as the consideration of related fields such as cultural anthropology, socioeconomics and technology affect the design profession.Vital to our approach are the challenging professional projects Domus Academy developed with leading Italian and international companies. These invaluable collaborations give students vital real-world opportunities to develop their critical thinking and problem-solving abilities as well as their artistic and design skills.

SuPERB PRoFESSoRS, PRACTICING DESIGNERSCentral to the success of the Domus Academy approach are our professors. They are highly skilled educators who are also highly talented designers. Many operate their own studios and companies. Many come from leading fashion houses, architecture firms and design shops.They bring a current, real-world perspective to lectures and group proj-ects. We also bring in a number of visiting professors, each of whom with an extensive professional experience and a demonstrated fa-cility for exploring and developing innovative ideas. Among the professors collaborating with Domus Academy: Massimo Banzi, Giorgia Biancato, Andrea Branzi, Huberto & Fernando Campana, Ennio Capasa, Matali Crasset, Ildo Dami-ano, Alessandro Dell’Acqua, Diego Dolcini, Elio Fiorucci, Joseph Forakis, Naoto Fukasawa, Roberto Giolito, Stefano Giovannoni, Riccardo Grassi, Kostantin Grcic, Joseph Grima, Ezio Manzini, Flavio Manzoni, Renato Montagner,Francesco Morace, Massimo Morozzi, James Irvine, Setsu Ito, Hella Jongerius, Ross Love-grove, Lorenzo Ramaciotti, Carlo Rivetti, Stefano Sati, Mario Trimarchi, Clino Trini Castelli, Patricia Urquiola, Jan Christoph Zoels, Hella Jongerius.

AWARDS AND RECoGNITIoNThe Domus Academy approach has received the highest accolades from third-party authorities. In 1994, Domus Academy received the Compasso d’Oro award by the ADI, Associazione Disegno Industriale/Design Association. In 2009, Domus Academy was nominated for the third time by Busi-ness Week magazine as one of the best schools of design in the world. Students from Domus Academy have been selected in inter-national contests like ITS, Next Generation/ Milan Fashion Week, Vogue Talents, Who’s on Next and Red Dot Award. Domus Academy projects have been exhibited in Venice Architectural Biennial 2004 and 2010 and at Centre Pompidou, Paris.

VALIDATIoNDomus Academy master courses bar the Master in Service Design, are validated and awarded by the university of Wales which is committed to ensuring that the highest standards are maintained at all its collaborative centers.

DoMUS ACADEMy RANKED AS oNE oF THE woRLD’S BEST DESIGN SCHooLS By “BUSINESS wEEK” September 30, 2009 - Alphabetical order

For further details regarding the University and its validation ser-vices, please log on to www.wales.ac.uk/validation or email validation@wales.ac.uk

identity and recognitions

20 21milan

Left page: Milan cathedral “Duomo di Milano”Following page: Domus Academy building in Milan, project by Studio Dante O. Benini.

There is no better place to pursue a truly superb de-sign education than Milan, the city where the pas-sion for design is part of the fabric of life.In Milan you will be immersed in a stimulating creative culture and a thriving commercial design industry. A restless rhythm is part of Milan, so much so that it is difficult to stay unmoved and not get involved in all the cultural and social activities.Milan is the engine room of the country’s economy and home of its stock exchange, but what really sets Milan apart is its cre-ative streak. You will be inspired by the trend-setting work of the world’s leading designers. You will have access to Italy’s finest artisans and the production and fabrication facilities responsible for renowned Made In Italy craftsmanship.Milan is the worldwide capital for fashion and design where you can always find innovative and creative people, boutiques of emerging labels and chic concept stores. Milan’s center is full of all the most important flagship stores of fashion and design like Cap-pellini, Driade, Kartell or Versace, Armani and Valentino. Around Milan there are distinguished furniture companies and handicraft businesses turning out the highest quality products imaginable. Milan is vibrant with life. Every year, on the occasion of Fashion Weeks and the International

milan

The worlD cApITAl of fAshIon AnD DesIgn.

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Furniture Fair Milan becomes a big showroom where exhibitions, performances, parties and conferences involving lots of interna-tional guests take place all day long. Additionally, Milan puts you in the center of thrilling cultural and artistic events, a thriving contemporary art scene, world-class fashion studios, architecture firms, and communication and media production companies. Mi-lan is a creative environment like none other. In summer 2011, Domus Academy will move in a new building within a specialized art and design education campus in the Navigli area, one of the most liveliest places in Milan where you find many interesting shops, restaurants and markets.

Left page: rendering of the Art & Design Campus in Milan.Top: renderings of the new Domus Academy building, by Studio Dante O. Benini.

24 25industry network

industry network

ouTsTAnDIng cAreer opporTunITIes.professIonAl conTAcTs.

Due to our closeness to the professional design world, Domus Academy enjoys an extensive network of con-nections and relationships with many of the most prestigious companies and studios.From this privileged position, we’re able to monitor employment opportunities and prepare our students to take advantage of them. Domus Academy has been collaborating with leading companies, amongst many others:

Left page: Sabine Unger, former student Master in Fashion Design 2002, now New Media Director Costume National.

3MALESSANDRo DELL’ ACQUAALFA RoMEoARTEMIDEAUDIBAyERCANoNCARTIERCoSTUME NATIoNALELECTRoLUXERMENEGILDo ZEGNAFENDIFIATFRANKIE MoRELLoFUJITSUINGLG

MoToRoLANEIL BARRETTNIKENoKIAPHILIPS DESIGNPININFARINARED VALENTINoRoBERTo CAVALLISAMSUNGSwARoVSKIToD’SUNICREDIT GRoUPVENETA CUCINEVERSACEVEUVE CLIQUoTVoLKSwAGEN

26 network

CAREER SERVICEThe Domus Academy Career Service helps students transition from the academic to the professional world. Through orientation meetings, consultations and training sessions, the service assists students in determining their professional goals, assessing their personal strengths and artistic skills, and identifying their best employment opportunities.Career Service counselors help students find and apply for intern-ships and permanent staff positions with prospective employers. They also provide students with specific advice and assistance in drafting resumes, writing job search letters, organizing portfolios, and conducting effective employment interviews.

28 29alumni

alumni

An InTernATIonAl sTuDenT communITy. enrIchIng leArnIng Through DIversITy.

At Domus Academy, students learn not only from their professors and projects, but also from their classmates. We attract a fascinating and diverse community of highly talented and motivated design students who come to us from 54 countries all over the world.This marvelous diversity is one of the most meaningful advan-tages of a Domus Academy education. We capitalize on it by bringing students together to work in multi-disciplinary group project teams. These collaborations are dynam-ic and revelatory, promoting an inspiring exchange of cultures, ideas and solutions.

ERKAN CoRUH MASTER IN FASHIoN DESIGN 2005Born in Istanbul in 1976, Erkan has always loved fashion. After finishing a degree in Fashion Design at the Fine Arts Academy, Istanbul in 2003, Erkan won Turkey’s Young Designer of the Year award in 2004 and the IAF International Designer Award in 2005. Following his success in Turkey, he went on to achieve a Master Degree in Fashion Design at Domus Academy, Milan.Before he came to Italy, he worked for over a year in a traditional

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couturier office where he began experimenting with tailoring. Soon after graduation, he went straight into the world of fashion where he developed his international vision and refined his design skills. For the past four years, Erkan has worked in Milan for sev-eral cutting-edge Italian brands.In 2009, he started to develop his ideas under the brand name Er-kan Coruh with a team in his atelier, which also collaborated with artists. In March 2010, he launched his first Autumn/Winter 2010 Mens and Womens wear start-up collection, “The Men & Women of Allah”, in Milan. His second collection, “Shirin” was presented at Rome fashion week at the Alta Roma and Vogue Italia Who’s On Next Competition where he was selected as the winner for the Women’s Ready-To-Wear portion of the competition.

PHILIPPE BESTENHEIDER MASTER IN DESIGN 2000 Born 1971 in Sion, Switzerland, Philippe Bestenheider has a degree in Architecture from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He has worked for studios both in Switzerland and in the US. In the year 2000 he obtained a Master Degree in Industrial Design from Domus Academy in Milan.From 2001 to 2006 he was Senior Designer in Patricia urquiola’s office in Milan. In 2006 he is invited to take part to the Promosedia exhibit. In 2007 he opens his own studio, working between Switzerland and Milan. In June 2010 he receives the Italian national award for innovation “Premio dei Premi” for the chair Nanook he has designed for Mo-roso. He is designing for Moroso, de Sede, Pallucco, Fratelli Boffi, Varaschin, Frag and Nilufar Gallery.

alumni

MANUELA ZAVATTARo MASTER IN INTERACTIoN DESIGN 2002Manuela Zavattaro began her professional practice in visual, graphic and web design for clients in both Italy and Portugal.After her graduation in Graphic Design in 2001, she took a Master Degree in Interactive Design in Domus Academy. London is now her home, where she has worked in interactive media and service design since 2003. Manuela is currently a User Experience Design Specialist for Nokia Design’s uK Studio and she does design work across deliverables like design patterns, mental model, GuI tool-kit, overall platform user experience style by working closely with peers from R&D.

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MERITXELL MIRAS ABELLA MASTER IN FASHIoN DESIGN 2002Meritxell Miras Abella (Sabadell, 1976) made her début on the Gaudí Catwalk in Barcelona in September 2003 with a collection inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s Persona. In February 2004, she re-turned to Gaudí with her collection “2+1=3” and again in Septem-ber 2004, with “Biography of biographies”. Since February 2003, she has been working in Milan producing women’s wear for British designer Neil Barrett.Her work is based on the construction and deconstruction of form, and owes a great deal to her training in the Fine Arts at Barcelona University (1995-1999). Her choice of colour is understated, with a preference for black, and her catwalk shows make a strong visual impact.In June 1999, she took part in ModaFad in Barcelona and in No-vember 2001, won the “Insideouting” competition organized by Milan’s Domus Academy. In September 2002, she was a finalist in Tokyo’s “Gran Prix” and in July 2003, the Camera della Moda Italiana made her most promising newcomer.

alumni

MARIo TRIMARCHIMaster in Design 1983Fragile Studio founder

CHRISToPHE PILLETMaster in Design 1986Designer for Porro, Zanotta, Driade, Shu Uemura, Lacoste, etc.

ANNA DELLo RUSSoMaster in Fashion Design 1986Editor at Large and Creative Consultant for Vogue Japan

DIEGo DoLCINIMaster in Fashion Design 1989Art Director and Creative Consultant at Diego Dolcini

ANDREA VoN SoLARSKyMaster in Fashion Design 1989Leather Goods Research&Development Manager Balenciaga

woN J. HEoMaster in Design 2004Director (Japan Design Branch) at LG Electronics

DENIZ GALIPMaster in Interior and Living Design 2006Architect and Interior Designer at Studio Patricia urquiola

DAVID BoARDMAN Master in Interaction Design 2007Senior Interaction Designer at frog design

ALESSIA XoCCAToMaster in Fashion Design 2007owner at Alessia Xoccato Design

RUCHANEEPoRN TIEMPAyoToRN Master in urban Vision and Architectural Design 2008Lecturer at Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Thammasat university, Thailand

SIDDHART RANEMaster in Car Design 2008Creative Designer at General Motors

34 35student services

Domus Academy offers a wide range of valuable ser-vices available to help students optimize their edu-cational experience and maximize their talent and potential.

LIBRARyDomus Academy students have access to a superb library that houses 4,000 titles covering six broad subject areas including de-sign, architecture, fashion, visual arts, business, essays and Do-mus Academy Edizioni. The library also includes a collection of more than 5,000 magazines, including historical publications and the latest editions of national and international professional jour-nals.

DESIGN LABThe Domus Academy Design Lab is available to students for the production of models and projects required as part of their mas-ter program coursework. The Lab is equipped with machines and tools and a wide range of materials giving students the resources they need to bring their ideas to reality.

FASHIoN LABStudents in the Fashion Design and Accessories programs use the Fashion Lab to produce models and prototypes. Fully equipped

Left page: “Sunday casa for worka-holic mom”, by Huh Ji Won, Master in Interior and Living Design 2010.

student services

supporTIng sTuDenT success.

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Left page: fashion lab activities.Bottom, this page: the design lab.Next page: design lab activities.

student services

with sewing machines, mannequins, irons, sewing tables and re-lated tools, as well as leathers and fabrics, the Lab is where stu-dents designs take shape.

NETWoRK SERVICESEach master program has a dedicated directory on the Domus Academy server, containing teaching materials and a personal folder for each student. The school also provides numerous work-stations loaded with the latest releases of leading applications and software programs. A helpdesk gives students expert assistance in resolving computer problems quickly.

HouSING SERVICEAvailable from the first day of their enrollment, the Housing Ser-vice helps students locate accommodations in Milan, and acts as intermediary between students and real estate agencies and pri-vate landlords.

Domus Academy joined the Laureate International Universities network in 2009. Laureate is a trusted global leader in providing access to high-quality, in-novative institutions of higher education. The Laureate International universities network includes more than 55 accredited campus-based and online universities in 25 countries throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Northern Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Laureate universities offer more than 130 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs in fields including architecture, art, business, culinary arts, design, education, engineering, health sciences, hospitality management, information technology, law and medicine. Presi-dent William J. Clinton, 42nd President of the united States, serves as honorary chancellor of the Laureate International universities network, a role in which he offers advice on social responsibility, youth leadership and increasing access to higher education. The Laureate International universities network serves more than 600,000 students worldwide. But our community includes more than the students we serve; it also includes faculty, alumni, fami-lies, and the employers who hire our graduates. In this way, Laure-ate International universities makes a positive difference in com-munities around the world. Our success is measured by the fact that when our students succeed, countries prosper and societies benefit. For more information, visit www.laureate.net.