The new Kalesinterflex stand, designed by DARC to express the characteristics of sustainability of this innovative material, was presented at Cersaie2009. The main wall uses histograms and symbols to show the extraordinary performances of this glazed porcelain ceramic slab, which, reducing the use of raw material, energy and water, also reduces its environmental impact. The material is used for its iconic characteristics (minimum thickness, flexibility, colors) and becomes a decorative, as well as informative, element.

Planet Design project starts within the Med Programme. The project aim is to support SMEs of the wooden furnishing sector with know-how and services able to enhance and update the development of new products taking into consideration environmental and sustainability issues by means of a design driver approach. It will  be not only a way to adapt the productive cycle and the products to the latest environmental standards but to consider sustainability as a new competitive advantage. Planet Design  aims at the definition of sustainable innovation making it accessibile through design.

Planet Design involves three geographical areas where wooden furnishing sector has a relevant role: Lombardia – Italy, Comunidad Valenciana – Spain, Algarve – Portugal.

In mid July the website Service Design Tools was launched. It is the result of the research activity done by Roberta Tassi, further developed within the framework of the cooperation between DARC and DensityDesign research group at INDACO Department - Politecnico di Milano. In particular the project involved Elena Pacenti (DARC Director), Chiara Diana (DARC Art Director) and Paolo Ciuccarelli (DensityDesign Coordinator)  as scientific supervisors and Marcello Gorla (researcher at DensityDesign) for the technological implementation.

The website is an open collection of tools used in design processes that deal with complex systems and is built with the aim of sedimenting some knolwdge around the topic of the communication and representation methods used within different design activities, addressed to different recipients and conveying different contents of the project.

The tools are described with references and case studies, creating an overview of what actually exists in the (service) design practise and revealing some not yet developed opportunities.

Visit Service Design Tools at http://www.servicedesigntools.org

On May 22th 2009 Emilio Genovesi took part as key speaker to the Design Conference "Design Frontierism", organized by SADI in Seoul, Korea.
The main theme of the conference was the relation between education and companies; the intervention of the Domus Academy general director was focused on “DESIGN and INNOVATION: the changing scenarios and the new challanges”.
More than two hundred people from the most important Korean design universities were present at the conference. Among the other speakers involved there were Yoon Geehong (Samsung), Jonas Milder (University of Arts - Philadelphia),Yeong Chun (Rich) Park (SADI).

On April 3rd 2009 the results of the Interaction Design Master Course workshop V-TAIL -Visual interfaces for surprising retail experience were presented. It was led by Project Leaders Chiara Diana (DARC art director) and Elena Pacenti (DARC director) in collaboration with Renzo Giusti and Roberta Tassi.
During the course, the students investigated and developed new possibilities of intervention and innovative solutions to enhance the retail experience through the digitalization of the shopping environment, enriching stores and shopping centres with new medias, visual displays and interactive systems.
Five different kinds of retail spaces were taken into consideration: fashion, furniture, food, consumer electronics, books and music. For each one of them, five phases of the retail experience have been isolated (attraction, orientation, comparison, testing, care).

Visit project outcomes at http://projects.domusacademy.net/v-tail/

DARC has started off the creation of a partnership with Barreca & La Varra Studio d’Architettura and with the studio composed by the architects Michele Zini, Mattia Parmiggiani, Claudia Zoboli (ZPZ Partners). The aim is to develop together international architectural and urbanistic projects.
The collaboration has been ratified with the publication of a book containing the most important projects by the three partners in different fields: working spaces, retail, hospitals, residences, children spaces, sports&leisure facilities, district projects.
This portfolio will be given to DARC most relevant contacts in Turkey, China, Korea and Japan.

Within a team of technicians, web developers and communication experts, DARC started to design the interaction models and the interface structures of the new workstation ITSME, a pc and an operating system that “looks beyond” the traditional desktop metaphor.
From a vision by Giorgio De Michelis, the new operating system is able to organize information, datas, fluxes and relations according to “stories and venues”, the stories that we live everyday and the places where they happen.
There is no more a hierarchic organization in files and folders but a system able to trace and visualize information fluxes and relations among documents, people and tools and to offer the user an appropriate point of view on his/her activities and their development.
It seemed a challange and an ambitious vision in 2008 but it become a strong project under the creative direction of Claudio Moderini and Chiara Diana, who worked respectively on the vision of the interaction models and on the graphic interface design with the help of Roberta Tassi.
In 2009 the challange will regard the detailed development of the interface, the elaboration of the technological platform and the definition of the product vision towards the creation of the first prototype in 2010.

On January 28th in Istanbul the second edition of the seminar organized by DARC and ITKIB – the Turkish Association of Textile & Fashion Companies took place.
The conference was entitled “Let’s go (back) Shopping” and regarded an analysis of the new frontiers of retail. The speakers were Anna Pellizzari, Elena Pacenti, Guendalina Di Lorenzo and Massimiliano Lucini.
About two hundred Turkish fashion and textile managers joined the initiative. ITKIB is already scheduling the third edition.