Craft-Design collaboration between design education and the local context: a case study

Abstract

This proposal aims to investigate and validate the design action by interpreting a culture of making (La Pietra, 1997) applied to the case of the development of straw articles, typical from Fafe region (Northern Portugal), supported by the concept of design experience (Brown, 2005). The first part explores the technique of straw utilization in order to understand their leverage on design method. The second part presents arguments that sustain that the technique can reach a new existence, if framed in connection with Academy and business reality. To support this idea, the authors present a project, initiated with the participation of 30 undergraduate design students. As a result, the projects scope is focused on the exploitation of the straw concept, moving towards its application in different scenarios. Methodologically the authors use the logic of meta-design (Mendini, 1969), connecting the Academy to the community. In educational terms it is intended to guide design student learn by design, questioning certainties and promoting connections with other actors of the reality. In terms of application the authors intend to validate the topic addressed by the students, analyzing and presenting four projects representing the four thematic areas. The authors intent to prove that the role of design can be the key in defining new product typologies, crossing design knowledge with the know-how of the artisan. This means that the academic world can be the catalyst for innovation in a sector worn and stopped in time, looking for new stimuli and renewed connotations.