Teaching material design. Research on teaching methodology about materials in industrial design

This paper presents and advocates a method for teaching about materials in industrial design courses. The method has been developed by the authors in the academic sphere while teaching over the last six years on a number of degree courses – both the three-year basic programmes and the two-year specialist ones – at four Italian places of learning: the Politec-nico di Milano, Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Palermo and ISIA (the Higher Institute for Artistic Industries) in Florence, which is now recognized as being equivalent to a degree course. The research has a focus on a specifi c area of the design fi eld which has until now been undervalued, and not suffi ciently expanded upon by teaching programmes, as it has always been seen as something which is simply there to be exploited. However, it has become more prominent in recent years, thanks in part to rapid technical and scientifi c development and the access to numerous new materials with unprecedented capabilities.