The Academy’s Research and Consulting centre is a division of the AOD, established in 2006, with the aim of advancing professionalism, research and creativity, giving new answers to the continuously evolving technological, productive and professional contexts. It is based in Milan, worldwidely known as the capital of design and fashion. It is tied to Academy of Design, the first academy in Italy to have asserted the importance of the design discipline within the academic training, and to have initiated, in 2008, the first post graduate course in Business Design completely integrated with the local systems of enterprises.
The ARC division is a link between university and industry, between academic expertise and industrial competencies. This system involves lots of experts working passionately on design issues and their promotion. It is a flexible structure which aggregates the best available expertise in the university research, the demand of innovation coming from companies and professionals.
Design represents, within complex and highly interactive systems, an important resource for companies to become more competitive. Design is a growth engine, which can steer industrial decisions through cultural routes, lifestyles and consumption tendencies. It can be applied in many heterogeneous ways: from research and application of new spaces of living and working to new technologies and products, from development of complex services and communication interfaces to management of ergonomic and environmental qualities.
Within this scenario, the ARC Design has very precise tasks:
2) to promote and communicate its methodologies and its design practices;
3) to facilitate the relationships amongst institutions, production and professionals;
4) to encourage the development of those companies that are active in specific sectors in which innovation and creativity represent an important resource for competitiveness.
According to the ARC’s vision, the system needs:
- an effort to make the design research into a fundamental element of product innovation strategies;
- an international point of reference, helping the design culture to meet the business culture, creating space for effective dialogue;
- a headlight in the life-long continuing training for the professional design world;
- a national point of reference for scientific design and design culture publications.
Academy’s Research and Consulting activity is based upon blending of knowledge. It also involves a continuous and active exchange among theoretical and academic knowledge and professional and business experience and expertise. Design areas such as product design, communication and interior design, technological development and product innovation, are the subjects of applied research carried out by the Arc Design.
