Syllabus of activatable courses
Design
Interior Design: Furniture for Indoor and Outdoor Spaces (Student Programme)Course and Workshop | 24 hours
Professors: Stefano Follesa, Francesco Armato, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: Design
The course aims to provide basic knowledge of the theoretical and practical contents of Interior Design, with a particular focus on the design of furnishings and interiors for indoor and outdoor spaces. The objective of the course is to present the evolution of Italian interior design from the 1930s to the present day through the discussion of case studies and examples. Project exercises on real case studies and field visits will be proposed.
At the end of the course students will have learned the basic methods to operate competently in all executive phases of industrial products in the interior design field, and the tools and techniques relating to the morphological, material and functional representation of the product: from manual drawing and technical design up to the development of study models.
Human-Centered Design/User Experience (Student Programme)
Course and Workshop | 24 hours
Professors: Francesca Tosi, Alessandra Rinaldi, Alessia Brischetto, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: Design
The course aims to provide basic knowledge of the theoretical and practical contents of Interaction Design, namely the design of the interaction between humans/machines/networks.
The course objective is to use the strategies and methods of Human-Centered Design and Ergonomics for Design (product usability evaluation) to develop plausible scenarios and innovative products/services, as well as their interaction with humans and the environment. Products or services should be designed to improve the lifestyle of people and their environment through the use of smart technologies - such as IT, wearable devices, Internet of Things, smart objects and smart textiles - applied to ‘everyday’ objects.
Design of Everyday Objects (Student Programme)
Course and Workshop | 24 hours
Professors: Alessia Brischetto, Mattia Pistolesi, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: Design
Designing a product (consumer goods, or a durable tool or product) means conceiving and understanding all the functional, physical, technical, aesthetic-formal and communicative characteristics that determine the qualitative aspects in relation to the use and technological possibilities.
The course provides basic training in the disciplines of the design project, both at a theoretical and operational level. In particular, the aim of the course is to use strategies and methods of User Experience (product usability evaluation) and Universal Design to develop plausible scenarios and innovative products. At the end of the course students will have acquired the basic methods to operate competently in all the executive phases of industrial products and the tools and techniques related to the morphological, material and functional representation of the product: from manual drawing and technical design up to the development of study models and product prototypes.
Visual Design (Student Programme)
Course and Workshop | 24 hours
Professor: Laura Giraldi, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: Design
The course is an introduction to the vast world of Visual Design. The lessons will review the innumerable shades and shapes that Visual Design can assume in the variety of its applications.
The aim is to provide the basic concepts of communication and the cultural norms on which Visual Design is founded, notions on theories of colors and shapes, and examples of more complex themes. One of the main topics of the course will be the study of a brand, from the concept of the logo as a synthesis element, up to communication of the brand’s values in daily life.
The lessons will focus in particular on comparing the different modes of communication that distinguish Western and Eastern cultures.
Sustainable Design (Student Programme)
Course and Workshop | 24 hours
Professors: Giuseppe Lotti, Marco Marseglia, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: Design
The course will deal with the “challenge” of sustainability - economic, social and environmental - and its implications from strategy to product in the design world. This issue will be analyzed in relation to present and future consequences, in the awareness that the designer is "part of the problem" and may contribute in large part to finding suitable solutions.
The course aims to raise students’ awareness of sustainable development issues and, at the same time, the role that designers can play in this scenario. The objectives therefore consist of thinking about products as part of a global system, defined by a mix of skills, communication and service; developing the entire project strategy; verifying the results in terms of the sustainability of the project and possibly developing more compatible alternatives.
Retail Design (Student Programme)
Course and Workshop | 24 hours
Professors: Laura Giraldi; Luigi Formicola, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: Design
The market is the place where exchanges of goods and services take place, and where relationships between sellers and consumers are defined. Mass culture and globalization have determined its evolution, giving rise to innumerable types. In the last few years epochal transformations have occurred leading to radical changes in the relationship between sellers and consumers. The main aspect that has changed is the system of exhibiting and selling products. New technologies and new lifestyles require a “revolution” in store design, whether it be a concept store or an epicenter, a department store or a luxury boutique, a mono-brand store or a bespoke service. The course provides a complete toolbox of techniques needed to manage the retail shopping experience, which in the luxury sector always transcends the mere commercial transaction to become a real emotional experience.
Italian Design (Faculty Visiting Programme)
Course and visits | 6/12 hours
Professors: Alessandra Rinaldi, Alessia Brischetto, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: Design
The course presents the main stages of Italian design development, with a focus on the relationship with companies and the production system, and the ability to innovate forms and technologies.
Special attention will be given to Italian design in the past two decades. A visit to the Museum of Design in Milan is also planned.
Design and Crafts (Faculty Visiting Programme)
Course and visits | 6/12 hours
Professors: Elisabetta Benelli, Stefano Follesa, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: Design
The course presents the evolution of the relationship between Design and Crafts from the 1930s to the present day, and provides an understanding of the phenomena of self-production and digital craftsmanship.
Particular attention will be paid to both historical examples and the evolutions of the past two decades. Visits to companies with artisanal workmanship are planned.
History of Art
The Discovery of Hidden Treasures: Baroque Art in Florence! (Student Programme)Course and visits | 12 hours
Professor: Cristiano Giometti, UNIFI-SAGAS (Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts)
Subject: History of Art
The city of Florence is universally known for its Renaissance masterpieces, from Botticelli's Venus to Michelangelo's David. But the city also experienced a great revival of the arts between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, attracting important artists and promoting decorative enterprises of great value. The course therefore intends to analyze some particularly significant case studies, from the frescoes by Pietro da Cortona in Palazzo Pitti to some nobles chapels that involved ‘foreign’ masters such as Ciro Ferri and Luca Giordano and young Florentine artists such as the sculptor Giovanni Battista Foggini.
History of Renaissance Art: The Paintings (Student Programme)
Course and visits | 12 hours
Professor: Raffaele Niccoli Vallesi, UNIFI-SAGAS (Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts)
Subject: History of Art
Through lectures and guided tours, the course will explore the main artistic developments in the field of Renaissance painting. Starting with Masaccio’s innovative use of Perspective, the course will analyse Botticelli’s mythological Allegories, Leonardo’s experiments with shady atmospheres and optical illusions, and finally Michelangelo’s muscular and imitated compositions. After the course students will be able to identify the main Renaissance pictorial elements and symbols.
History of Renaissance Art: The Sculptures (Student Programme)
Course and visits | 12 hours
Professor: Raffaele Niccoli Vallesi, UNIFI-SAGAS (Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts)
Subject: History of Art
In the Renaissance the rediscovery of classical sculpture served as a driver for all the arts. The same can be said for a series of Renaissance sculptors, such as Donatello, Verrocchio or Michelangelo, to whom we owe some of the most important artistic innovations of the period. Through lessons and guided visits, the course will highlight the development of the art of sculpture, its functions and its relationship with public spaces to express moral, political and religious content.
Art Workshops in the Renaissance (Student Programme)
Course and visits | 12 hours
Professor: Raffaele Niccoli Vallesi, UNIFI-SAGAS (Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts)
Subject: History of Art
Teamwork was common practice in the Renaissance and in artists' workshops inventions were exploited to the maximum and “translated” into a great variety of materials and techniques such as marble, bronze, terracotta, wood and - of course - painting. Young apprentices worked closely with their master, and after a long training they had the opportunity to learn the techniques that would serve them later in their subsequent career as independent artists. The best Renaissance artists emerged from the ranks of the workshops, including Leonardo and Michelangelo. At the end of the course, which includes some guided tours, students will have greater awareness of an artist’s training in the Renaissance and the artistic practices used.
The European Avant-Gardes, 1905-1935 (Student Programme)
Course and visits | 12 hours
Professor: Michele Amedei, UNIFI-SAGAS (Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts)
Subject: History of Art
The course explores the European Avant-Garde of the early 20th century through lessons and guided tours, covering Expressionism, Cubism, Italian Futurism, Abstractionism and Surrealism. In addition to providing the historical background of each artistic movement, the course will emphasize the three trends in the Avant-Gardes: primitivism, spiritualism and the redefinition of reality. Particular attention is paid to some artists, including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Umberto Boccioni, Vassily Kandinsky and Salvador Dalì, who will be also examined in relation to literature, politics, aesthetic theory and the art market.
Teaching Art History in Italian Universities (Faculty Visiting Programme)
Course and visits | 6 hours
Professor: Cristiano Giometti, UNIFI-SAGAS (Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts)
Subject: History of Art
The course aims to provide an insight into the methods of teaching art history in Italian universities. The main ramifications of art history are analyzed in a historical perspective, focusing on its specific characteristics. Furthermore, the course clarifies the importance of studying art history in a city like Florence. Some lessons are held directly in museums and art venues to encourage direct contact with works of art. Finally, the main career opportunities offered by historical-artistic training are reviewed.
Florence Craft and Trade Guilds (Faculty Visiting Programme)
Course and visits | 12 hours
Professor: Raffaele Niccoli Vallesi, UNIFI-SAGAS (Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts)
Subject: History of Art
The economic support of the Craft and Trade Guilds (Arti) was fundamental for the development of the artistic culture of Florence. Thanks to their financial help churches, hospitals and many other significant civic buildings were built in Florence. The course focuses on the links between money and art in Renaissance Florence, also through guided visits.
Art and Science in the Renaissance (Faculty Visiting Programme)
Course and visits | 12 hours
Professor: Raffaele Niccoli Vallesi, UNIFI-SAGAS (Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts)
Subject: History of Art
The Renaissance introduced important innovations not only in the artistic sphere, but also in the scientific and technological one, as well as eminent Renaissance figures who contributed to the construction of scientific thought based on experience, rather than on the authority of classical sources. Leonardo's experiments were the pillar of the Florentine scientific mentality, which culminated with Galileo’s thinking and the creation of the Accademia del Cimento, the first academy of sciences in Europe. The course illustrates the relationship between art and science in the Renaissance, through lessons and guided visits.
Art of Fascism, 1921-1944 (Faculty Visiting Programme)
Course and visits | 12 hours
Professor: Michele Amedei, UNIFI-SAGAS (Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Arts)
Subject: History of Art
The course focuses on art in Italy between 1922 and 1943 with the aim of exploring visual manifestations of the fascist regime from different perspectives. After analyzing how the visual arts were put at the service of fascist ideology and propaganda, the course focuses on some artists such as the Tuscan sculptor Marino Marini, the architect Marcello Piacentini and painters who were part of the so-called “Gruppo Novecento”. The course includes study visits.
History of Architecture
The “Villa” from Renaissance to Baroque: The Medici Family’s Villas near Florence (Faculty Visiting Programme)
Course and visits | 6 hours
Professor: Daniela Smalzi, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: History of Architecture
The “Villa”, a non-urban residence with prominent architectural features, fully developed as a building typology during the Renaissance, and acquired extraordinary importance during the 16th and 17th centuries thanks to its capacity to reflect the patron who commissioned the work and the family who owned it. Villas and gardens were planned with close permeation between natural and constructed elements in order to express the culture that produced them. Visits to some villas and their gardens near Florence are intended to highlight these aspects, exemplifying the development of this typology from the Renaissance to the Baroque period.
The Florentine Squares (Faculty Visiting Programme)
Course and visits | 6 hours
Professor: Daniela Smalzi, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: History of Architecture
The square, an open space that characterizes the form of the city, in Florence changed its “status” and dimension between the Middle Ages and the Baroque period: visits to some examples – Piazza della Signoria (14th century), Piazza SS. Annunziata (15th-17th centuries), Piazzale degli Uffizi (16th century), Piazza Pitti (15th-19th centuries) – show the development of this space and its urban furnishing.
Medieval Florentine Buildings: The Bargello Palace, Palazzo Vecchio and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (Faculty Visiting Programme)
Course and visits | 6 hours
Professor: Daniela Smalzi, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: History of Architecture
The importance and richness of the city of Florence during the Middle Ages is visibly expressed through the construction of its most representative buildings: public buildings and the cathedral. The course includes visits to some interior and exterior parts of these Medieval monuments focusing on the architectural elements that characterize them.
Urbanism
Regional and Urban Design with a Heritage Approach (Student Programme)Course and Workshop | 24 hours
Professor: Daniela Poli, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: Urbanism
The course, organized into lectures and workshops, explores the most relevant issues for regional and urban design. The course is divided into two units: the first considers the problem of the transition from functionalist urban planning to heritage regional planning, and topics such as long-time history, the analysis of local characteristics, structural invariants, the qualitative representation of the territory, and participation processes in local communities. The second unit addresses the theme of the ecological city and the challenges of climate change.
Territorial Heritage and Local Communities to Strengthen the Resilience of the Built Environment (Faculty Visiting Programme)
Course and Workshop | 12 hours
Professor: Daniela Poli, UNIFI-DIDA (Department of Architecture)
Subject: Urbanism
The course explores two issues relevant for regional and urban design in Europe and Italy: the transition from functionalist planning to heritage regional planning, and the role of agroforestry rural land and ecosystem services. The course highlights, in particular, the contribution of the analysis and representation of the territory and the concept of the participation of inhabitants and local communities in active dialogue with local institutions. It also reveals the use of interactive and contractual instruments for the governance of regional and urban projects and the role of agroforestry rural land in regenerating cities and in climate change containment policies.
Last update
05.06.2020