Wellbeing And sustainability they are two words that have a deep relationship with design: since the origins of design as a representation and manifestation of modernity, the primary aim was to allow the greatest possible number of people to access well-being at its highest level and with the greatest diffusion. Objects have evolved technologically and qualitatively with the aim of improving life and the environments in which life takes place. For this reason, the history of design is full of excellent examples of solutions for everyday life, often manifesting themselves as functional products or furnishings. Among the supporters of this initiative, for example, there is Victor Dassi, one of the finest examples in the history of living design, conceived to improve well-being through the perception of qualitative spaces and functions.

Even the food and its industry, in this area, the supporters of this event are numerous, they have traveled the path of well-being and primary and perceptive sustenance of the human being. Design and creativity have supported the development of what is artificial and sophisticated to increase the well-being of human beings. It is a success story which today raises questions and highlights its limits: today we can deal with designing with a vision “more than human” where we can conceive of equal sophistication and artificiality not by forcing nature to our well-being, but by using the potential of our technical and social evolution to improve everything in which human beings live.

The paradigm: man-artificiality-wellbeing today it can be evolved into a vision of artificiality at the service of a overall and sustainable well-being where the human being is only one of the variables. Artifact-nature-wellbeing could be the new paradigm, placing our knowledge and our ability to transform for the benefit of an environment in which humans live and will live. In it, the intrinsic qualities of products of every category, from designer furniture to excellent food products of traditions and territories on a global scale, can place man in an even central but more functional position for the quality of his existence and the context in which he lives.

Ultimately, this is the vocation of design: interpret the artificial to transfer all its values to the world. Therefore, our School of Design at the Polytechnic of Milan is committed to culturally and scientifically valorising knowledge on the major themes of well-being, but at the same time we are committed to research involving our historical experience in quality design for a further step towards theProduct and service innovation to nourish, live and maintain the world we live in.

Professor Matteo Oreste Ingaramo
Polymes
Speech UN Headquarters
November 16, 2023