Glass-making workshop: fostering new design practices

Bringing future designers closer to the professional world requires the right balance of theoretical and practical activities; parallel to the traditional ateliers offered in design schools, some institutions are experimenting with different educational models, such as workshops. Contaminating, reinterpreting and experimenting are the keywords behind this activity, carried out in the Politecnico di Torino, in which glass has been one of the protagonists as a material with strong socio-cultural connotations. Because of its increasing application in technological fields, glass’s artisanal identity is getting weaker and requires a shift of focus from technological innovations to social innovations. Therefore, the week-long workshop “Il soffio di vetro”, offers the chance to envision glass as the meeting point between the knowledge of a local glass master and the design-creative skills of students. The experimental approach offered during the workshop enables students to understand the synergy between the glass’s aesthetic possibilities and functional constraints. It also helps define a more substantial value of sustainability in the relationship between university and craftsmanship. The workshop’s goal is not to create a perfect final product but to bring students to understand the process and review it in a logic of innovation. It also helps to foster sustainable and creative approaches where the relationship between the designer and the material is direct, personal and supported by the local know-how.