I know I’m not the only one who will say this, but these past few weeks here in Milan truly have been nothing short of transformational. I didn’t have too much of an idea about what to expect but now having experienced it for myself, I can truly attest to the fact that Milan (and Italy in general) is a design capital, where even the smallest details are taken into account; it was the one of the very first things I noticed that was different from back home: the high regard for aesthetics and art and design as a whole, where it truly is considered an essential part of society and day-to-day to life. I feel that this was a concept that was summed up rather well by Francesca, curator at the Alessi Museum and our guide during our visit–how important it is to give people the ability to engage with a piece of art even in their everyday life. I feel that here design and the work that designers do as a whole is taken into so much of a higher regard and the importance of the work we do is understood on such a deeper level than back home, it was a really refreshing perspective on my identity as a designer that I feel I needed to hear as I prepare to enter my capstone year and enter the industry and it felt really reassuring to realize once again of the power and influence that design has, even when I lose sight of that.
Even for someone like me who has grown up with and regularly engages with two cultures (being Mexican-American), and worked designing for a cultural institution aligning with my cultural identity as my first internship and professional experience in the design industry, I thought I already had a good understanding of how design and culture intersect to create unique items and experiences. But as we learned more about how Italian and Milanese culture worked their way from everything into products like furniture and home and kitchen items, architecture, and graphics and branding, I realized I only had a piece of the picture. Culture influences everything we do, forever serving as a source of inspiration and point of reference to us no matter where we go, and here in Italy I feel that I observed firsthand how influential it is in that I found pieces of it in even the most unexpected places. Hearing about the inspirations behind the work of designers like Achille Castiglioni from his daughter Giovanna during our visit to his studio, the work of Vico Magistretti during our visit to his studio as well, the beginnings of Kartell and their role in the world of Italian product design, the history behind Alfa Romeo’s car designs at the Alfa Romeo Museum, the curatorial eye of Rossana Orlandi’s gallery, and especially through seeing the journey that designs and products go through from ideation to production during our visit to the Alessi Museum, I began to notice those ways, big and small, that Italian culture presented itself in the work and processes of the designers and firms here, and further continued to disperse its influence, even far outside of Italy. But most importantly, I realized that an essential part of me gaining this view of Italian design was the fact that I had the view of an outsider: every part of it was new to me, so these observations stood out to me more. This is something I now even remember our professor Kate emphasizing we learn to do as early as my Objects and Spaces class with her that I took in Spring 2024: that by having the view of an outsider and seeing an object or thing as if we are viewing it for the very first time (or like a tourist, even) we are able to see what stands out the most and gain an entirely new perspective on it. Now having been away from home the longest I’ve ever been in my life, I feel that I’ll have that flipped experience of an outsider in Austin just like how I have here in Milan, and that will help me gain a new perspective on everything around me and that I’ve been so used to and even grown up with. It’s a skill that I know I’ll continue to further develop but that I will definitely use during my capstone project as well, and that I know I wouldn’t have been able to gain without Kate’s help and guidance throughout this time as well!
To sum up (and to anyone who is considering participating in this program in the future as well!), this experience truly was transformative to my development as a designer, I truly feel that I will be leaving Milan with the skillset I need to be an attentive, well-informed designer ready to take on any project and with the ability to design for any culture and context now too. Even to those who aren’t designers and are going into other fields, I’ve noticed they’ve gained a newfound appreciation for art and design and have also learned along with us to notice and pick out details in what we’ve studied and observed around us, and gained that ability to see objects through the perspective of outsiders as well. I’ve grown so much not only as a designer but also as an individual, and for that I will forever be indebted to our professor Kate for creating this program and being such an incredible guide to us all every step of the way!
