S(P)EEDKITS & smart packaging. Nuove applicazioni tessili per ridefinire la risposta alle emergenze

Il saggio traccia una visione d'insieme di S(P)EEDKITS, un progetto di ricerca co-finanziato dall'Unione Europea nell'ambito del Programma Quadro FP7 e, in particolare, si concentra sulle attività in corso da parte del Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) sui due diversi fronti del Design Industriale e della Tecnologia dell'architettura. L'ambito della progettazione dei nuovi kit di pronto intervento e ricostruzione in situazioni di disastro delinea una nuova frontiera per la Tecnologia dell'architettura, che si trova a coniugare la tradizionale vocazione della progettazione di componenti con le ricerche innovative sui tessili tecnici e sulle costruzioni leggere

novel textile based solutions of emergency shelters case studies and field tests of s p eedkits project

The design of the first aid and reconstruction kits in major disaster scenarios highlights a new frontier for Technology of Architecture and Lightweight construction expertise, combining the traditional vocation of component design with innovative research on technical textiles. After an overview of S(P)EEDKITS—a project which received funding from the EU FP7—the essay focuses on research activities conducted by the ABC Department at Politecnico di Milano on the sustainable design applied to textile-based shelters. The essay also presents the results of two field tests conducted in Burkina Faso (2013–2014) and in Senegal (2015–on going), evaluating the environmental performances of shelters developed by the authors. The research was conducted in collaboration with International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Netherlands Red Cross, the Medecins sans Frontieres (Operational centre of Amsterdam),—Operational centre of Amsterdam, Sioen Industries NV, Ferrino SpA, and with researchers of Vrije Universiteit of Brussel and Eindhoven Technische Universiteit

Knowledge transfer into a system design process: the case study of “S(P)EEDKITS - rapid deployable kits as seeds of self-recovery”.

This contribution presents the case study of S(P)EEDKITS, a four-year collaborative research project co-funded within the Seventh Framework Programme, activity: Security (SEC-2011.4.2-3, grant agreement no. 284931). The project involved 15 European partners including humanitarian organizations, research centers, academia and private enterprises, for the development of rapid deployable, modular and lightweight kits toimplementthe Emergency Response Units (ERUs) already in use by humanitarian organizations for emergency response. This article focuses on the knowledge transfer in a systemic design process, with a multidisciplinary and horizontal approach. The paper goes through in particular the activities carried out by the Politecnico di Milano, which was directly committed in the design of packaging and modularity of the ERUs

Making Things that Change: Reconsidering the Fluid Nature of Creative Productions in Research Through Art, Design, and Craft

Creative productions are integral to research conducted through practices of art, design, and craft. While their significance to the generation of knowledge is increasingly recognized, productions of this kind remain deemed discretized research components. This paper illustrates how they can be better understood as fluid assemblages that enact and are enacted by change. Through a diffractive reading of nine examples of research conducted by ourselves, the paper shifts from a perspective of neatly defined outputs to one of systemic affect. We conclude by interrogating the continuity of these productions beyond academia and urging a reassessment of their broader societal value.

S(P)EEDKITS & Smart Packaging. Novel textile application to redesign the emergency response

The essay aims to give an overview of the on-going S(P)EEDKITS collaborative project, co-financed by European Union, under 7FP - Activity SEC- 2011.4.2-3. In particular the research activities carried out the Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) are highlighted, both on the field of the Industrial Design and on Architectural Technology. The theme of designing new emergency response kits in situations of great disasters outlines a new frontier for the disciplines of Architectural Technology that aims to combine the traditional vocation of the components’ design with the innovative researches of technical textiles and lightweight construction