Polifactory - Politecnico di Milano

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Italia
Milan
Polifactory - Politecnico di Milano

Una fabbrica politecnica che combina makerspace e coworking. Uno 'spazio del fare' multidisciplinare

CTRL+ Co-creation Workshop Partecipation Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfal7BZpHvaPuBeEybrMPLd_H0NG4LFgVBrgWb4Lb_SQFz-Tg/viewform

Polifactory è la Design Factory collocata nel Campus Bovisa del Politecnico di Milano, creata alla fine del 2014 dal Dipartimento di Design assieme i Dipartimenti di Meccanica ed Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria. Su una superficie di 300mq co

mbina un makerspace con un machine shop, un coworking ed un’area riconfigurabile per la didattica avanzata e per organizzare iniziative come presentazioni, seminari e mostre temporanee. È equipaggiata con tecnologie e strumenti per la fabbricazione analogica/digitale che consentono di materializzare nuove idee di prodotto-servizio e sperimentare "hands on" processi di produzione dove si integrano ricerca, design e tecnologia. L'obiettivo è esplorare la relazione tra progettazione e nuovi scenari della produzione sviluppando attività di didattica avanzata, ricerca e consulenza e che riguardano: le nuove forme dell’autoproduzione e della fabbricazione personale, le tecnologie di fabbricazione collegate alle forme emergenti di
open, distributed e small scale manufacturing, i luoghi di produzione del futuro, soprattutto quelli situati nei contesti urbani.

23/02/2026

Last week we hosted Vertical Farming, the third event of Open Polifactory: FUTURE FOOD HABITS, organized in collaboration with .polimi and .

A big thank you to everyone who joined us for their collaboration and engagement, especially to our guests Thomas Marino, co-founder of , Andre Bezzecchi, founder of , Lorenzo Silvestri, Andrea Somenzi and Stefano Maffei for their valuable insights.

Stay tuned for the next events!

22/12/2025

Last Friday at Piccolo Teatro Melato, together with del Mobile, we presented the second edition of the Milan Design (Eco) System Annual Report.

Curated by Susanna Legrenzi, the Report offers an in-depth overview of the economic, cultural, and urban impacts of Milano Design Week, alongside a data-driven analysis. It also highlights the fair’s role as a key driver in positioning Milan as the international capital of design.

The project involved a research team from the .design.polimi , comprising Prof. Stefano Maffei, Prof. Francesco Zurlo, Prof. Massimo Bianchini, Dr Francesco Leoni, and Dr Filippo Parolini.

30/09/2025

Here are some of the projects from and .polimi on display at the exhibition Food&City | Architecture, Design and Engineering for Feeding Sustainability!

The exhibition at the Guido Nardi Project Gallery – Building 11 will be open until December 23, 2025. Come visit us!

04/06/2025

Join us for the presentation of the book “Systemic Service Design: Design for social responsibility” with the author Mari Suoheimo, at Polifactory on Tuesday 24 June 2025, from 5.30pm.

Service design has experienced substantial growth in recent years, shifting from an emphasis on user experiences to being recognized as a catalyst for organizational change and, increasingly, as a vital element within transdisciplinary environments that involve complex systems. Nonetheless, as service design has expanded over the past few decades, it has also become aware of its limitations in tackling complex societal challenges. How can service design rediscover its systemic principles to better address complex social-economic-technological challenges?

These questions will be explored through the presentation of the book by Mari Suoheimo, Associate Professor at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO), followed by a panel discussion with Stefano Maffei, Daniela Sangiorgi, and Beatrice Villari, Professors of Design at Politecnico di Milano.

The event will conclude with an open discussion between the audience and the panelists. Aperitif to follow. This event provides a unique opportunity to gain insights, engage with the author, and connect with like-minded professionals.

Register using the link below!
https://www.eventbrite.it/e/service-design-returns-systemic-tickets-1389027832639?aff=ebdsoporgprofile&keep_tld=1

21/05/2025

Don’t miss the final online session in preparation for the Participatory Design Conference 2026 and part of the Design Summer Break 2025 at Politecnico di Milano!

How can design shape dialogue for peaceful ecosystems?
As part of the lead-up to PDC 2026, Professor Stefano Maffei and PhD student Laura Cipriani will present the outcomes of the Conflict Mapping Workshop, held on April 16-17, 2025.

Adopting an interdisciplinary and hands-on approach, participants explored the intricate web of social, structural, and environmental injustices, with a focus on Milan’s urban food system. Students experimented with tools for data collection and visualization, co-designing a new kind of urban conflict map.

PDC 2026 will examine how participatory design and co-design can foster dialogue, build and reconcile communities, amplify marginalized voices, nurture solidarity, and facilitate negotiation.
It will also address how these methods can create convivial spaces and confront even the most complex challenges, such as war and conflict arising from social, political, economic, and climate-related issues.

Stay tuned for more details and join the conversation!

02/04/2025

HiveDock is a modular system of charging stations designed to integrate unmanned vehicles (UVs) into agriculture, enhancing efficiency and sustainability.

Conceived by Matteo Mojoli and developed in collaboration with Giorgio Sbaraini, Lorenzo Silvestri, Valentino Stella, and Francesca Zeccara, HiveDock enables both ground (UGV) and aerial (UAV) platforms to operate autonomously, addressing the challenges of modern agriculture.

Highly customizable and flexible, the system is designed to meet the needs of farms and agricultural cooperatives. By automating operational cycles, optimizing resources, increasing crop yields, and mapping local biodiversity, HiveDock helps drive a smarter, more sustainable approach to agriculture.

Built on two core principles—modularity and distributed production—its charging stations are designed to adapt to diverse and fragmented agricultural environments.

Each station serves three primary functions: protecting the drone, providing operational support, and integrating with other platforms.
The internal compartment offers shelter and autonomous recharging, efficiently managing power cycles at every stage. Additionally, stations can be equipped with secondary systems for data collection, weather monitoring, precision enhancement, and other advanced functionalities.

The project was developed in 2025 at Polifactory as part of the Distributed Design for Urban & Agrifood Biodiversity within distributedesign platform.

Co-funded by the European Union, the Platform connects cultural and creative institutions, supporting emerging designers in the field of Distributed Design.

26/03/2025

Greeneye is a modular, open-source system consisting of a drone and a rover, designed for advanced agricultural field analysis. The drone performs aerial surveys, capturing high-resolution images to assess plant health, while the rover serves as a mobile charging station and supports additional sensors for ground monitoring.

Designed to be built in FabLabs using readily available electronic components, Greeneye promotes the adoption of advanced precision agriculture solutions at low cost. The system collects essential data to optimize resource use, enhance productivity, and minimize environmental impact, providing a powerful tool for farmers, researchers, and local communities.

By combining aerial and ground-based monitoring, Greeneye offers a flexible and adaptable solution tailored to the specific needs of any agricultural environment, ensuring comprehensive field analysis and improved decision-making.

Designed and prototyped by Matteo Leonardi, Tommaso Odorizzi, Yusuf Emre Duran, Giorgia Forloni, Pietro Vanzella and Matteo Cappellari, the project was developed in 2025 at Polifactory as part of the Distributed Design for Urban & Agrifood Biodiversity within platform.

Co-funded by the European Union, the Distributed Design Platform connects cultural and creative institutions, supporting emerging designers in the field of distributed design.

05/03/2025

We are excited to announce a new design workshop! Two days dedicated to exploring Milan’s urban fabric as a complex ecosystem where tensions, conflicts, and opportunities for transformation intersect.

This Passion in Action organized in collaboration with PUC Rio and led by Professors Stefano Maffei, Massimo Bianchini, and Visiting Professor Claudio Magalhães, offers a unique opportunity to experience how research and design can act as catalysts for social change. Participants will investigate urban conflicts, using design tools and practices to contribute to the construction of peace ecosystems.

Through a practical and interdisciplinary approach, participants will map conflicts related to Milan’s urban food system, identifying the systemic, structural, social, and environmental injustices that shape them. They will also test and implement a specially designed urban conflict map while experimenting with strategies for data collection, analysis, and visualization.
Stay tuned for more details on how to participate!

11/02/2025

Today we are sharing HACKO, a project that explores how distributed design and digital fabrication can make the traditional Japanese fermentation method nukazuke more accessible.

Conceived by Kentaro Sohara and designed by Giovanni Bruno, Gaia Rubino, Federico Denni, Martina Comola, Andrea Somenzi, and Valerio Libardo, HACKO reimagines the fermentation process with a modular, open-source kit. The project introduces a system that optimizes liquid drainage, simplifies the maintenance of the nukadoko (fermentation bed), and integrates a digital device to monitor humidity and salinity, ensuring the best conditions for fermentation. By leveraging open-source design, HACKO makes nukazuke adaptable and reproducible across different cultures and countries.

Co-funded by the European Union, the platform connects cultural and creative institutions, supporting emerging designers working in the field of Distributed Design.

05/02/2025

On February 3 and 4, the Annual Meeting 2025 event, organized by MICS - Made in Italy Circular and Sustainable - was held at the Bologna Congress Center. It was an important opportunity for sharing and updating the work of each Spoke.

The Polifactory team is part of Spoke 2 – Eco-Design Strategies: from Materials to Product-Service Systems (PSS), alongside researchers from the University of Bologna, the University of Firenze, and the Politecnico di Torino. Together, we are working in the upholstered furniture sector, focusing in particular on the _Circular Sofa Platform project_.

Thank you to MICS for the insightful exchange of expertise, ideas, and opinions regarding the future of Made in Italy and the development of ongoing projects.

21/01/2025

The research project Milan Design (Eco) System conducted a data and evidence based investigation on Salone del Mobile.Milano, Milan Design Week, and their impact on the city of Milan.
The research was carried out between January and November 2024 by Department of Design at Politecnico di Milano, which oversaw the scientific supervision on behalf of Salone del Mobile.Milano. The team from the Department of Design involved in the project included Prof. Stefano Maffei and Prof. Francesco Zurlo as scientific coordinators, along with Prof. Massimo Bianchini, Carla Sedini, and Francesco Leoni, as part of a cross-disciplinary research team spanning Design+Strategies, Polifactory, and Design Policy Lab.
The activities were also supported by the School of Design and the Municipality of Milan.
Through its investigation, Milan Design (Eco) System proposed an interpretation of Salone del Mobile.Milano and Milan Design Week as interdependent and interconnected elements, in turn linked to a specific socio-economic design system and the city of Milan.

20/12/2024

We are excited to share the article “AFTERNOONS IN THE NEW INDUSTRIES” by Prof. Stefano Maffei, published in the December 2024 issue of Domus.

Today, design can no longer be limited to the production of traditional goods; it must address global challenges such as climate change, technological evolution, extractive economic models, and the impact of artificial intelligence. The article explores how initiatives in Italy are redefining the concept of craft-industry, blending tradition and innovation. The projects by Design Friction Lab, OIO Studio, Matteo Scalabrini, Andrea de Chirico, ALMA Futura, and Cap_able exemplify a new form of craftsmanship that integrates aesthetics, ethics, and research, fostering a process of experimentation that combines technique and expression.

These themes will also be explored in the master’s course “Concept Design Studio Green”, taught by Prof. Stefano Maffei and Prof. Massimo Bianchini as part of the Master’s Degree Program in Integrated Product Design at the .design.polimi , Politecnico di Milano.

Credits:

1. Domus
2. Design Friction Lab, photo by Stefania Zanetti
3. OIO Studio and Giosampietro, photo by PEPE Fotografia
4. Matteo Scalabrini
5. Andrea de Chirico, photo by Marie Anne Hervé
6. ALMA Futura, photo by Giulia Tomasello

Indirizzo

Via Giuseppe Candiani, 72
Milan
20158

Telefono

+390223997134

Sito Web

http://www.polifactory.polimi.it/

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