This thesis is part of the contemporary design movement, understood as a tool for territorial transformation and enhancement, offering a concrete design response to the need to restore a space for gathering, culture, and sharing to the local community. The central objective of the research is to develop a comprehensive, systemic, and integrated design proposal for the interiors of the seventeenth-century Palazzo Planelli—a monumental building already partially repurposed by the "BACKstage" project—with the aim of converting it into a cutting-edge cultural center and an interactive industrial design laboratory dedicated to children. The structure of the thesis and the research methodology are divided into three sequential phases: 1. Theories and methodologies for design education: the first part explores the solid theoretical and pedagogical framework of the research. Drawing on a critical analysis of the work of Bruno Munari, Enzo Mari, and Mario Bellini, the culture of design is codified as a democratic method for stimulating visual-spatial experience and early critical thinking. This methodological lens converges with the principles of active pedagogy, framing the laboratory space as a cognitive eco-context and a flexible teaching device. To guide the project, three historical approaches are integrated: Maria Montessori's ergonomic-functional paradigm (light and autonomous furniture), Célestin Freinet's process-technological perspective (the workshop-school as the ancestor of the FabLab), and Loris Malaguzzi's aesthetic-relational approach (the Atelier as a center for sensory research). 2. Internship experience at the "V.F. Cassano-de Renzio" Comprehensive School: Phenomenology of Encounters: the conceptual framework finds empirical validation in the detailed account of the pedagogical action and participatory observation conducted in the field with primary school students. This phase allowed us to tap into the children's immense creative potential and extraordinary imaginative freedom: a pure visual and mental energy, free from rigid superstructures. Through series of lessons and workshops based on embodied learning and reverse engineering, the design method was applied not to harness this spontaneity, but to channel it into tangible forms. A phenomenological mapping of the interactions between young users and the space was thus created, analyzing postural, cognitive, and emotional responses to traditional furnishings to translate the emerging needs into technical and functional furnishing requirements. 3. Palazzo Planelli Installation: In the final summary, the empirical data collected at the school and the pedagogues' guidelines converge in the repurposing of the interiors of the historic Bitonto building. The rooms are reimagined as stations of experimentation and discovery where industrial design defines a contemporary, flexible, and modular furnishing system. The thesis empirically demonstrates how the culture of industrial design is fully accessible to children and can serve as a powerful driver of cognitive development and active citizenship for new generations. The redevelopment proposal for Palazzo Planelli translates this pedagogical certainty into architectural space, transforming the historic building into a cutting-edge incubator dedicated to co-design and child-friendly manufacturing. The developed model thus offers a best practice that can be replicated locally, capable of connecting the monumental value of architecture with the extraordinary creative freedom of children.
Il presente lavoro di tesi si inserisce nel solco del design contemporaneo inteso come strumento di trasformazione e valorizzazione territoriale, offrendo una risposta progettuale concreta alla necessità di restituire alla comunità locale uno spazio di aggregazione, cultura e condivisione. L'obiettivo centrale della ricerca è la definizione di una proposta di allestimento complessiva, sistemica e integrata per gli interni del secentesco Palazzo Planelli – bene monumentale già parzialmente rifunzionalizzato dal progetto "BACKstage" – al fine di convertirlo in un polo culturale avanguardistico e in un laboratorio interattivo di design industriale dedicato all'infanzia. La struttura dell'elaborato e l'itinerario metodologico della ricerca si articulano in tre fasi consequenziali: 1. Teorie e metodologie per l’educazione al design: la prima parte approfondisce la solida impalcatura teorico-pedagogica della ricerca. Muovendo dall'analisi critica dell'opera di Bruno Munari, Enzo Mari e Mario Bellini, la cultura del progetto viene codificata come metodo democratico per stimolare l'esperienza visivo-spaziale e il pensiero critico precoce. Questa lente metodologica viene fatta convergere con i principi della pedagogia attiva, delineando lo spazio-laboratorio come un ecocontesto cognitivo e un dispositivo didattico plastico. Per orientare il progetto, vengono integrate tre matrici storiche: il paradigma ergonomico-funzionale di Maria Montessori (arredo leggero e autonomo), la dimensionale processuale-tecnologica di Célestin Freinet (l'officina-scuola come antenato del FabLab) e l'apporto estetico-relazionale di Loris Malaguzzi (l'Atelier come centro di ricerca sensoriale). 2. Esperienza di tirocinio presso l’Istituto Comprensivo "V.F. Cassano-de Renzio": Fenomenologia degli incontri: il terreno concettuale trova validazione empirica nel resoconto dettagliato dell'azione pedagogica e dell'osservazione partecipata condotte sul campo con gli alunni della scuola primaria. Questa fase ha permesso di intercettare il grande potenziale creativo e la straordinaria libertà immaginativa dei bambini: un'energia visiva e mentale pura, priva di sovrastrutture rigide. Attraverso cicli di lezioni e dinamiche laboratoriali basate sull'embodied learning e sul reverse engineering, il metodo del design è stato applicato non per imbrigliare tale spontaneità, ma per canalizzarla in forme tangibili. Viene così tracciata una mappatura fenomenologica delle interazioni tra i piccoli utenti e lo spazio, analizzando le risposte posturali, cognitive ed emotive di fronte agli arredi tradizionali per tradurre i bisogni emersi in requisiti tecnici e funzionali d'arredo. 3. Allestimento di Palazzo Planelli: nella sintesi conclusiva, i dati empirici raccolti a scuola e le linee guida dei pedagogisti convergono nella rifunzionalizzazione degli interni dell'edificio storico bitontino. Le stanze vengono ripensate come stazioni d'esperimento e scoperta dove il disegno industriale definisce un sistema d'arredo contemporaneo, flessibile e modulare. La tesi dimostra in modo empirico come la cultura dell'industrial design sia pienamente accessibile all'infanzia e possa configurarsi come un potente motore di sviluppo cognitivo e cittadinanza attiva per le nuove generazioni. La proposta di riqualificazione per Palazzo Planelli traduce questa certezza pedagogica in spazio architettonico, configurando lo storico edificio come un incubatore d'avanguardia dedicato alla co-progettazione e alla manifattura a misura di bambino. Il modello sviluppato si offre così come una buona pratica replicabile sul territorio, capace di far dialogare il valore monumentale dell'architettura con la straordinaria libertà creativa dei più piccoli.
UN PONTE TRA SCUOLA E DESIGN - PERCORSI DI DESIGN PER L'INFANZIA: PROGETTO DI ALLESTIMENTO PER UNA DIDATTICA ESPERIENZIALE E INTERATTIVA DEL DESIGN A PALAZZO PLANELLI
PADOLECCHIA, VALERIA
2025/2026
Abstract
This thesis is part of the contemporary design movement, understood as a tool for territorial transformation and enhancement, offering a concrete design response to the need to restore a space for gathering, culture, and sharing to the local community. The central objective of the research is to develop a comprehensive, systemic, and integrated design proposal for the interiors of the seventeenth-century Palazzo Planelli—a monumental building already partially repurposed by the "BACKstage" project—with the aim of converting it into a cutting-edge cultural center and an interactive industrial design laboratory dedicated to children. The structure of the thesis and the research methodology are divided into three sequential phases: 1. Theories and methodologies for design education: the first part explores the solid theoretical and pedagogical framework of the research. Drawing on a critical analysis of the work of Bruno Munari, Enzo Mari, and Mario Bellini, the culture of design is codified as a democratic method for stimulating visual-spatial experience and early critical thinking. This methodological lens converges with the principles of active pedagogy, framing the laboratory space as a cognitive eco-context and a flexible teaching device. To guide the project, three historical approaches are integrated: Maria Montessori's ergonomic-functional paradigm (light and autonomous furniture), Célestin Freinet's process-technological perspective (the workshop-school as the ancestor of the FabLab), and Loris Malaguzzi's aesthetic-relational approach (the Atelier as a center for sensory research). 2. Internship experience at the "V.F. Cassano-de Renzio" Comprehensive School: Phenomenology of Encounters: the conceptual framework finds empirical validation in the detailed account of the pedagogical action and participatory observation conducted in the field with primary school students. This phase allowed us to tap into the children's immense creative potential and extraordinary imaginative freedom: a pure visual and mental energy, free from rigid superstructures. Through series of lessons and workshops based on embodied learning and reverse engineering, the design method was applied not to harness this spontaneity, but to channel it into tangible forms. A phenomenological mapping of the interactions between young users and the space was thus created, analyzing postural, cognitive, and emotional responses to traditional furnishings to translate the emerging needs into technical and functional furnishing requirements. 3. Palazzo Planelli Installation: In the final summary, the empirical data collected at the school and the pedagogues' guidelines converge in the repurposing of the interiors of the historic Bitonto building. The rooms are reimagined as stations of experimentation and discovery where industrial design defines a contemporary, flexible, and modular furnishing system. The thesis empirically demonstrates how the culture of industrial design is fully accessible to children and can serve as a powerful driver of cognitive development and active citizenship for new generations. The redevelopment proposal for Palazzo Planelli translates this pedagogical certainty into architectural space, transforming the historic building into a cutting-edge incubator dedicated to co-design and child-friendly manufacturing. The developed model thus offers a best practice that can be replicated locally, capable of connecting the monumental value of architecture with the extraordinary creative freedom of children.I documenti in UNITESI sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14253/72841