Living Analogs
A profound reflection on artificial intelligence and its design-related applications is the basis of the project that, under the guidance of Professor Gustavo Martini, involves the students of the Master in Product & Furniture Design at Istituto Marangoni in collaboration with Baleri Italia.
Students were asked to work on a brief that assumes that artificial intelligence is transforming the way we interact with objects. As AI dematerializes object functions, a new design approach is needed, that of “animism” applied to technology. This new conception of technology emphasizes the human-like qualities of objects to make them more relatable to the end user. Drawing from ancient beliefs like animism and Shintoism, which viewed objects as alive, designers can today create aesthetic bodies that blend functionality with lifelike characteristics, fostering emotional connection and enhancing a new level of user interaction.
The challenge students are facing is to integrate new technologies, such as AI and others, into furniture design in a harmonious, gentle, and poetic way, focusing on enhancing the sensory experience. The goal is not to merely add technological features but to explore how these innovations can create a deeper connection between the user and the product. The design should be guided by a narrative that seamlessly blends digital advancements with the tactile qualities of furniture, ensuring the technology feels intuitive and natural rather than forced.
Additionally, the product must align with the identity of Baleri Italia, a brand known for embodying two core aspects of Italian design: the sobriety of tech rationalism and the expressive push of postmodernism. By balancing these elements, students will explore how pervasive digital technologies can be integrated into furniture design in a way that complements the brand’s unique identity, resulting in a new singularity where users experience function and poetry, analog and digital, rationality and emotion, seamlessly integrated.
