On November 10, 2017, Roberto Pinto from the University of Bergamo and Stefano Andreani from the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) welcomed students at Kilometro Rosso in Bergamo to present the program “Responsive Environments: Digital / Physical Retail” (2017-2018).
The course is part of Bergamo 2.035 | REAL Cities – Smarter Citizens, a multidisciplinary and multi-year research project promoted by the University of Bergamo and the Harvard Graduate School of Design with the support of Fondazione Cav. Lav. Carlo Pesenti and the Municipality of Bergamo.
This year’s theme is Digital / Physical Retail. The research will investigate the challenges related to the integration of digital technologies and physical spaces in the retail world, exploring both the opportunities and the repercussions in urban, commercial, and domestic contexts, as well as the user experience in both real, tangible environments and virtual ones.
Through a comparative analysis of retail between the United States and Europe with a systematic review of scientific literature, case studies, and field investigations, the research aims to analyze the history of retail, understand current dynamics, and—with particular attention to the cities of Boston and Bergamo—propose innovative solutions at five different scales:
- The retail store shopping experience
- Shops and shop windows
- “Smart” home environments
- Medium-sized shopping centers
- Mobile and hybrid platforms
Main topics of the course
– DESIGN RESEARCH: An overview of the interaction between design and research: designing to structure innovative research methods and research to create innovative design approaches. Examples and cases from Harvard GSD complement the theoretical framework.
– DESIGN THINKING: Study of design thinking methodologies through the application of new approaches to tackle problems in any field and at various scales. Sometimes, solving a problem requires an innovative and interdisciplinary mindset that goes beyond conventions. Combining subjective analysis with objective data, reconsidering business or design challenges by approaching them from an unusual perspective.
– HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN AND USER EXPERIENCE: Principles of human-centered design, meaning user-oriented design, with special attention to strategies for evaluating and predicting user experience from the perspective of different types of individuals. Strategies include user experience scenarios, personal studies, user journey design, simulations, and models.
– RESPONSIVE TECHNOLOGIES: Opportunities and repercussions of integrating new media, sensors, and interactive technologies in cities, addressing issues of technological longevity, dynamic adaptation, and augmented realities.
www.bergamo2035.it www.research.gsd.harvard.edu
