AGATHÓN | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design

Building and material passports as socio-technical infrastructures for the circular economy and equity

Aysenur Babacan Demirel, Candan Çınar Çıtak — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study examines the literature on building passports, material passports, and digital building logbooks through the lenses of the circular economy and social equity. Within the scope of a PRISMA-based systematic review, 57 articles selected from the Scopus and Web of Science databases were analysed through bibliometric mapping and thematic coding. The findings indicate that the literature is primarily focused on data architecture, technological integration, governance, and implementation contexts, while the dimensions of equity, social housing, and inclusion are less well represented. Rather than merely compiling the literature, the study reinterprets building passports, material passports, and digital building logbooks as socio-technical infrastructures and reads their shared field at the intersection of circularity and equity.

Article info

Received: 16/03/2026; Revised: 27/04/2026; Accepted: 28/04/2026

Design and active research for SDGs – Ecosystems of sustainable innovation

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Innovation ecosystems are multilayered sociotechnical networks whose development is shaped by co-design, collaborative governance, and strategic leadership. This paper proposes a methodological framework to assess the design’s contribution to innovation ecosystems at the meso level. Grounded in research-through-design, the study combines literature review, AI-assisted KPI estimation, and expert interviews to analyse three innovation ecosystems: the São Paulo, Lombardy, and Stockholm-Uppsala regions. The findings suggest that design is structurally present across the three contexts, but largely absent from measurement systems. The study concludes by proposing a broader research agenda for co-designing measurement infrastructures and evidence-based design policy aligned with SDGs 9 and 17.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 16/04/2026; Accepted: 16/04/2026

Design for regenerative tourism – Museums, territorial alliances, and capacity building

Emanuela Bonini Lessing, Alessandra Bosco, Mario Ciaramitaro, Goran Pavlov — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper presents research in the field of Design for Territories, developed within the European Med4Regen project, which positions museums and cultural institutions as central nodes within regenerative tourism ecosystems. Unlike sustainable tourism, which is primarily concerned with mitigating impact, regenerative tourism pursues the vitality of places and communities through an ecosystemic paradigm based on relationships, co-evolution, and the transformation of mindsets. To date, the literature on territorial design has mainly addressed rural and marginal contexts: this contribution focuses instead on settings under high tourism pressure, framing the designer as a mediator and activator among stakeholders and, in the conclusions, defining the designer’s reflexive role as central to regenerative action.

Article info

Received: 13/03/2026; Revised: 29/04/2026; Accepted: 30/04/2026

Valorisation of residual materials in agro-industrial production chains – Circular transitions in South Tyrol (Italy)

Camilo Ayala-Garcia, Noa Ruth Paul, Laura Bordini, Mila Stepanovic, Nitzan Cohen — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In Alpine regions such as South Tyrol, agro-industrial and agricultural activities generate large quantities of by-products whose current uses often fall short of their potential as secondary material resources. Collaboration between design, science, and technology promotes sustainable material innovation, and this interdisciplinary approach forms the basis of the present research. The study examines four by-products from the region’s dairy, brewing, fruit-distillation, and sheep-farming sectors, combining material, technological, and systemic perspectives. The preliminary findings identify concrete pathways for reintegrating these underused resources into local production chains, while also highlighting the regulatory, infrastructural, and economic constraints that currently limit their valorisation.

Article info

Received: 11/03/2026; Revised: 19/04/2026; Accepted: 24/04/2026

Cashew in-cycle – Human-centred design for circular cashew production chains

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This article presents Jurui, a human-centred design project addressing technological bottlenecks in the cashew production chain in Vichada, Colombia. Operating in a context of informal adaptation and limited infrastructure, the research integrates material experimentation, engineering validation, and participatory design. Cashew shell residues were transformed into composite materials and applied to the redesign of a basket system integrated with nut-opening machinery. Through iterative prototyping and field testing, improvements were observed in ergonomics, safety, material efficiency, and workflow continuity. The project demonstrates how waste valorisation, decentralised manufacturing, and community capacity building can reorganise agro-industrial systems.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 13/04/2026; Accepted: 21/04/2026

Designing with yan-lipao for innovation in Industry 5.0

Rewat Suksikarn — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This article investigates the integration of local bio-based materials, traditional craft knowledge, and industrial design from the perspective of Industry 5.0. To address the fragmentation between material experimentation, craft knowledge, and product development, the research proposes the Hybrid Craft-Industry Innovation Framework and tests it through a Material-Driven Co-Creative Design process applied to ‘yan-lipao’, a traditional material from Southern Thailand. The methodology combines material characterisation, co-design workshops, digital modelling, and the development of four prototypes in order to assess the versatility of ‘yan-lipao’, the transferability of weaving techniques to contemporary products, and the value of collaboration between craft knowledge and design tools. The results show that local knowledge, material experimentation, and co-design can support sustainable products that are contextually rooted and aligned with inclusive supply chains. The contribution offers a replicable basis for further research on sustainable materials, craft, and industrial innovation.

Article info

Received: 08/03/2026; Revised: 12/04/2026; Accepted: 13/04/2026

Bicycles and cargo bikes – Hybrid modular models for urban micromobility and logistics

Alessandra Rinaldi, Jonathan Lagrimino — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper explores modularity as a design lever for integrating personal micromobility and logistics. Taking as its starting case study a modular light vehicle developed within the framework of the National Centre for Sustainable Mobility (Spoke 5 ‘Light Vehicle and Active Mobility’), the research adopts a Design Thinking approach and a Double Diamond model, combining literature analysis, expert consultation, the use of recurring factors, and scenario development. The results consist of an interpretative framework based on five key factors of urban micromobility systems and a proposal for a Hybrid Professional Micromobility model, in which the vehicle’s reconfigurability enables hybrid use between everyday mobility and proximity services. The findings highlight significant implications for flexibility of use, fleet management, and service reconfiguration.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 16/04/2026; Accepted: 22/04/2026

Immersive learning for resilient classrooms – Digital infrastructure for life-saving furniture

Federico Orfeo Oppedisano, Daniele Rossi, Manuel Scortichini — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In areas of high seismic risk, school safety depends not only on the structural performance of buildings, but also on occupants’ ability to recognise and correctly use protective devices and operational procedures. With this in mind, the paper presents the development of an Immersive Learning Environment (ILE) conceived as a digital socio-technical infrastructure supporting the Life Saving Furniture System (LSFS), developed within the inter-university research programme Vitality. The ILE integrates virtual reality, 360° content and augmented reality, relying on a static digital twin of the classroom. The research adopts a design-led approach, combined with hybrid model-based pilot experimentation. Preliminary results suggest improved understanding of the LSFS, an overall positive usability profile, and encouraging indications of procedural responsiveness.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 10/04/2026; Accepted: 13/04/2026

Surfaces as infrastructure – Design and additive manufacturing in Industry 5.0

Gianpiero Alfarano, Alessandro Spennato, Jurji Filieri — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The paper investigates the role of modular surfaces designed through additive manufacturing as systems capable of integrating technological innovation, modularity and perceptual qualities of space. The research adopts a ‘design research’ approach based on the integration of parametric modelling and prototyping through 3D printing, aimed at the development of surface modules characterised by variable seriality. Through the controlled manipulation of geometric parameters, morphological configurations were generated that can produce different visual and spatial effects. The results show that combining digital design and additive manufacturing enables the development of flexible, reconfigurable surface systems with potential applications in interior design and architecture. The paper also highlights the implications of such design strategies on sustainable innovation models and the 2030 Agenda goals.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 15/04/2026; Accepted: 17/04/2026

Human state monitoring in maritime training – The On Watch case

Mario Ivan Zignego, Alessandro Bertirotti, Paolo Gemelli, Laura Pagani — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In safety-critical domains, training is a socio-technical infrastructure (spaces, interfaces, procedures, and preparation, execution, and final review phases) that supports learning and the development of a safety culture. From this perspective, the paper proposes an operational framework for Designer-in-the-Loop (DITL) to introduce Human State Monitoring Systems (HSMS) into maritime training, making the trade-offs between digital innovation and surveillance-related risks, such as bias and inequality, explicit and verifiable. Within this framework, On Watch is adopted as a case study, enabling operational testing in a concrete application context by integrating multimodal signals and translating them into non-prescriptive probabilistic indicators, without rankings or automated decision-making, in support of the final review phase. A pilot experiment, structured across three contexts – ECDIS, cooperative bridge, and interview – evaluates feasibility, usefulness, and acceptability through replicable technical-operational and socio-distributive key performance indicators.

Article info

Received: 09/03/2026; Revised: 15/04/2026; Accepted: 17/04/2026

Reflections and trajectories on the contribution of architectural disciplines to SDGs 9 and 10 – Industry, Innovation, Infrastructure, and Reduce Inequalities

Cesare Sposito, Francesca Scalisi — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The editorial of Volume 19 of AGATHÓN reflects on the contribution of the disciplines of Architecture to SDGs 9 and 10, considering innovation, infrastructure and the reduction of inequalities as interdependent dimensions of the sustainability transition. Starting from a critical assessment of the 2030 Agenda, the text highlights synergies and trade-offs among the Sustainable Development Goals and emphasises the need for design and assessment tools capable of measuring environmental, social and distributive impacts. The contributions are interpreted through a multiscalar sequence, ranging from theoretical and informational infrastructures to landscapes, from settlements to buildings, from production systems to interfaces, and ultimately to materials. The volume advances a view of design as a critical infrastructure that connects knowledge, decision-making and action, demonstrating that innovation becomes meaningful when it reduces disparities, strengthens capacities and supports more equitable transformations of the built environment.

Carbon literacy and ecosystem infrastructures – A GIS-R method for climate assessment

Francesca Moraci, Alessandra Barresi, Pietro Bova, Francesco Trimboli — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper proposes an open-source and replicable GIS-R procedure for estimating carbon stock and sequestration potential in the Fiumara Calopinace basin (Reggio Calabria), the experimental area of PP 4.6.1 – Tech4You. Starting from the ecosystem classification of Carta Natura, reclassified according to IPCC categories, the method translates local ecological data into comparable biophysical metrics that support climate-responsive urban planning. Carbon is considered not only as a climate indicator but also as a cognitive infrastructure capable of connecting ecosystem services, land uses, and planning choices. The model enables comparison between the current ecosystem condition, the statutory planning framework, and transformation scenarios, providing a knowledge base for ex ante and ex post assessments and for contributions to SDGs 9 and 11.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 23/04/2026; Accepted: 25/04/2026

Borghi as care infrastructures – A metaproject for Alzheimer’s disease in inland areas

Teresa Villani, Anna Mezzalana — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper investigates the potential of depopulating ‘borghi’ to function as territorial care infrastructures for people with Alzheimer’s disease in the early stages. It addresses population ageing, inequalities in access to healthcare services, and the need to reuse underutilised built heritage, while contributing to the sustainable regeneration of inland areas and to the well-being of local communities. The study aims to verify the transferability of innovative residential models for dementia to small-scale settlements. It adopts an analytical-comparative approach based on case studies, integrating an environmental-behavioural model with evidence-based design to identify recurring spatial and organisational patterns. These results are translated into meta-design criteria for distributed socio-care facilities, which are subsequently applied to Borgo di Cicignano (RI).

Article info

Received: 15/03/2026; Revised: 16/04/2026; Accepted: 20/04/2026

Adaptive reuse as territorial infrastructure for rural areas – Indicator-based evaluation of reuse in Moya (Spain)

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Across many European marginal rural territories, abandoned historic settlements are preserved as consolidated ruins, ensuring material continuity but generating limited socio-economic activation. This paper develops and applies a four-dimensional settlement-scale framework to evaluate implemented adaptive reuse as territorial infrastructure. Focusing on the reconstructed former Church of La Trinidad in Moya (Spain), the study assesses social activation, visitor flows in proportion to the resident population, governance continuity, and intervention strategy through verifiable indicators. The results show that adaptive reuse functions a regulated productive infrastructure aligned with Sustainable Development Goals 9 and 10, although its territorial impact depends on multi-scalar integration and long-term governance stability. The framework offers a transferable tool for post-implementation evaluation in depopulating rural contexts.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 08/04/2026; Accepted: 10/04/2026

Industrial heritage in Hanoi – A multi-scalar assessment for adaptive reuse and innovative urban infrastructure

Thai Huyen Nguyen — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In Asian cities, rapid urbanisation has produced a paradox: these cities enter a ‘post-industrial’ phase while industrialisation remains ongoing. In Hanoi (Vietnam), for example, relocation policies for inner-city factories have driven demolition-led redevelopment, eroding industrial heritage and foreclosing opportunities for innovation. This paper examines repurposing industrial heritage as inclusive urban infrastructure contributing to SDG 9. Drawing on the EUNIC project ‘Repurposing Industrial Heritage’ (2021-2022), it applies a four-phase mixed-methods approach: spatial mapping of 95 facilities, morphological analysis, a community survey of 1,040 respondents, and comparison of 104 international cases. The research develops a Strategic Assessment Toolkit to support regeneration decisions calibrated to Hanoi’s institutional conditions.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 16/04/2026; Accepted: 21/04/2026

Infrastructures for proximity – Methods and strategies for the regeneration of railway station areas in the Lombardy network

Maria Pilar Vettori, Silvia Battaglia, Francesca Daprà, Andrea Dechamps — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The regeneration of railway stations represents a strategic field for integrating mobility infrastructures, public space, and territorial cohesion. This contribution proposes a systemic method for the analysis and programmatic orientation of interventions on railway station areas, understood as territorial infrastructures of proximity, capable of promoting territorial equity and social inclusion. Starting from a comparison between national and international models and from the analysis of the Lombardy railway system, the research defines a multi-criteria tool for the analysis and evaluation of stations and the development of operational guidelines for their regeneration. The application to the Milano Cadorna case (Italy) provides a profile structured by macro-areas, highlighting critical issues, opportunities, and intervention priorities, and outlining a method that can be replicated at the network scale. The paper presents an interpretative framework for an infrastructural heritage that now requires systemic regeneration, together with a method that can be replicated in comparable regional railway contexts.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 15/04/2026; Accepted: 18/04/2026

Climate shelters as adaptive urban infrastructures – A systemic network to reduce inequalities

Danila Longo, Rossella Roversi, Riccardo Mercuri, Beatrice Turillazzi — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Climate change is intensifying inequalities in urban areas, affecting vulnerable populations more severely during extreme heatwaves. In this context, this article proposes a critical reinterpretation of climate shelters as permanent urban infrastructures of redistribution explicitly linked to SDG 10 (Reduce inequalities). Through a structured critical literature review, a comparative analysis of pioneering international case studies (Barcelona, Paris, Bilbao), and the experimentation conducted in Bologna within the PNRR Ecosister and TALEA projects, the research demonstrates how interconnected networks of climate shelters, conceived as relational and systemic devices integrating nature-based solutions, digital innovation, and social inclusion, can counter spatial and climate injustices, guaranteeing the right to comfort as a shared environmental right.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 15/04/2026; Accepted: 17/04/2026

Socio-circular ecosystems – Social innovation, circular strategies, and the built environment

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Although the environmental and economic metrics of circularity are well established, its social dimension remains insufficiently systematised. European policies recognise the role of the circular transition in processes of inclusion, equity, and well-being, yet in the literature the social value of circularity is often addressed within fields such as social housing, co-design, and social enterprise. The paper proposes the concept of the Socio-Circular Ecosystem (SCE), understood as a spatial and relational system in which actors operating at different scales share and jointly manage tangible and intangible resources. Applied to European cases, this interpretative framework enables the identification of organisational and spatial configurations of SCEs and their capacity to activate circular processes, generate social value, and develop new housing and settlement models.

Article info

Received: 11/03/2026; Revised: 13/04/2026; Accepted: 14/04/2026

Interconnected transitions for industrial sustainability – Digital tools, energy efficiency, and circularity

Giuseppe Losco, Chiara Pasqualini, Mohammadjavad Khodaparast — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The path towards sustainable industrial models is based on the synergies between the circular, energy, and digital transitions. In this light, this paper proposes a methodological framework for the joint assessment of energy performance and corporate circularity in the industrial sector, integrating the energy audit set out in the EN 16247 series with the circularity measurement methodology defined by UNI/TS 11820:2022. A data-driven approach is adopted, based on digital monitoring systems for energy carriers, data analysis tools, and dynamic energy simulation models. The framework is applied to a case study of a plant operated by a large agri-food company; the results highlight how energy efficiency measures and self-generation from renewable sources improve both energy performance and circularity indicators.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 13/04/2026; Accepted: 15/04/2026

Soft parts of living – Digital Atlas for the incremental regeneration of Public Residential Housing

Spartaco Paris, Carlo Vannini — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The contribution proposes a methodology for the incremental regeneration of Roman public housing, realised through industrialised processes and prefabricated components, understanding digital technologies as a knowledge infrastructure rather than a mere representative tool. Starting from doctoral research on the first PEEP in Rome, the study constructs a Digital Atlas, a decision matrix, and an operational abacus to make the critical issues, priorities, and compromises of transformation legible. The work shows how this built heritage lends itself to different transformations calibrated on a case-by-case basis, on the basis of constructional characteristics, housing needs, and management constraints. Regenerating does not mean preserving through inertia, nor adapting only in terms of performance, but restoring habitability through a project capable of distinguishing between environment, technology, and society.

Article info

Received: 11/03/2026; Revised: 21/04/2026; Accepted: 24/04/2026

Biophilia and urban regeneration – 3D-printed Tech-NbS for resilient micro-interventions

Rosa Romano, Elisa Mazzoni — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The article presents the methodological framework and the first experimental outcomes of Urban Bloomers, a research project funded through the UniFI Extra 2025 – Public Engagement call and dedicated to the development of vegetated façade systems as technology-enabled Nature-based Solutions, 3D printed in clay and co-designed with institutional actors, companies, researchers, and school communities for biodiversity-oriented regeneration interventions in Mediterranean school recreational spaces. Through a state-of-the-art analysis, participatory activities for the observation, identification, and mapping of species, co-design workshops, parametric modelling, and additive prototyping, the research defines design, construction, and ecological criteria for the development of biophilic modules capable of integrating climate-stress-tolerant plant species, improving the microclimate, and supporting environmental learning processes. The preliminary outcomes provide a replicable methodological framework and the development of a first prototype of a Living Wall System (LWS) façade, oriented towards integrating ecological performance, the spatial quality of educational environments, and in situ application.

Article info

Received: 15/03/2026; Revised: 30/04/2026; Accepted: 01/05/2026

Nature-based Retrofit System – Prefabricated bio-based system for the energy retrofit of buildings

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The decarbonisation of the building stock requires scalable retrofit interventions that reduce not only operational energy consumption but also embodied carbon across the life cycle. This paper proposes a replicable decision-support framework that integrates light prefabrication, end-of-life scenarios, and temporal metrics through Dynamic Life Cycle Assessment (DLCA). The method is applied to the Nature-based Retrofit System (NoRS), a bio-based façade retrofit system assembled dry using CNC-machined rice straw panels, and compared with a timber-based system of equivalent performance. The results show that DLCA temporal analysis reveals trade-offs that static LCA does not capture: benefits vary with biomass regeneration and end-of-life scenarios. They are highly sensitive to delayed methane emissions under landfill conditions.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 14/04/2026; Accepted: 16/04/2026

Automotive-AEC technology transfer – DfMA framework and complex façade systems

Ingrid Maria Paoletti, Giuseppe Conti, Giorgio Castellano, Federica Pradella — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In the AEC sector, there is an urgent need for solutions that integrate environmental sustainability, design quality, and production scalability. This urgency stems from a rapidly changing context marked by environmental and technological shifts, a shortage of skilled labour, and stagnant productivity. Transferring technology from the automotive to the construction sector serves as a strategic lever for managing the growing complexity of building envelopes. This paper introduces an automotive-derived Design for Manufacturing and Assembly framework. The framework is applied to a façade macro-component fabricated from Glass-fibre Reinforced Concrete and Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing. By integrating parametric modelling, topological optimisation, and Life Cycle Assessment, the approach reduces the substructure’s mass. This improves material efficiency and guides the project towards industrialisable solutions that align with circularity principles.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 11/04/2026; Accepted: 13/04/2026

Schools as urban infrastructures – Planning, redistribution, and renewal of school infrastructure in Tirana

Frida Pashako, Ditjon Baboçi — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The paper interprets schools as civic infrastructures capable of influencing urban form, the distribution of opportunities, and the quality of public space. Taking Tirana as a field of observation, the essay re-examines the renewal and redistribution of the school network in the decade 2015-2025 not as a mere building programme, but rather as a mechanism of territorial rebalancing in a metropolitan city marked by accelerated growth and socio-spatial inequalities. Through a theoretical framework, a critical reading of planning instruments, the interpretation of three emblematic case studies, and the use of accessibility mapping as both an analytical and design tool, the paper proposes an interpretative lens that shifts attention from the individual building to the school network as an infrastructure of the public city. In this perspective, the value of the school exceeds its educational function and concerns the construction of proximity, urban welfare, and spatial justice.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 14/04/2026; Accepted: 16/04/2026

Adaptability and inclusion – Strategies to reduce inequality in the built environment

Maria Luisa Germanà, Giorgia Madonia — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In contemporary debate, the creation and transformation of the built environment are seen as the result of the interplay between material and immaterial dimensions, which both reflect and influence social structures. From this perspective, spatial inequalities can be interpreted as manifestations of broader economic, social, and cultural processes. This paper analyses the role of Technological and Environmental Design of Architecture in countering such inequalities, focusing on the inseparable relationship between inclusivity and adaptability. Through theoretical reflection and a comparative analysis of three cases of social housing, the essay interprets adaptability as a multi-level mechanism involving building systems, usage practices, and governance models, contributing to the creation of more inclusive and resilient environments.

Article info

Received: 12/03/2026; Revised: 21/04/2026; Accepted: 24/04/2026

Aesthetic Design and practical philosophy – Aesthetics and ethics in contemporary design

Dario Russo — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This article argues that, in contemporary design, ethics and aesthetics coincide within designed experience, emerging together from the same design logic, rather than constituting separate domains brought into dialogue. Through a critical analysis of the tradition of diffuse aestheticisation and by engaging with Everyday Aesthetics, the essay introduces the distinction between hyper-aesthetics and hypo-aesthetics, taking facilitation as both a design and an evaluative criterion. This yields a thesis that cuts across different scales and fields of contemporary design, from product design to services and from digital interfaces to inhabitable spaces: design configures relations, access, and practices, thereby rendering visible the ethical responsibility inscribed within the very structure of experience. The robustness of this thesis is tested through a series of paradigmatic cases, selected for their capacity to embody this convergence in radically different contexts. The framework proposed here also recognises its own limits – it privileges the logic of facilitation and fluidity, while leaving open the questions of co-responsibility and design power within complex systems – and identifies, precisely within those limits, the directions in which further research should proceed.

Article info

Received: 15/03/2026; Revised: 06/04/2026; Accepted: 07/04/2026

Design as relational infrastructure – Universities, territories, and systemic transformations

Paolo Tamborrini, Dario Russo, Cristina Marino — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In the debate on Sustainable Development Goals 9 and 10, territorial innovation is often interpreted through technological and productive parameters, while cultural and educational infrastructures remain marginal. This contribution proposes that Design be understood as a relational infrastructure capable of connecting universities, territories, and productive systems. The analysis is based on a comparison between the two editions of the Design&Territori exhibition and conference series (Palermo 2018 and Agrigento 2025), taken as an observatory of university-based design practices. The results show, on the one hand, a shift from a product-centred paradigm to a systemic approach oriented towards services, networks, and community capability-building and, on the other, the structural limits that hinder the stabilisation of these processes.

Article info

Received: 17/03/2026; Revised: 21/04/2026; Accepted: 24/04/2026

Co-creating sustainable futures – The MUSAE Factory Model for SDG-oriented innovation through art and technology

Marita Canina, Tatiana Efremenko — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Innovation is central to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals and European agendas, yet current models struggle to address systemic complexity, trade-offs, and long-term transitions. This contribution presents the MUSAE project and its open-source Factory Model, an art-driven, futures-oriented operational framework aligned with the Industry 5.0 paradigm. At its core is the Design Futures Art-driven (DFA) method, which integrates trend analysis, visioning, ideation, and prototyping by combining artistic experimentation, design, technological development, and co-creation with artificial intelligence. Tested through art-and-technology residencies in the context of ‘food as medicine’, MUSAE shows how shared visions of the future can generate prototypes up to TRL5 and foster systemic synergies. The model interprets SDG 9 as an enabler of integrated, human- and planet-centred innovation under conditions of uncertainty.

Article info

Received: 10/03/2026; Revised: 24/04/2026; Accepted: 29/04/2026

Digital innovation and circularity in the wood-furniture sector – Sustainable strategies for Made in Italy

Lucia Pietroni, Daniele Galloppo, Vittorio Giannetti, Caterina Di Flamminio — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Made in Italy wood-furniture sector, historically rooted in local industrial districts and artisanal manufacturing, is currently undergoing a dual digital and ecological transition. This transformation is reshaping its cultural and productive identity, aiming to shift the current economic model from a linear to a circular one. Through the analysis of case studies involving companies and products, the paper highlights how the intersection of these two innovation drivers – digital and ecological – can play a significant role in accelerating the transition of production systems toward circularity and sustainability, while enhancing their capacity to generate value and competitiveness.

Article info

Received: 12/03/2026; Revised: 15/04/2026; Accepted: 17/04/2026

Hybridisation of the profession – New alliances for an infrastructural innovation of the architectural project

Elodie Nourrigat — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This contribution proposes a reinterpretation of innovation in architecture through the contemporary transformations affecting professional practices. It argues that the current crisis in the management of the project and in the positioning of the profession does not arise from a deficit of technological progress, but from the fragmentation of procedural and decision-making frameworks. Through a systemic analysis of regulatory, digital, and institutional transformations, the research introduces the concept of ‘infrastructural innovation’, understood as a reconfiguration of the cognitive, organisational, and relational structures of the architectural project. From this perspective, ‘new alliances’ define the conditions for a hybrid approach capable of integrating complexity, promoting transdisciplinarity, and transforming the modes of architectural production in response to socio-ecological challenges.

Article info

Received: 28/02/2026; Revised: 05/05/2026; Accepted: 10/05/2026

Infrastructure between sustainability and necessity – Environmental design and a trans-scalar approach

Andrea Tartaglia, Luigi Alini — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The contribution interprets Sustainable Development Goal no. 9 as an opportunity to rethink territorial infrastructuring processes beyond the mono-functional and sectoral model of grey infrastructure. Starting from the theoretical framework of Technological and Environmental Design, the essay proposes a trans-scalar and performance-based reading of infrastructure, understood not only as technical work but also as a device capable of producing services, ecosystem values, and social benefits over the medium- to long-term. The reflection is developed through three experiences in Italy: the new PTCP of the Province of Lodi, in which socio-economic values are related to ecosystem values; the Guidelines for the environmental and social quality of interventions developed by the Agenzia del Demanio, oriented towards assessment throughout the life cycle; and the experimentation with ‘Arundo donax’ in the Saline di Priolo Oriented Nature Reserve, which turns an invasive species into a resource for lightweight and reversible infrastructure. The results highlight the need to move from a logic of technical possibility to a culture of design necessity, capable of orienting multifunctional, verifiable, and transferable infrastructural choices.

Article info

Received: 02/03/2026; Revised: 18/05/2026; Accepted: 21/05/2026