Ricerc@Sapienza

Communication Design
Over the past five years, my research interests have shifted from Product Design to Communication Design, including Exhibit Design.
The opportunity provided by the establishment of the CNAAPP Master's Program in Natural Capital and Protected Areas at the PDTA department initiated a line of research that highlighted the strategic role played by Communication in the conservation and enhancement of Natural Capital.
This led to studies on the Brand Design Strategy developed for the Natural Capital of countries such as the USA, France, Norway, Sweden, Croatia, Israel, and Japan, which have become case studies in numerous scientific articles and papers.
Brand strategies are also the basis of the research project proposed and funded with PNRR funds within the Extended Partnerships and specifically by PE5 _ Fondazione Changes.
The research title, launched in 2022, is: Rich_ Rito and Cultural Heritage. Design-Driven Models for Mapping, Archiving, and Use of Italian Intangible Cultural Heritage - RiCH_Rite and Cultural Heritage. Design-Driven Models for Mapping, Archiving, and Experiencing the Italian Intangible Cultural Heritage focused on the study of the intangible cultural heritage represented by communication artifacts (brand manuals, house organs, financial and sustainability reports, brand advertising, stands and exhibition spaces, etc.) developed, published, and reiterated by large Italian companies. Four case studies were analyzed: Rai, Eni, Ferrovie dello Stato, and Tim.

In addition to the PNRR research, research in the field of brand design has had numerous other opportunities for experimentation provided by third-party research assignments with public and private entities. These include:
_ Rebranding of the Lazio Region's employment centers (2018/19);
_ Brand design for the 40th anniversary of the Nazzano Tevere Farfa Nature Reserve (2020);
_ Re-branding of the State Property Agency (2025);
_ Brand design for ADIMUS _ Digital Environment of the Sapienza Museums.
Research in the field of Communication Design has involved numerous young PhD students, graduate students, and researchers, with whom we have established relationships with national and international institutions, universities, and research centers.
Among these initiatives are the coordination of two Bottom-Up groups of the SID (Italian Scientific Society of Design) – Communication Design and Design for Education – and the editorship of the Class A scientific journal "Progetto Grafico," the Journal of Communication Design.
The research group also supports teaching activities in the various areas of Communication Design in the undergraduate degree programs - Design - and the graduate degree programs - Visual and Multimedia Communication Design.

Exhibit Design and Spatial Design
A historical strand of my research involves both public and private spaces, characterized by the study of display or functional solutions designed to enhance heritage, artifacts, places, and atmospheres.
The foundation of my exhibit design research is the thesis that exhibition design is a fully-fledged communication design project, requiring it to prefigure and articulate narratives through spatial, textual, and visual manipulations.
The techniques and design solutions aimed at constructing narratives in space mean that Exhibit Design often overlaps with Spatial Design.
The latter is often part of strategies aimed at activating processes of urban and social regeneration.
Research in the fields of exhibit and spatial design therefore involves the Communication Design research group and in recent years has found numerous opportunities for experimentation in competitively funded research:
_ 2020/2025 _ Curatorship and exhibition concept for the exhibition "Italia Geniale. Design Enables," ADI contract on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Development (MISE); Venues: Italian Pavilion, EXPO 2020 Dubai; Palazzo Piacentini 2022; 10 Italian cultural institutes abroad; 2024 Tour of the Amerigo Vespucci ship. Project Manager.
2023_ Municipality of Viterbo, Creator of the wayfinding and museum signage for the exhibition at Palazzo dei Priori in Viterbo. Assignment: PDTA Department/Archeoares Association. Project Manager.
_ 2021/2025 _ Curatorship and exhibition concept for the exhibition "Identitalia. The Iconic Design Brand," contract between Unioncamere and the Department of PDTA (Production and Transport) through a competitive tender _ commissioned by MIMIT _ Ministry of Business and Made in Italy; Locations: Palazzo Piacentini, Rome and from September 2025 to February 2026, the M9 Museum in Mestre. Project Manager.
_ 2024/2025 _ Curatorship and exhibition concept for the exhibition "Italy of Patents. Successful Inventions and Innovations," contract between Unioncamere and the Department of PDTA (Production and Transport) through a competitive tender _ commissioned by MIMIT _ Ministry of Business and Made in Italy. Locations: Palazzo Piacentini, Rome and from April to October 2025, the Italian Pavilion at EXPO 2025 Osaka (Japan). Project Manager.
_ 2025 _ Curator and designer of the exhibition (analog and digital) for the Jubilee exhibition "Cultura in Cantiere" at Palazzo San Felice, Rome. Competitive call for proposals from the interdepartmental research and services center Saperi&Co/Agenzia del Demanio. Project Manager.
Numerous publications on exhibit and spatial design.

Design and Territory
A research strand that characterizes my work investigates the relationship between Design and Territory, which can be primarily defined through the "Design for Territory" approach.
"Design for Territory" refers to a research activity that, starting from the study of the territory—understood as a collection of resources and stakeholders—defines actions and strategies to be implemented within the territory itself to introduce "Design-Driven" innovations and stimulate development.
Knowledge and study of the territory are central to my research, initially through mapping all those stakeholders—professionals, businesses, research institutions, etc.—involved directly or indirectly in the design system and active in a specific territory, and the dynamics that develop between these stakeholders and local resources.
Begun in 1998 with participation in the first Murst SDI research project, the activity then continued with an original contribution focused primarily on the Lazio region, on which no existing literature existed. In 2004, this research led to the creation of a full-fledged "Scientific Observatory of Design in Lazio," of which I was the coordinator. This was achieved with funding from university and faculty research, and led to the organization of numerous national and international exhibitions on the topic (Canton 2006; Rome 2007, etc.). I organized several conferences on the topic and edited important publications (see Research Maps). The work of mapping and promoting design in the Lazio region finally found an important international showcase in a specific supplement to the DIID magazine, "Design for Made in Italy. Sistema Design nelle imprese di Roma e del Lazio," which I directed between 2009 and 2011, and which resulted in 12 special issues.
The Design and Territory strand also includes the most recent research and experiments in the field of Stone Design—understood as a strategic resource for a territory—with funded research, publications, and products, as well as those on New Craft (Milan Triennale 2016, Maker Fair 2015, and curation of MD Journal no. 7-2019).
The research strand exploring the diverse relationships between Design and Territory has found further expression in Multicultural Design. Territories, understood as cities, regions, and nations, regardless of the formal labels given by man, are living and layered expressions of material and visual cultures, within which specific artifacts, typologies, and techniques have been invented and developed. The research, which has included the publication of several scientific articles as a dissemination activity, has tended to define a taxonomy based on the dynamics of contamination between Western and other cultures.
Since 2018, when I launched the second-level Master's program in "Natural Capital and Protected Areas" in the PDTA department, which I co-founded, I have expanded my studies of Design and Territory to the broader field of "Natural Capital." Together with fellow researchers, I have discovered the potential for investigation and development within the culture of design, specifically within many sub-fields of design (Graphics, Multimedia, Exhibition, etc.) applicable to the conservation, enjoyment, and enhancement of this Capital.
Among my noteworthy initiatives: participation in two international scientific conferences—AHFE 2019 in the USA and MDA 2019 in Marsala, with the publication of the related proceedings—and the funding of a competitive University Research Project as Principal Investigator.
I have helped organize and participated in several national and international conferences on the relationship between Design and Natural Capital, also publishing the proceedings. Numerous other activities are included in this line, which are transversally located between Research, Teaching and Third Mission.