- Year of nomination: 2019
- Facility: Department of Design
- E-mail: arturo.dellacqua@polimi.it
He was one of the central figures in the launch and consolidation of studies and research in the field of Design at the Politecnico di Milano. Head of the INDACO Department (now the Department of Design) from 2004 to 2010 and in that capacity President of the Council of Heads of Departments of the Politecnico. Dean of the School of Design from 2010 to 2015.
He directed the Laurea programmes (equivalent to Bachelor of Science) in Industrial Design (tracks: product, interiors and communication) of the Como Campus of the Politecnico di Milano.
He founded the Laurea (MSc) programme in Fashion Design at the Department of Design of the Politecnico di Milano.
He has directed inter-university exchange programmes in the disciplines of Interior and Industrial Design in Europe and overseas. Since 2010 he has developed the teaching plan of Design of the Delhi Polytechnic College, since 2012 that of the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology and since 2008 that of the Fashion Institute of Technology of New York.
Initiator and co-ordinator for the Politecnico di Milano of the combined teaching programme Politecnico – Bocconi for Design. Member of the most important international organisations for the promotion of design culture, he has held courses in the most prestigious universities in the world. Vice-President of the Fondazione Triennale di Milano and founder of the new Museo del Design from 2000 to 2006.
He has combined his extraordinary institutional work with a large amount of publishing and conference activity.
Extract from the 2019 nomination statement