Flaviano Celaschi

During the 1990s, Flaviano Celaschi’s professional, didactic and scientific training developed around the experiences described below. This period can be divided into two parts.
The first was in the construction sector, as Prof. Celaschi’s university experience centred on technology for architecture and the environment. The European construction sector during those years was undergoing intensive restructuring, setting a pattern for many other transformations taking place in subsequent years in the production of other, less complex goods and services in the industrial field.

Flaviano Celaschi earned a Degree in Architecture in 1988. His thesis on the transformation of the relationship between the individual and space in the automated factory, under Professor Ida Faré, was selected for publication. The same year he became an assistant on Prof. Faré’s course in Social Architecture. In 1999 be began his free-lance professional activity in the field of industrial and architectural design. Between 1992 and 1995 he attended the Ph.D. program in Technology for Architecture and the Environment, offered jointly by the Università di Genova, Politecnico di Torino, Politecnico di Milano, and Università Federico II di Napoli.

ESEM (a building industry training centre), Milan. Prof. Celaschi was responsible from 1992 until 1998 for planning training activities and for the institute’s research and development. He contributed to reformulating the course offering, development themes for the centre, and new training formats for the construction sector.

CPT (Territorial Joint Committee for accident prevention and health and safety in the workplace), Milan. As head of R&D from 1994 to 1998, Prof. Celaschi was particularly involved in training professionals and designers in safety coordination. He planned, organised and conducted training courses for over 15,000 designers all over Italy.

Building industry training centre, Piacenza. Prof. Celaschi was director from 1996 to 1999, redefining the institute’s research and training processes.

In the meantime Prof. Celaschi embarked on a new kind of experience. From 1985 to 2005 his many activities encompassed the fields of architecture, interior design, communication and design training. In the second half of the 1990s, Alberto Seassaro, professor of Systems and Components Testing, asked Prof. Celaschi to collaborate in developing the first Degree program in Design in an Italian university (Politecnico di Milano).

STAGE (work placement) Service, Politecnico di Milano. Prof. Celaschi represented the Faculties of Architecture on the administrative board of the stage service, and contributed to reorganising the system for managing compulsory training periods under the new university ordinance. The system now provides some 1000 work placements yearly in the design area alone.

Como branch, Politecnico di Milano. Degree program in Design for the Furnishing and Textile Industries of the Brianza-Como area. In the period between 1998 and 2001 Prof. Celaschi conducted research on behalf of Politecnico di Milano into ways of developing the Brianza and Como design districts, leading in 1999 to creation of the design program at Como.

POLI.Design, a consortium for applied research and continuing education, Politecnico di Milano. In 1999 Prof. Celaschi was co-founder with Alberto Seassaro (the first president) and directed the research institute until 2003.

INDACO (Department of Industrial Design, Art, Communication and Fashion), Politecnico di Milano. In 2001 Prof. Celaschi was co-founder and first director of the first university design department in Italy.

Faculty of Design, Politecnico di Milano. Prof. Celaschi was deputy dean between 2001, when the faculty was founded, and 2003.

Ph.D. program in Design and Multimedia, Politecnico di Milano. Prof. Celaschi was a member of the teaching body from 1999 to 2004, and coordinator from 2003 to 2004.

Ph.D. program in Design and Technologies Exploitation for the Cultural Heritage, Politecnico di Milano. Prof. Celaschi was co-founder with Alberto Seassaro and Fabrizio Schiaffonati, and a member of the teaching body until 2007.

This was a busy period of collaboration and promotion linked to university management activities at all levels, permitting Prof. Celaschi to gain organisational expertise in research and training processes at a time when the Italian model of university-level design education was in its experimental phase.

Since 2001 Prof. Celaschi has participated in seminars, meetings, and university courses, and has spoken at various universities in Italy as well as Spain, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and China. His most recent experiences of applied research, between 2001 and 2009, have involved organisations wishing to introduce a new approach to production oriented towards design and communication. Some of his most recent experiences include:

Creative Academy of Milano, Richemont group (Cartier, IWC, Montblanc, etc.), Geneva, Switzerland. Prof. Celaschi collaborated in setting up the training centre and in developing international training activities for the group’s creative managers.

Gardesa SpA, Piacenza, Italy. Prof. Celaschi coordinated the research team to create a new range of design-oriented products. He also helped to set up a design division within the company, training personnel and defining procedures for innovative development.

Aprica Kassai Ltd, Osaka, Japan. Prof. Celaschi collaborated with Alessandro Deserti, Alba Cappellieri and Andrea Branzi to develop and redefine Aprica’s product system for children from 0 to 3 years.

Matshushita Panasonic Ltd, Europe. Prof. Celaschi set up the process for redefining the group’s design-driven research and development organisation, working first with Alba Cappellieri and subsequently with Francesco Zurlo on an exchange project involving Italian designers in Japan.

L’Orèal, Paris, France. Prof. Celaschi participated in a project to create new competitive scenarios for the Kèrastase brand of hair-care products. He also developed the ideological and training structure of L’Oréal’s Corporate University in Palazzo Mignanelli in Rome.

Chamber of Commerce for Industry and Handcrafts, Mantova, Italy. Prof. Celaschi coordinated the design and communication research team to develop a territorial marketing plan for the Mantova-Oltrepò area.

Chamber of Commerce for Industry and Handcrafts, Mantova, Italy. Prof. Celaschi coordinated the design and communication research team in planning a “Natural Shopping Centre” for Mantova City of Culture.

Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), Porto Alegre, Brazil. Prof. Celaschi developed a project for a university School of Design with an annex Design Centre in Porto Alegre, coordinating the start-up and consolidation phases.

MADESA, new Brinna brand product system, Bento Goncalves (State of Rio Grande do Sul), Brazil. Prof. Celaschi collaborated with Alessandro Deserti to develop a plan for a new international brand in the furniture sector.

SENAI, CETIQT (Centro de Tecnologia da Indústria Química e Têxtil), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Prof. Celaschi participated on the research and consulting team that developed a project for a design centre at the CETIQT business school in Rio de Janeiro, and helped to redefine the applied research and course programs in four other Brazilian research centres within the SENAI network.

Cean SpA, Trofarello (Torino Province), Italy. Prof. Celaschi collaborated in planning an experimental supermarket, and defining processes of design-driven research at the company’s Academy Market.

During the same period Prof. Celaschi consulted for Decathlon, Politecnico di Torino, Il Tarì training foundation, Fiera di Vicenza, Fiera di Milano, CONAI National Packaging Consortium, Soremartech (research and development arm of Ferrero), BE-MA publishers, Jolly Hotel NH Hotels, Agenzia Torino 2008 World Design Capital, TIM Telecom, ESEM training centres, Alberto Greco publishers, Fiera di Bologna, Umberto Allemandi publishers, Ministry of the Interior, Maggioli publishers, ABET Laminati Group, and others.

In 2007 Prof. Celaschi was invited by director Carlo Olmo to coordinate the editorial committee of “Il Giornale del Design”, Umberto Allemandi & C. publishers, together with Alessandro Colombo and Alba Cappellieri.

Since 2009 is Full professor of Industrial Design at Politecnico di Milano, where he coordinates the Research Unit on Design Advanced, working on the front end of design driven innovation.

He coordinates the 1st International Forum of Design as a Process, which took place on June 2009 at UNISINOS, Porto Alegre, Brasil.