Giovanna PICCINNO | Architect, professor and artist

She served as President and Coordinator of the BSc in Interior Design and the MSc in Interior and Spatial Design (2016–2021). Her research and teaching focus on Interior and Spatial Design, with particular emphasis on ecological and humanitarian emergencies and a multi-species approach.

As coordinator and lecturer, she established extensive interdisciplinary collaborations with leading figures, including Andrea Branzi, Michele De Lucchi, Margherita Palli, Franco Bolelli, Pietro Marani, Anna Barbara, Medad Shafik, Markus Jatsch, Stavros Kastanevas, Andrea Granitzio, Marco Barsottini, Elisa Cattaneo, Cristina Morbi and many others. She involved them in international symposia, OUVERTURE events, lectures and multidisciplinary workshops aimed at renewing the discipline.

In 2017, she founded and currently directs the International PERISCOPE | Spatial Design | Research HUB, a methodological framework addressing urgent humanitarian and ecological emergencies. She also launched PERISCOPE | Collective, an experimental, artistic extension of the Research Hub dedicated to intergenerational, interdisciplinary creative projects.

In 2010, her research project 100 Virtuous Cities was selected by the Italian Ministry of Innovation for the “Italia degli Innovatori” exhibition at the Shanghai Expo 2010 and for the ADI Design Index 2010 (Compasso d’Oro) in the Corporate Research category.

She is a member of the Board of Architects of Milan and holds the scientific-disciplinary sector CEAR-08/D (Design and Technology of Architecture) as a tenured professor.

Her activity spans architecture, interior design, spatial design, product design and artistic production. She has always designed and created composite objects, variable configurations and self-built experimental prototypes that have accompanied her personal and professional journey.

Her profoundly multiscalar approach moves with equal intensity from territorial and urban scales — focusing on re-naturalization and spatial reconnection — to the intimate dimension of personal space. These scales overlap conceptually, generating macro and micro worlds that dialogue in both large-scale projects and her self-produced artistic outputs, including self-supporting spatial objects, models, graphic panels and medium-format wooden panels. Her artistic works are collected in COLLEZIONE UNICA, GIO +PIC

Andrea GRANITZIO | Musician and composer

Versatile musician, composer, and lecturer, Andrea Granitzio is the Artistic Director of Music Programming for the Sciola Foundation. He serves as Professor and sound consultant at the Politecnico di Milano, where he contributes to the Master of Science in Interior and Spatial Design, focusing on innovative approaches to spatial soundscapes.

He holds a Master’s degree and a PhD in Composition (Contemporary Music) from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, including a visiting research period at the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China. His compositions have been performed internationally across Europe, Qatar, the United States, Japan, Korea, and China. He has collaborated with the Shanghai Polytechnic (Italian Summer School), the Festival of Science and Philosophy in Foligno, and the Accademia dei Lincei. He has also participated in the Venice Architecture Biennale (2021 and 2025) with projects exploring the relationship between sound and perception.

Since 2015, he has worked as project manager for initiatives focused on the internationalization of Sardinian cultural identity, developed in collaboration with Italian Cultural Institutes worldwide, with particular emphasis on cultural exchange with China.

Professor Granitzio’s work transcends traditional boundaries, redefining the intersection of music, architecture, and spatial perception, making him a dynamic force in both artistic and academic spheres.

Chiara SANGERMANI | Designer

Interdisciplinary designer working across spatial design, architecture, and landscape regeneration, her practice explores the relationship between research and design as a form of spatial experimentation.

She works as a freelance architectural designer, collaborating with studios and design practices on projects that span from concept to construction, navigating between design development and coordination. Her practice moves across spatial interventions, organizational frameworks, and cultural production, including the conception and artistic direction of projects in the field of visual arts. In the past years, she has worked with public administrations and third-sector organizations on nationally funded initiatives addressing fragile territories and rural contexts.

She holds a Master’s degree in Interior and Spatial Design from Politecnico di Milano and in Environmental Art Design from Tsinghua University (Beijing, China). Her thesis work, The Gestures of Void, investigates regenerative landscapes through spatial inquiry and void-based methodologies, in which design serves as both an analytical and a transformative tool.

Her work focuses on the relationships between the built environment and regeneration processes, approaching them through a combination of spatial research, mapping, and design experimentation. Drawing from sociology, urban studies, and architectural frameworks, she investigates how space can be reinterpreted as an open, evolving system.

She teaches as an Adjunct professor in the MSc Interior and Spatial Design programme at Politecnico di Milano.

Alice ZINGALES | Architect and designer

Interior architect and designer, her practice moves fluidly between the material grounding of built work and the investigative drive of spatial research. Her work spans residential and commercial interiors, exhibition design, and large-scale installations, approached with rigorous attention to detail, a multiscalar design sensibility, and a deep understanding of how space shapes human experience.

She maintains full creative authorship throughout the design process, managing technical and logistical aspects from concept to completion. She collaborates with Italian and international studios on projects across different scales and typologies. Her research-oriented approach finds its strongest expression in exhibition design, notably the sensory installation for the Calabria Punta d’Italia pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025 and the exhibition design for Amano Corpus Animae at Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan for Lucca Comics & Games, both developed in collaboration with POLI.design.

At the heart of her practice is the exploration of the relationship between space and living beings — how bodies move through and inhabit environments, how gestures and behaviours shape perception, and how physical and digital dimensions of space increasingly overlap. This investigation operates across multiple scales, from intimate interiors to broader landscape and ecological contexts, drawing on human-centred design, spatial psychology, and the study of nature as both context and co-author of spatial experience.

She teaches as an Adjunct Professor at the School of Design, Politecnico di Milano, in the BSc in Interior Design and the MSc in Interior and Spatial Design programmes. Her teaching promotes an integrated multiscalar approach, treating ecological, acoustic, behavioural, and material dimensions as interconnected elements of spatial design.

Alice Zingales holds a Master’s degree in Interior Design with honours from Politecnico di Milano, a specialization in Lighting Design from IED – Istituto Europeo di Design, and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Politecnico di Milano. She is a registered member of the Ordine degli Architetti di Milano.

JUNIOR TEAM |||||||

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS |||||||

Anna Barbara_ Polimi, School of Design professor

Riccardo Bargiggia, Fisico_ Sodai

Marco Barsottini, interactive design_ camerAnebbia

Camillo Boano_ UCL, London

Carlo Boni_ Biologo, Sodai

Andrea Branzi_ Polimi, School of Design professor

Elisa Cattaneo_ Polimi, School of Architecture

Emanuele Coccia_ École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris

Michele De Lucchi_ Polimi, School of Design professor

Marco De Santi_ Polimi, School of Design, adjunct professor

Barbara Di Prete_ Polimi, School of Design professor

Giulia Gerosa_ Polimi, School of Design professor

Luca Guerrini_ Polimi, School of Design professor

Markus Jatsch_ MSP – Martha Schwartz Partners, London, New York, Shanghai

Stavros Kastanevas, astrophysicist_ EGO director (2018-2022)

Pietro Cesare Marani_ Polimi, School of Design professor

Martina Mazzarello_ Senior PostDoctoral Researcher MIT

Daniele Mazzinghi, designer

Stefano Mirti, architect_ IdLab – Interaction Design Lab

Francesca Molteni, Director-Film maker_ Muse Factory of Projects

Andrea Mondoni_ UNI Pavia, Scienze della Terra Department

Cristina Morbi_ Maetherea

Andrea Morgnate_ Shiro Studio, London

Francesca Murialdo_ MDX University – London, Polimi visiting professor

Vincenzo Napolano_ EGO-Virgo Communication Manager

Margherita Palli_ scenographer

Lorenzo Palmeri_ Lorenzo Palmeri Studio

Alessandro Papetti, artist

Osvaldo Pogliani, architect, Polimi, School of Design adjunct professor

Quiet Ensemble_ Artistic collective Fabio di Salvo and Bernardo Vercelli

Davide Rapp_ Director-Video Artist, Polimi, School of Design adjunct professor

Claudio Scaccini, photographer

Medhat Shafi, artist

Alexandros Tsamis_ CASE | Center for Architecture Science and Ecology, New York

Gordon Young, artist

Francesco Vergani_ Polimi, School of Design

Alessandro Villa_ architect, Polimi, School of Design adjunct professor

Cristina Zambonini_ aceworks, Polimi School of Design adjunct professor

Bruno Zamborlin_ Mogees, AI