We are thrilled to share that our third Design in the Age of Experience is underway in Milan!  For those not able to be at our event that is held alongside Milan Design Week, we are pleased to share a daily recap with you. So buckle in to learn about day one, and check back all week to discover the many happenings in our packed agenda.

The overall theme of the event is Design for Life. Our planet has limited resources but humans have produced and consumed in linear, unsustainable ways. The world is changing and so are we. Today, our journey goes further as we embrace regenerative habits. We re-think how we engage with each other and with nature. Innovators and designers now use systemic thinking to drive change in our cities, mobility, energy use and daily lives. Thanks to design and science, together, we are creating a more resilient and sustainable world.

Day one sessions focused on the role of materials in sustainable design. As we live in a world yearning for sustainability and regeneration, the way we engage with, change and use matter is of utmost importance. Topics covered the role of designers in rematerializing the world, biomimicry, and hands-on experiences with re-engineered materials.

Co-Founder and Head of Technology at re:3D, Matthew Fiedler, started us off by talking about how his company, a spin-off of NASA, is developing technology to enable recycling plastic waste with affordable, large format 3D printing.

Next, esteemed architect and founding principal of Morphosis Architects Thom Mayne and our Vice President of Design Experience and head of our Design Studio, Anne Asensio, had a conversation about the role of design and architecture in addressing today’s societal, environmental and urban challenges.

Designer Patrick Jouin then took the audience on a journey of sustainable desgn with minimal use of material. He explored how digital technologies help designers turn their ideas into reality using as little material as possible, contributing to a more sustainable world. Jouin stressed his collaborative exploration process with Dassault Systèmes’ Design Studio tocreate his foldable, recyclable TAMU chair prototype using generative technology; attendees are able to see this at our 3DEXPERIENCE playground.

Next, CATIA CEO Philippe Laufer was joined on stage by Mette Thomsen, Professor of Digital Technologies at Denmark’s Centre for Info Tech and Architecture and Franck Sylvain, CEO of France’s EEL Energy (part of our 3DEXPERIENCE Lab program) to discuss the role of designers in re-materializing the world. They explored the question: What can we learn from nature about efficiency in design? Together they discussed the opportunities and challenges of biomimicry in design, while Mette Thomsen stressed the importance of research and in-depth knowledge of materials in pioneering a more sustainable approach to use of resources.

Today’s sessions wrapped up with Silvano Joly from our Centric PLM team and Claudia Poli from luxury furniture brand Visionnaire discussing the relationship between craftsmanship and digital world.

Finally, we invite you to click on the video below to experience a virtual tour of the exhibition that shows sustainable design in action! You’ll get a glimpse of our flagship interactive installation with Morphosis about addressing urban challenges, an autonomous electronic lawnmower created collaboratively in virtual reality with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, a look at some of the projects accelerated by our 3DEXPERIENCE Lab and some preliminary insight into our Hackathon – with news that you can vote on projects come Thursday. More to come!