Immersions in Materials for Packaging. The Case Study of a Digital Festival on Analogic Materials

Abstract

Over the last twelve months, the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic have changed both the approach and praxis of design. However, some unforeseen outcomes have come to light when the pandemic is enforced into the variety of design domains as both challenges. In this context, MATto, Politecnico di Torino's material library, proposed within Terra Madre - Salone del Gusto 2020, online support to companies and designers interested in the new material and technological challenges of food packaging: solutions, today, are linked to disciplines from chemistry to technological culture, from semiotics to perception, to design. MATto investigated these issues, with attention to sustainability, aesthetics, and inclusion, developing a new accessible learning model for an extended audience. The challenge of digitalising a deeply analogic issue such as the materials experience was faced, unveiling new promising opportunities.