Made in Polimi: 35 Square Meters for 150 Years of History

The telling of a great story does not depend on how large the space is or extensive the budget. Instead, it relies on a design and curatorial interpretation that can fascinate and involve the potential visitors: this is the challenge of MADE IN POLIMI. MADE IN POLIMI is a permanent, yet transformable, exhibition space that conveys the history of the Politecnico di Milano, spanning more than 150 years across architecture, design, and engineering. Inspired by the experience of wonder one feels discovering an object of memory in an old drawer, the exhibition design builds, in two minimal spaces, a wooden shell that contains drawers, panels, pull-out trays and niches housing documents, images and objects. The chosen technology is the one of a wooden cabinet and the cost is proportionate. The digital instruments employed are simple: small screens and digital frames. Deliberately doing “more with less”, thus minimizing the budget, this exhibition system turns space constraints into an opportunity to re-interpret traditional methods of narration, encouraging visitors to build tailored experiences of the contents according to their interests, to be curious and involved in creating their stories with intuitive instruments.