ARTISANAL ADVANCED DESIGN. Advanced Manufacturing Processes as a Tool to Revitalize Oeculiar Italian (Craft)Productions.

This paper aims to investigate the boundaries between design culture, the culture of doing – typical of manual arts – and industrial manufacturing culture. In particular, it aims to demonstrate the potentiality of the integration of advanced manufacturing processes into the traditional production of craftsmanship. “Artisanal Advanced Design” outlines a research and innovation approach for the textile craftsmanship, to stimulate its current and future economic and cultural growth, thanks to the transmission of local identity interpreted by the new technologies, without losing the value of heritage and know-how. The connection of cutting-edge processes with the craft culture and the value of authenticity and uniqueness aims to distinguish a new typology of singular artisanal objects for their innovative meaning and connection with advanced manufacturing processes. Therefore, the paper focuses on the cultural background connected to identity, craftsmanship and know-how on the textile industry and present in detail the case study of Gruppo di Installazione, highlighting how experimenting knowledge transfers processes and the hybridization of techniques between craftsmanship and advanced manufacturing can represent a strategic asset to revitalize peculiar craft textile productions with a strong market potential.