How are cultural heritage and artificial intelligence reshaping the future of design education across global contexts?
Prof. Francesco Zurlo, Dean of the School of Design at Politecnico di Milano, and Prof. Marinella Ferrara, Coordinator of MADEC Research Team, were invited to attend Salone del Mobile.Milano in Riyadh and its three-day cultural programme “Red in Progress”.
Among the series of public conversations, the session held on 28 November, “From Heritage to AI: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Italian Design,” stood out for its relevance to contemporary debates on design education.
Academic and institutional leaders from Italy and Saudi Arabia discussed:
- How design schools are rethinking their pedagogical frameworks;
- How new forms of interaction between AI and human creativity are emerging;
- How cultural heritage can be reinterpreted within contemporary design curricula;
- How cross-cultural dialogue can foster innovative design methodologies.
The presence of Eiman Yahya Kurdi (PhD, CCTM), Director of Continuing Education at the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts (وِرث | wrth), further highlighted the importance of cultural and educational exchange between Italian and Saudi design contexts — a direction that resonates strongly with the long-term collaboration carried out by POLI.design and MADEC Research Team together with وِرث | wrth.
MADEC will continue to share reflections on cross-cultural design research, heritage-based innovation, and emerging perspectives from international design dialogues.
