Abstract:

The importance of the relationship between Service Design and Spatial Design has emerged in an increasingly relevant way in recent years, thanks to educational research and experimentation. The perception that Service Design can actively contribute to the definition of a space has been widely documented by internationally acknowledged design groups. Unfortunately, to date there are only a few experimental academic courses with a transdisciplinary approach that merge spatial and service design. The aim of this paper is to start laying the ground for identifying a transdisciplinary teaching methodology that can heal the gap  between the definition of services occurring into the space and the design of the space identity, creating continuity between Service Design and Interior Design approaches.

This is accomplished through the analysis of the experiences acquired during the design studio named “Laboratorio di Sintesi finale” of the Master's Degree in Interior and Spatial Design of Politecnico di Milano, addressed to students attending the fifth year course. The design studio integrates some foundations of Service Design into the Interior Design process. This allows to identify innovative elements in the use designation and the experience provided by the space, exploiting a user-centered perspective.

The description of the course is necessary to explain the transdisciplinary approach developed and adopted. The design studio is structured on three phases:
1. Research and definition of the project theme
In this initial phase Service Design plays a crucial role. The design process begins with an ethnographic field and desk research that allows the exploration of user needs and contemporary socio-economic trends. This is useful to address and support design choices towards innovative spatial solutions, and will allow the design of experiential spaces and spatial experiences.
2. Concept construction
This phase focuses on the definition of the services and the identity of the space. It is the most delicate part and it is divided into two sections. The first one is characterized by the concept generation of functional areas and related experiences based on the results obtained from research and transformed into creative outputs, such as the space layout. The second one coincides with the concept generation of the spatial identity, where characteristics that make the space unique are defined, adopting a creative and emotional approach.
3. Project development
The last phase is focused on project detailing: definition of the layout, representation of the project and the spatial identity.

The tentative integration of Service and Spatial Design approaches as proposed by the course revealed some difficulties caused by the discontinuity of processes and methods between the two disciplines. The students consequently encountered difficulties during the transition between research and identity definition of the spatial project. The aim of this paper is therefore to shed light on such difficulties to undertake the development of a method that allows to reconcile the two approaches, highlighting their complementarity and healing the gap between teaching experiences of different nature in a fluid and coherent way.

Keywords:

Service design, Interior and Spatial Design, teaching methodology.