The President and the SID Board of Directors thank all participants of the SID Annual Conference 2026 “Doing Design! Culture, emancipation, research”, which brought together 278 design researchers and professors from 26 Italian and international university locations. The event, held from June 24 to 26 at the Faculty of Design and Art of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, confirmed the strength and cohesion of the Italian design scientific community.
The conference opened with the Bottom-up Groups Assembly and the Ordinary General Meeting of Members, followed by two intense days of scientific exchange with keynotes by Jack Felix Isles (Forensic Architecture / Liminal) and Angela Rui. Particular significance was given to the Honorary Member induction ceremony celebrating Gillian Crampton Smith—a pioneer of interaction design and former professor at the Royal College of Art, the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, and IUAV University of Venice—and Kuno Prey, a professor and foundational figure in design education in the German-speaking world, as well as one of the primary organizers of this edition. Two extraordinary stories, two contributions that now belong to the history of the discipline.
The program included 137 selected contributions (88 scientific papers and 49 posters), two round tables with prominent institutional representatives—Vincenzo Paolo Pedone (CUN), Alessandra Petrucci (CRUI), Tiziana Poli (Ar.Tec), Antonella Violano (SITdA), Berardo Naticchia (ISTeA)—4 awards presented for the best research ideas, two guided tours (one in the historic center with Waltraud Kofler Engl and one in collaboration with Museion), and two performance evenings—in Piazza Darwin and at Ahoi! on the Talvera promenades—which demonstrated how the “doing” of design can also inhabit the night.
The numbers speak for themselves. But there is one that the official records do not report: 233 liters of Forst beer consumed during the convivial dinner. Let’s just say that participation was significant on that front as well!
Special thanks go to Gianluca Camillini, Letizia Bollini, Kuno Prey, and the entire team at the Unibz Faculty of Design and Art, first and foremost, who transformed Bolzano into a home for the Italian design community. Thanks to the professors, researchers, doctoral students, and volunteers who made every detail possible.
See you in Bologna in June 2027!
