MODÆ. Architecture, Photography, Graphics, Design, Sustainability

The word moda (fashion) comes from the Latin modus, meaning manner, shape, measure, and it identifies the taste of a certain moment, which changes in a continuous search for something new. Fashion is a social phenomenon that substantiates, in a certain place and at a certain time, an aesthetic and behavioural pattern shared by groups of individuals. Fashion is also concerned with clothing, and this is the meaning to which it is most closely related. To reduce fashion to a futile pursuit of the bizarre is to fail to realize that even the most eccentric extravagance is the result of a cultural phenomenon, that it has social, ethical, and political significance, that it can challenge a status quo and claim different identities, and that its changing forms are not dictated solely by business logic. Fashion also penetrates within the Politecnico culture, intertwining with all those areas that in a more canonical way constitute its substance.

Thus, a historical fashion brand can become the client of one of the most relevant contemporary architects: this is the case of the headquarters of Maison Hermès (1998-2006) built by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop firm in Tokyo. Gianfranco Ferré is an architect who devotes himself to fashion, transferring the culture of architectural design – matured, among others, during Franco Albini's course – to that of fashion, continuing to establish virtuous traits d’union between one and the other. Marina Spadafora is an ambassador for ethical fashion, and her knitwear work legitimizes, in addition to her unique, expressive research, a strong focus on sustainability and social and environmental justice. Andrea Pfister, with flair and dedication, transforms footwear and accessories into unique works, taking fashion design very close to artistic experimentation. Finally, Elsa Haertter, a German photographer who revolutionised the concept of fashion photography and communication, broke with the tradition of studio shots and preferred urban and unconventional locations for her reportages.