We are Politecnico di Milano’s
makerspace

Polifactory is the makerspace of the Politecnico di Milano. It was founded in 2015 thanks to the collaboration between the Department of Design and the Departments of Mechanics and Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering. It is a multidisciplinary laboratory that conducts design research and explores the evolution of production, distribution, and use models of product-service systems, in relation to the digital and circular transition of contemporary society and the economy.

Polifactory is a space that enables participatory design with businesses, institutions, and citizens. It promotes collaborative research processes and peer-to-peer learning that use enabling technologies to experiment with new design and production processes and prototype innovative product-service solutions.

Polifactory presented by its Scientific Director, prof. Stefano Maffei (2021)
Video credits: Politecnico di Milano

We conduct competitive, consultative, and experimental research, supporting businesses, institutions, and young designers to transform ideas into tangible innovation.

olifactory develops competitive research projects in Italy and abroad, working with public and private institutions. It conducts consultancy research for small and large companies in key manufacturing and service sectors.

We support the pre-incubation of ideas developed by young talents at the Polytechnic University and promote cultural initiatives that explore complex themes in contemporary design research, fostering open dialogue with the research community and society at large.

We create ecosystems
for design innovation

Polifactory weaves together the diverse design and technical cultures within and beyond the Politecnico di Milano to create a center of expertise and an interdisciplinary research hub dedicated to exploring new models of design, production, distribution, and post-consumption of contemporary product-service systems.

Within the Politecnico di Milano, Polifactory collaborates with the Fondazione Politecnico, liaises with the University’s Technology Transfer Office, participates in programs and initiatives of the PoliHub incubator, and is open to collaborations with the community of faculty, researchers, and PhD students working in the various Departments of the Politecnico di Milano. Outside the Politecnico, Polifactory collaborates with companies, public and private organizations and institutions, and various associations operating in Italy and internationally.

Polifactory, with its team of researchers and designers, supports its partners throughout the various phases of the innovation process: from preliminary research to the co-creation of ideas, from technical and experimental concept testing to executive design, prototyping, and testing, both in the laboratory and in operational environments.

Polifactory develops innovative solutions at the product-service and process-system levels, pursuing two main approaches:

• From the idea to the market, through the design, prototyping and (pre)incubation of product-services experimenting with co-creation paths and the experimental use of digital technologies.
• From product to policy, through the design, prototyping and testing of pilot projects and demonstrators on an urban scale, for stimulating and enabling inclusive and sustainable social transformations.