Emanuele Belà

Born and raised in Rome, Emanuele loved drawing and building objects from an early age: he was already a maker without knowing to be one! He got his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design in Rome. During his residence in Polifactory, he’s developing his Master Degree Thesis in Integrated Product Design focusing on Circular Economy and open source.

This thesis explores the concept of circular economy, starting from the idea that today’s lifestyle and industry are not sustainable and caused (almost) irreparable damages to the environment and numerous species, humans included. Starting from a deep research on the wide topics of circular economy and sustainability, this thesis explores their origin and fundamental principles from ethical, economic and politic points of view, to focus then on the result of the intersection between circular economy and design. Then, this thesis focuses on the urban ecosystem, analysing what are the materials and waste fluxes that make these evironments less and less sustainable. Finally, a project that embodies the previous explored principles is developed, showing that it is possible – and imperative – think and make sustainable products that are cost-effective and desirable for the market.