Italy.
Open electronics, textile fibres, energy storage and a skylight made with optics. Alongside research that recovers hidden writing, Italy shows how technical invention and a culture of making can open new experiences.
Start with Arduino.
An idea you can switch on.
Arduino combines programmable boards, software and shared learning resources, giving more people a practical way into physical computing.
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Store energy in a change of state.
Energy Dome’s Italian storage system cycles carbon dioxide between gas and liquid, using industrial equipment to return stored energy to the grid.
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Open the text. Keep the scroll closed.
The Vesuvius Challenge combines scanning, virtual unwrapping and ink detection to recover writing from carbonised Herculaneum scrolls.
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Citrus residues enter the fibre supply.
Orange Fiber develops cellulose pulp from citrus-processing residues. A 2021 Lenzing collaboration combined it with wood pulp in a limited-edition lyocell fibre.
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Industrial surplus becomes a learning resource.
Factory offcuts are arranged like a library of possibilities, giving schools materials to explore rather than instructions to follow.
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A sky-like light inside a room.
A ceiling light creates the appearance of blue sky and distant sunlight without an opening to the outdoors.
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Try growing plants below the sea’s surface.
The basil is under the sea, but it is not growing in seawater. Nemo’s Garden puts air-filled greenhouses beneath the surface off the Italian coast.
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A rigid surface learns to fold.
A wooden surface can behave more like cloth. WOOD-SKIN connects rigid facets through a flexible layer, allowing flat material to fold into complex three-dimensional forms.
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First across. Then up. In the same cabin.
Passengers in Genoa travel through a tunnel and then up a shaft without changing cabins.
Read the storyAn editorial starting point for exploring Italy, not a ranking or a comprehensive national survey.