Denis Santachiara on Download Design and Digital Fabrication

In an interview with Artribune, designer Denis Santachiara discusses download design as a frontier of participatory creativity. He notes that Italy ranks 25th in the EU for digital infrastructure, ahead of only Greece and Romania, and criticizes institutional deafness on the topic. Santachiara distinguishes download design from open design, describing it as a broader concept encompassing open design, mass customization, and digital fabrication, all reliant on the Internet. He founded the platform Cyrcus, which combines digital fabrication (3D printing, laser cutting, CNC) with author design, allowing for local production and mass customization. Cyrcus products, such as trays and bracelets, can be personalized in size, shape, and material (from colored plastic to 18-karat gold) at industrial costs. The team includes Studio Santachiara and Coppa+Landini, a consultancy using design thinking. Santachiara highlights sustainability benefits: no physical transport, production on demand, zero inventory. He sees open source as another path for e-business, not a dichotomy. Future plans include a lab with Politecnico di Milano, involving professors Francesco Zurlo and Alessandro Deseri, to nurture new digital designers.