Visual Diary is a digital platform founded and curated by Chiara Rubessi. Over the years, it has evolved into a digital archive of visual and textual materials, serving as a space for reflection and discussion connected to her work as a researcher. Visual Diary now functions as a multimedia resource within the fields of design, heritage, and the arts.”
Chiara Rubessi PhD is a designer and lecturer specializing in Design History, Culture, and Visual Studies, currently affiliated with the CINESTHEA laboratory at Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) and with CEREFREA – the Regional Francophone Center for Advanced Research in Social Sciences at the University of Bucharest.
She earned her PhD in Arts and Humanities at UGA, after completing a Master’s degree in Cinema and Modern Literature at the University of Pavia, and later specialized in Exhibition Design at Politecnico di Milano. Her professional focus lies in the design of exhibition spaces for temporary shows and cultural events, integrating both physical and digital dimensions.
Her academic career is marked by a broad range of international teaching and research collaborations. She has taught or collaborated with institutions such as Université Jean Monnet (Saint-Étienne), Université de Lorraine (Nancy), ESDAC (Aix-en-Provence), LISAA (Strasbourg), and ENSBA (Lyon).
In Italy, she has worked with Politecnico di Milano, Università eCampus, POLI.design, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, IED Florence, Accademia di Brera, and ISIA in Florence and Rome.
Her research in design focuses on the transformation of spaces and artifacts, with particular attention to urban environments, cultural heritage (both tangible and intangible), museum spaces, and digital contexts. Through the analysis of their organization and composition, she examines their historical and aesthetic construction, as well as their interactions with social practices and technologies.
She is also interested in their evolution in relation to territory, integrating dynamics of ecological transition and social policies, while emphasizing the central role of maintenance and preservation, understood as essential forms of care applied to spaces, objects, and their uses.
Her interests include:
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History and Culture of Design
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Visual Studies
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Care Studies / Maintenance Studies / Gender Studies applied to Design
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Digital and Media
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Spatial Design
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Speculative Design applied to Education
