Università dell'Immagine, (also known as "UI") was the post-secondary training school of Fondazione Industria Onlus Milan, a non-profit organization founded by the photographer Fabrizio Ferri. UI offered an experimental, two-year certificate program on the

five senses A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditionally identified as su ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, between 1998 and 2005.

Ferri's Philosophy of the Image

Università dell'Immagine literally translates in English as "the University of the Image." Fabrizio Ferri, UI's founder, and an early pioneer in the usage of digital technology in

fashion photography Fashion photography is a genre of photography that portrays clothing and other fashion items. This sometimes includes haute couture garments. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking pictures of a dressed model in a photographic ...

, wanted to create a campus environment where creative professionals from disparate fields would find common ground in studying the word "immagine" or image. Ferri believes that images are not merely visual stimuli, nor are they static objects. According to Ferri, “Image is the harmony defined by the integrated work of the senses.” While developing the two-year training program of UI with Tania Silvia Gianesin, the school's eventual Dean, Ferri compiled his ideas in various written documents, including UI's brochure, enrollment documents and academic lectures. According to Ferri, "Image is the form of

communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

of this new century. An image originates from a received input, which is elaborated in order to express a personal "point of view" that can be communicated through different means. All

creative process Creativity is the ability to form novel and valuable ideas or works using one's imagination. Products of creativity may be intangible (e.g. an idea, scientific theory, literary work, musical composition, or joke), or a physical object (e.g. an ...

es are defined by the sequence: input, elaboration and output. These three terms also describe the synthesis of the digital system. The individual

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

of values - just as one's own point of view - must be formed by a process of

knowledge Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

, elaboration and synthesis, in order to be valuable and useful. Should this process not occur, the resulting image would be hurled in the void of 'professionalism' without culture. It is not 'the end that justifies the

means Means may refer to: * Means LLC, an anti-capitalist media worker cooperative * Means (band), a Christian hardcore band from Regina, Saskatchewan * Means, Kentucky, a town in the US * Means (surname) * Means Johnston Jr. (1916–1989), US Navy ...

' that frees us from responsibilities, but the understanding of the ends for a responsible choice of the means."

Mission

Università dell'Immagine was the formative school of Fondazione Industria Onlus Milan, founded by Fabrizio Ferri. It was a two-year course that prepared young people for the diverse trades related to

image An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be di ...

and

, understood as professions

holistic Holism is the interdisciplinary idea that systems possess properties as wholes apart from the properties of their component parts. Julian Tudor Hart (2010''The Political Economy of Health Care''pp.106, 258 The aphorism "The whole is greater than t ...

ally viewed through all senses. The formative activity was therefore realized through a program constructed around the

–

sight Visual perception is the ability to detect light and use it to form an image of the surrounding Biophysical environment, environment. Photodetection without image formation is classified as ''light sensing''. In most vertebrates, visual percept ...

hearing Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds through an organ, such as an ear, by detecting vibrations as periodic changes in the pressure of a surrounding medium. The academic field concerned with hearing is auditory sci ...

touch The somatosensory system, or somatic sensory system is a subset of the sensory nervous system. The main functions of the somatosensory system are the perception of external stimuli, the perception of internal stimuli, and the regulation of bo ...

taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

, and smell – and the links between them, the

synergy Synergy is an interaction or cooperation giving rise to a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts (i.e., a non-linear addition of force, energy, or effect). The term ''synergy'' comes from the Attic Greek word συνεργία ' f ...

and

coherence Coherence is, in general, a state or situation in which all the parts or ideas fit together well so that they form a united whole. More specifically, coherence, coherency, or coherent may refer to the following: Physics * Coherence (physics ...

of the contents. The subject matter was organized following the guidelines: Input, Elaboration, Output, to which Research is added, applied in turn through UI's various laboratories, including the Laboratory of the Senses and the Laboratory of Psychophysiology. The work of the

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

s and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

s involved exercises, projects and lessons, and tended towards: a return to a sensitivity such that one can use the senses consistent with their expression; to contribute to knowledge and recognition of the inclinations of the students, safeguarding their originality and

authenticity Authenticity or authentic may refer to: * Authentication, the act of confirming the truth of an attribute Arts and entertainment * Authenticity in art, ways in which a work of art or an artistic performance may be considered authentic Music * A ...

; to accompany and orient the choices of individual students; to create a good working team; to encourage interaction of diverse approaches and elaboration, rather than transmit a predefined knowledge; to define the relationship between

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

and

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

. The school was set up on the principle of auto-determination and self-evaluation and therefore measured only the sense of responsibility, sociability, seriousness and authenticity of the students, who were selected for businesses through the realization of projects and an

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

program, consistent with their aptitudes. The school had an international vocation and welcomed students of various nationalities, facilitating and promoting a multicultural approach.

Administration and Organisation

The two-year course had 158

international student International students or exchange students, also known as foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their secondary or tertiary education in a country other than their own. In 2022, there were over 6.9 million international ...

s in total, coming from 12 different countries. Dean of the Università dell'Immagine, since its foundation up to the final year, was Tania Silvia Gianesin.

Teachers/Subjects

Campus

The campus was based in a conversion

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

building located in Via Gaspare Bugatti 7, Milan, Italy. The premises were next to Industria Superstudio (shooting studios), Industria Musica (recording studios) and Ristorante Industria (restaurant), were UI lessons and projects often took place. Students had also access to a

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing, but usually refers to a specific type of twentieth-century venue, with dance clubs (nightclubs) becoming more popular towards the end of the century. The palais de danse was a term ap ...

, where

Aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...

Yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

/Body Awareness classes and special projects were held.

Projects

Throughout the years the school developed creative and research projects for/with international clients and institutions.5 1,2,3,4,5: Ceriani A., Nigro V. "Dai sensi un apprendere - Percorsi di apprendimento, innovazioni metodologiche e didattiche nell'esperienza dell'Università dell'Immagine". Franco Angeli, Milano 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Universita dell'Immagine Education in Milan