Milano, center of design. Fashion capital of Europe. Ground zero for Italian Design. Two weeks to study innovation and design processes. To try to evolve our interviewing methodology and to expand our discourse. We began with a city tour and a visit to the glorious and extensive "Annicinquanta" design show at the Palazzo Reale. Then twelve design studios and other interviews in as many days and often two and three a day. This is where the majority of our research has focused in the first two years, establishing key relationships with designers such as Michele Rossi at Park Associati Architects, Isao Hosoe and Isao Hosoe Design office, Enzo Mari, Kartell, Cassina and the Saporiti family. This year we interviewed: Cassina, Isao Hosoe, Moroso, Saporiti, Politecnico di Milano and Pier Paride Vidari, Andrea Branzi, Alessi, Park Associati, OneOFF, Metrogramma, Cliostraat. We also managed to get invited to the office of our much-loved and legendary maestro Achille Castiglioni. At these studio and companies, we interviewed the designers on the subject of "Innovation in Italian Design" the results of which can be viewed in the section Findings.

Also while there we received generous access and spirited tours of offices, showrooms, and factories. Each day we went to either one or more office, and many times, we drove for hours to get to the design studios as they were valuable to our understanding. It was worth the effort and trip as what we've learned about the innovation of Italian design was priceless. At the end of the Milano study period the future of the study began to take shape and we have worked this fall to translate all of the data collected in hundreds of hours of tape into key quotes and preliminary conclusions.

We were welcomed by our Italian friends in extraordinary ways. Their support for our project evident. We hope to do them proud by what we have produced to date. They are our friends and colleagues. We left knowing that there is much more to know. And much more to give back in years 3–5 of this study.

We left the glory of Italy on July 13, 2005 and spent the rest of the summer incubating on the incredible knowledge we gained. In September, ten of the original twelve students got back to work for the term crunching the data and making sense of all of the impressions. This website is the result of the past fifteen weeks of tireless work by these ten. This work is a legacy to the teams that will follow.