Within the scope of Italy as guest country of the first edition of Porto Design Biennale, this conference intends to activate a reflection on the designing culture of the country and to reflect upon the Italian capacity to keep up with changes based on solutions that arise from the solid human structure that is the ground for the projects and resources of any territory. The Italian presence in the first edition of Porto Design Biennale is not a coincidence. Italy keeps developing important research concerning projectuality and design. The country remains capable of expressing sociocultural changes underway and open to the great theoretical and technological innovations, regardless of economic and social hardships.