Education: He holds a Professional Degree in Architecture (honors) from the Università di Firenze after studying in Vienna at the Technische Hochschule and the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, a Master of Architecture from Harvard University (terminal degree) Fulbright scholarship, and an International Doctorate in Architecture and Urban Planning (cum laude) from Università di Ferrara/Polis University.
Academic Experience: He has taught at various institutions among which the Harvard GSD, where he has served as an Instructor of Architecture (Career Discovery program 2000) and a Lecturer in Urban Planning (Independent Research Study course, with P. Rowe), and a Design Critic in Landscape Architecture (Option Studio, with C. Steinitz). In the period 2013-20 he taught as a Professor in the Department of Architecture and Habitat Studies of the Universidad de Monterrey. He joined the Harvard GSD as a Visiting Professor in Urban Planning and Design for the Fall term 2019. He was a visiting faculty at the Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment and at the Next Generation Cities Institute of Concordia University, Montreal, Canada in the frame of Unibo's academic mobility program, in period 27.10-09.11.2024. Since September 2020, he has been serving as a Professor of Landscape Architecture (ICAR/15) at the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, where he directed the Post-professional International Master Transitions and Innovations in the European Territory. He presently directs the 2nd-Cycle Degree in International Cooperation on Human Rights and Intercultural Heritage.
Didactic Activities: He has taught courses and workshops of architectural, urban, and landscape design. Recently, he has been in charge of Thesis Preparation and Final Thesis courses of the program of architecture at the Universidad de Monterrey. He has been in charge of interdisciplinary studios of territorial analysis and design, such as Un-Wall the Border in collaboration with H. Better (Rhode Island School of Design) and Río Ciudad Monterrey with P.G. Rowe (Harvard GSD). As a Visiting Professor, in the Fall term 2019, he was in charge of a section of the Elements of Urban Design core studio in the post-professional program in Urban Design (MAUD) at the Harvard GSD. He has tutored over twenty thesis projects, graduating about sixty students, and co-tutored over thirty, graduating about one hundred students.
Scientific Activities: Team member of different research projects: PNRR PE5 Cultura Umanistica e Memoria Culturale - Spoke 4 Virtual Technologies for Museums and Art Collections (2023-); Byllis - EU for Economic Development - Tourism-led, local, economic development, with a focus on Cultural Heritage (Integrated Management Plan of Byllis and Klos 2022-26) AID 12293 (2021-24); DARE (Digital environment for collaborative Alliances to Regenerate urban Ecosystems in middle-sized cities) UIA 04-137 - Urban Innovative Actions (EU Regional Development Fund) (2021-22). He has held responsibilities in various research works: Post Urban Living Innovation, Project n.003: Quality of Life in Overcrowded City / Landscape Renaissance by Green, Chiba University (lead partner), Japan (2015-20) [co-leader of UDEM research team with S. Higashi]; Tests for a Symbiotic Matorral, UDEM, Mexico (2016-18) [leader]; Urban Territorialization in Areas of Romagna, Harvard University GSD, USA/Italy (2003-04) [co-leader with P.G. Rowe]. Among curated seminars and lecture cycles: Earth Lectures 2024, ISA/DBC-Unibo, Italy; Earth Lectures 2021, I-Contact Program, DBC-Unibo, Italy; Climate Change(s) Design, UDEM/IUAV, Mexico/Italy, 2017, with L. Cipriani; Symbiotic Landscapes, UDEM, Mexico, 2014; Planning Development / Reducing Land Consumption: from Paradox to Identity, Accademia dei Benigni, Italy, 2010. He published in the scientific journals: Academia XXII - UNAM, ISSN: 2594-083X, Mexico (OA gold, Latindex); Ri-Vista, ISSN: 1724-6768, Italy (OA gold, Scopus); Sustainability, ISSN: 2071-1050, Switzerland (OA, Scopus); Rassegna di architettura e urbanistica, ISSN: 0392-8608, Italy; BDC, ISSN: 1121-2918, Italy (OA); CRIOS, ISSN: 2279-8986, Italy (OA); Nodo. Arquitectura, ciudad, medio ambiente, ISSN: 1909-3888, Colombia (OA gold, WOS).
Scientific Societies, Committees, and Reviews: Member of: Council of the Higher School of Studies on the City and the Territory, Università di Bologna; IASLA Italian Academic Society of Landscape Architecture; ProArch national scientific society, Italy; SdT Society of the Territorialists; scientific committee of the II-level MICmaster in Innovation Management and Communities, Università di Ferrara since 2021; scientific committee of the international annual conference Touriscape2, iHTT (UPC Barcelona, UMA Malaga), Barcelona, 2020; Red Urbanismo Internacional URBANINT, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City (SUI2013); scientific committee of the art and architecture magazine Graphie, ISSN 2281-9363, Cesena, since 2018. Peer-reviewer for international scientific magazines and conferences: Ri-Vista, ISSN: 1724-6768, Italy; IJERPH International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, ISSN 1660-4601, Switzerland; Rassegna di architettura e urbanistica, ISSN: 0392-8608, Italy; Sustainability, ISSN: 2071-1050, Switzerland; CPCL European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, ISSN: 2612-0496, Italy; Nodo. Arquitectura, ciudad, medio ambiente, ISSN: 1909-3888, Colombia (WOS); Open: 108th ACSA Annual Meeting, USA; Co-Habitation Tactics, Tirana Architecture Week, Albania; V Congreso de Ciencia y Arte del Paisaje, Academia Mexicana del Paisaje, Mexico. In the period 2004-08, he served as a jury member of the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage, a European Commission programme acknowledging exemplary initiatives for the rehabilitation of the cultural, urban, and landscape heritage of Europe.
Institutional and Academic Activities: Guest design critic on academic juries at Harvard GSD, USA (2022), Rhode Island School of Design, USA (2019, 2017, 2014), Syracuse University-Florence Program, USA/Italia (2006), UCLA, USA (2002). Member of the Consulting Committee for the Monterrey Development Plan 2030, Consejo Nuevo León, Mexico (2020). Member of the temporary study committee for Urban Rehabilitation and Regeneration, Banking Foundation, Cassa dei Risparmi di Forlì, Italy (2017-18). Member of Consulting Committee for the Revision of the Planning Law of the State of Nuevo León, redactor of draft for Art. 321, Chamber of the Architects of Nuevo León, Mexico (2014). As the Deputy Mayor for Environmental Policies of the Municipality of Bertinoro, Italy, in 2010, he enacts the urban waste differentiate-and-recycle system with 85% effectivity rate. Member of the Administration Board, Biblioteca Malatestiana (UNESCO World Heritage), Cesena, Italy (2004-14). Member of the Administration Board, CEUB, Bertinoro, Italy (2001-06).
Awards: Research: QS-World-University-Ranking Prolific Expert, UDEM, 2017; Premio a la Investigación, UDEM, 2016 / Design: Non-residential Architecture Prize, Chamber of the Architects of Forlì-Cesena, Italy (rp et al.), 2014; Built work registered in the Emilia-Romagna Distinguished Architecture Repertoire, IBC (Cultural Heritage Institute), Italy (rp et al.), 2012; TOTO Prize, American Institute of Architects/YAF/COD, USA (rp et al.), 2011; Premio di Architettura H.C. Andersen, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, Italy, 1999 / Scholarships: Fulbright, USA, 1999; Institute of International Education, USA, 1999; Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Germany, 1998; Erasmus, EU, 1994.
