Ogni lunedì dalle 9:30 alle 10:30*c/o Stanza docente 2.03Plesso didattico Santa Teresavia della Mattonaia, 8 – Firenze
*Nel caso in cui lo studente sia impossibilitato il lunedì, si riceve su appuntamento da concordare per e-mail.
AUTOBIOGRAFIA SCIENTIFICA
L’ambito della mia ricerca è quello dei design methods, ossia l’individuazione e lo studio di approcci e metodiche per la gestione della creatività e dell’innovazione nel design in senso lato. Mi sono interessato alla didattica dell’architettura fin dalla mia tesi di laurea all’Iuav di Venezia, quando ho studiato il movimento decostruttivista, in quegli anni molto dibattuto, per cercare di capire se quei progetti, apparentemente spontanei e frutto del caso, applicassero degli approcci trasmissibili alla gestione della creatività. Ho dedicato, gli anni successivi alla laurea – gli anni del dottorato, degli assegni di ricerca, dei corsi di insegnamento e dei progetti di ricerca – a studiare architetti, designer, artisti, scrittori e psicologi che si sono interessati alla definizione e chiarificazione ed esplicitazione dei propri “strumenti creativi”, ai fini della definizione di una metodica cognitivamente fondata nel loro rispettivo ambito. Ho studiato psicologi e architetti-psicologi che hanno cercato di spiegare quello che i designer conoscono e come lo utilizzano quando progettano o insegnano; scrittori che hanno svelato gli strumenti e i metodi che utilizzano quando concepiscono libri; e architetti che hanno analizzato i propri progetti definendo delle costanti della creatività nei loro progetti e avanzando, in nuce, delle proposte o ipotesi metodologiche trasmissibili di aiuto per un designer novizio.
L’indagine teorica l’ho approfondita anche attraverso i corsi di teoria dell’architettura contemporanea, di cui sono stato titolare, dove ho indagato lo sviluppo delle teorie dell’architettura dai primi anni Sessanta fino alla contemporaneità; questi corsi mi hanno consentito di allargare lo spettro della mia indagine agli approcci alla progettazione, e quindi alla gestione della creatività e all’innovazione, che si sono succeduti dalla metà del Ventesimo secolo a oggi.
Accanto alla ricerca teorica, ne ho condotta una applicata. Durante alcuni progetti di ricerca, nazionali e internazionali, dedicati ai temi dell’insegnamento del design, ho filmato delle sessioni di revisione di progetto, analizzando il modo in cui i docenti esperti insegnavano agli studenti novizi, per cercare di dedurre approcci all’insegnamento e modalità di trasmissione della conoscenza in ambito didattico. Nei corsi di progettazione architettonica di cui sono stato incaricato, ho sperimentato alcuni approcci alla progettazione che avevo studiato e di cui avevo scritto. Nei laboratori di storia dell’architettura moderna di cui sono stato titolare ho fatto analizzare agli studenti esempi di architettura di maestri moderni e contemporanei alla ricerca approcci alla creatività ricorrenti, e facendo poi applicare agli studenti questi approcci in un proprio progetto.
Matteo Zambelli è professore associato nel SSD ICAR/11 presso il Dipartimento di Architettura (DiDA).
TITOLI DI STUDIO E ACCADEMICI
Laurea in Architettura conseguita presso l’Università Iuav di Venezia il 9 aprile 1998, con votazione 110/110.
Dottorato di ricerca in “Ingegneria Edile – XIV Ciclo – 1999-2001” conseguito presso l’Università Politecnica delle Marche, Facoltà di Ingegneria, l’8 febbraio 2002.
2002-2004 Assegnista di ricerca presso l’Università Politecnica delle Marche, Facoltà di Ingegneria.
2014-2015 Assegnista di ricerca presso l’Università Iuav di Venezia.
ABILITAZIONI
Abilitazione all’esercizio della professione di Architetto conseguita con il superamento dell’esame di stato nella sessione I del 1998 presso l’Università Iuav di Venezia.
ABILITAZIONE SCIENTIFICA NAZIONALE
ICAR/11 Abilitato a professore di seconda fascia
ICAR/14 Abilitato a professore di seconda fascia
ATTIVITÀ DIDATTICA
Come professore a contratto ha insegnato dal 2004 al 2016 nei seguenti corsi:
“Architettura e composizione architettonica” nel corso di Laurea in Ingegneria edile architettura presso la Facoltà di ingegneria dell’Università degli studi di Trento dal 2004 al 2008.
“Storia dell’architettura contemporanea (modulo laboratorio)” e “Teorie dell’architettura” presso il DICAM dell’Università degli studi di Trento dal 2008 al 2016.
ATTIVITÀ DI RICERCA
Design Methods
La ricerca in ambito pedagogico è orientata alla ricerca della definizione di una proposta metodologica, cognitivamente fondata, che consenta agli studenti di acquisire le conoscenze, le abilità e le competenze necessarie per progettare consapevolmente.
La proposta metodologica abbozzata da Matteo Zambelli si impernia su tre capisaldi:
Architetti, designer e pittori risulta sostengono che il progetto non si crea dalla tabula rasa. L’invenzione si fonda sulla conoscenza. Il presupposto cognitivo della creatività è che gli artefatti siano il frutto della capacità della nostra mente di rielaborare e stabilire nuove relazioni fra ciò che si conosce. Gli architetti esperti riutilizzano precedenti di architettura, ossia progetti o parti di progetto, che hanno archiviato nel loro magazzino della memoria. Per progettare consapevolmente, allora, è importante compiere un’operazione che un progettista esperto da in modo inconsapevole e spontaneo, ossia scompone un progetto in concetti, che esprime, problemi, che risolve, e soluzioni (generali o dettaglio), che dà a una serie di problematiche. Le parole utilizzate dal progettista per i concetti, i problemi e le soluzioni diventano parole chiave attraverso le quali interrogare il magazzino delle proprie conoscenze durante il processo progettuale. Il processo che guida l’interrogazione del magazzino di conoscenze parte nel momento in cui, dato un tema progettuale, vengono definite delle tecniche, dette di invenzione, che innescano il processo progettuale. Matteo Zambelli, attraverso l’analisi di designer e studiosi di altre discipline che hanno studiato i meccanismi creativi, ha cercato di definire una tassonomia di quelle che ha chiamato tecniche di invenzione.
Progettazione di sistemi edilizi
Matteo Zambelli ha condotto ricerche nell’ambito dei sistemi edilizi prefabbricati che sono state raccolte nel numero 418 de «L’Industria delle costruzioni» da lui interamente curato.
Il candidato ha lavorato come ricercatore alla messa punto della sistema costruttivo prefabbricato Idea 108 dell’azienda Polifar srl.
Il candidato ha collaborato alla concezione della piattaforma di PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) Greenprefab di Collaboratorio snc per la realizzazione di architetture prefabbricate.
ATTIVITÀ PROGETTUALE
Nell’ambito della progettazione architettonica, il candidato ha lavorato per le aziende Polifar srl e Log House srl per le quali ha progettato edifici residenziali prefabbricati, mono e plurifamiliari.
Nell’ambito del design, il candidato ha lavorato per le aziende Bellitalia srl, per la quale ha progettato oggetti di arredo urbano, e per Valk de La Sgubia srl, per la quale ha progettato complementi di arredo e oggetti per la casa.
PARTECIPAZIONE A PROGETTI DI RICERCA NAZIONALI E INTERNAZIONALI
Matteo Zambelli ha partecipato a diversi progetti di ricerca nazionali ed europei, in particolare a WINDS, MACE e IDEA108.
WINDS, Web-based Intelligent Design tutoring System
Il progetto era finalizzato alla creazione di una facoltà di architettura, tecnologia e construction management virtuale. Nel progetto, che comprendeva 22 università europee, negli ambiti di cui sopra, sono state definiti:
Nell’ambito di WINDS, all’interno del proprio corso dal titolo “Design and Computer Design in Contemporary Architecture”, il candidato ha elaborato delle “strategie e tecniche didattiche” per l’insegnamento della progettazione architettonica e del design nell’epoca del digitale.
MACE, metadata for architectural contents in Europe
Il progetto era finalizzato alla creazione di un network di siti web internazionali di architettura e tecnologia per la creazione di un portale paneuropeo contenente un archivio di materiali per l’insegnamento, per la formazione permanente e l’aggiornamento nell’ambito dell’architettura, della tecnologia, del construction management e dell’ingegneria.
Nel progetto di ricerca sono stati messi a punto strumenti per l’e-learning e un vocabolario controllato, orientato all’insegnamento, per l’archiviazione e la ricerca dei materiali didattici.
IDEA 108 - Perfezionamento tecnologico di edifici a struttura lignea modulare, altamente prestazionali, auto-edificabili e applicazione di tecnologie digitali per la loro progettazione, commercializzazione e costruzione
Progetto FSE, Regione Veneto
Partecipazione in qualità assegnista di ricerca per conto dell’Università IUAV di Venezia.
Il progetto interateneo fra l’Università Iuav di Venezia e l’Università di Padova (Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile Edile ed Ambientale – DICEA e il Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale – DII), e le aziende Polifar Srl, Archeometra, Dese Stampi, Gabrielli Spa è stato finalizzato all’avvio di Idea 108, azienda che lavora nell’ambito della prefabbricazione.
La tecnologia costruttiva Idea108:
Elenco completo dei progetti di ricerca
Partecipazione a progetti di ricerca europei
Giugno 2010-Maggio 2012 – VENUS-C (Virtual multidisciplinary EnviroNments USing Cloud infostructures – http://www.venus-c.eu/Pages/Home.aspx), Emerging Technologies and Infrastructures – GÉANT & e-Infrastructures
Progetto di ricerca del VII Framework Programme finanziato dalla Comunità Europea
In qualità di ricercatore presso Collaboratorio snc, partner del progetto di ricerca
Settembre 2006-Agosto 2009 – MACE (Metadata for Architectural Contents in Europe – http://www.mace-project.eu/index.php, http://portal.mace-project.eu), eContentplus Programme, ECP-2005-EDU-038098
Progetto di ricerca del VI Framework Programme finanziato dalla Comunità Europea.
Settembre 1999-Maggio 2004 – WINDS (Web-based INtelligent Design tutoring System) – IST-1999-10253
Progetto del V Framework Programme finanziato dalla Comunità Europea
In qualità di dottorando di ricerca e assegnista di ricerca, poi, presso la Facoltà di Ingegneria dell’Università Politecnica delle Marche, partner del progetto di ricerca
2001 L.O.T.O. (Landscape Opportunity for Territorial Organization)
Iniziativa europea Inter-reg III B - CADSES (Central Adriatic Danubian South Estethern European Space)
In qualità di dottorando di ricerca presso la Facoltà di Ingegneria dell’Università Politecnica delle Marche, partner del progetto di ricerca
2000 Progetto europeo CRAFT: C-TIDE (Changeable Thermal Inertia Dry Enclosures)
Partecipazione a progetti di ricerca nazionali
Marzo 2014-Marzo 2015 – IDEA 108 - Perfezionamento tecnologico di edifici a struttura lignea modulare, altamente prestazionali, auto-edificabili e applicazione di tecnologie digitali per la loro progettazione, commercializzazione e costruzione
In qualità di assegnista di ricerca presso l’Università Iuav di Venezia, partner del progetto di ricerca
2007-2009 – Archiviazione Multimediale Interoperabile
Bando Regionale Veneto 2007 Distretti e Metadistretti
2004 – ECOGESTIONE DEL TERRITORIO. Costruzione di metodologie di supporto allo svolgimento delle fasi Analisi Ambientale Iniziale e Sistema di Gestione Ambientale di Sistemi Territoriali ed Edilizi
Progetto PRIN
In qualità di assegnista di ricerca presso la Facoltà di Ingegneria dell’Università Politecnica delle Marche
2003 – Sistemi avanzati per il management della conoscenza aziendale
2003 – Sperimentazione di tecnologie innovative di e-learning nella progettazione architettonica
Ricerca scientifica di ateneo
2002 – Modello di valutazione della qualità ambientale indoor per strutture turistico ricettive in aree rurali del mediterraneo
2002 – Sperimentazione di tecnologie innovative di e-learning nella progettazione architettonica
2001 – Sperimentazione di tecnologie innovative di e-learning nella progettazione architettonica
In qualità di dottorando di ricerca presso la Facoltà di Ingegneria dell’Università Politecnica delle Marche
2000 – Sistemi esperti per il management della conoscenza diffusa: innovazione e formazione aziendale nei settori della progettazione e produzione di componenti edilizi e nella pianificazione di processi costruttivi
PUBBLICAZIONI E ATTIVITÀ PUBBLICISTICA
Matteo Zambelli ha svolto un’intensa attività pubblicistica, scrivendo libri, legati agli ambiti di ricerca di cui al punto “Attività di ricerca”, per le case editrici Edilstampa, Marsilio, Mimesis, Logos, Pendragon e Safarà Editore.
Ha scritto per le riviste «Arketipo», «L’Industria delle costruzioni» e «Arch’it».
Il candidato ha tradotto cinque libri dall’inglese all’italiano.
Il candidato ha lavorato per tre anni per la casa editrice Safarà di Pordenone, dove è responsabile della collana di libri di architettura “La Mano che Pensa”.
DIREZIONE O PARTECIPAZIONE A COMITATI EDITORIALI DI RIVISTE E COLLANE EDITORIALI
Matteo Zambelli è responsabile, insieme a Stefano Tessadori, della collana di libri di architettura “La Mano che Pensa” dellacasa editrice Safarà di Pordenone.
Fa parte del Comitato Direttivo Editoriale della casa editrice Dida Press del Dipartimento di Architettura di Firenze.
RELATORE A CONFERENZE E CONGRESSI
Il candidato ha tenuto conferenze in diverse facoltà italiane e straniere.
Per quanto riguarda i miei interessi di ricerca, vedi:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matteo_Zambelli2/info
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Legenda
I am associate professor at the Department of Architecture (DiDA) of the Faculty of Florence.
I hold a degree in architecture from IUAV (Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia), and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of Ancona (Italy).
Previously, I was involved in teaching and research at the Faculties of Engineering of Trento and Ancona, where I have taught courses on “Architectural Design” as adjunct professor.
I am the author of several books, issued by Italian publishers Marsilio Editori, ANCE, IDEA Books, and Mimesis. I currently collaborate for the architecture magazine «Abitare» and «L’Industria delle costruzioni», the bimonthly publication of the Italian National Association of Builders (ANCE). I collaborated with «Arketipo» and for the online magazine «Arch'it». I have translated four books by Juhani Pallasmaa and the biography of Frank Gehry, "Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry", that is due for December 2017.
I have been involved in several regional, national, and international research projects. In particular, I took part in two European research projects, co-funded by the European Commission. WINDS (Web-based Intelligent Design tutoring System – http://winds.gmd.de) aimed at creating a virtual European School of architecture and engineering and MACE (Metadata for Architectural Concepts in Europe – http://portal.mace-project.eu) aimed at creating a pan-European portal of architectural digital resources sharable by means of powerful tools for tagging, archiving, and browsing contents.
QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE
1. Possession of a doctoral qualification in an area relevant to the School and/or RIBA/ARB accredited qualification.
8 February 2002 – PhD in “Civil Engineering – XIV Cycle – 1999-2001”, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Faculty of Engineering of Ancona (Italy).
Thesis title: “Invention Techniques in Architecture? An Interpretation of Deconstuctivism and Digital Architecture”
Thesis supervisor: Prof. Mario De Grassi
9 April 1998 – Bachelor Degree in Architecture – IUAV Faculty of Architecture of Venice (Italy)
Thesis title: “Deconstructivist Processes: A Viable Option”
Thesis supervisor: Prof. Vittorio Spigai
2. Possession of a HE teaching qualification and/or experience of teaching and learning in an HE or equivalent setting in a relevant subject area related to the School.
I have taught courses in several topics – architectural design, history and theory of contemporary architecture, and landscape architecture – at the Engineering Faculties of Ancona and Trento, and at the Faculty of Architecture of Venice (IUAV).
The following is the full list of the courses I taught.
27/02/2013 – 31/10/2013 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
“History of Modern Architecture with Workshop” (Course leader of the workshop module)
27/02/2012 – 31/10/2012 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
22/02/2011 – 31/10/2011 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
“Workshop of History of Architecture (II module)”
22/02/2010 – 31/10/2010 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
10/09/2007 – 31/10/2008 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
Title of the course: “Architecture and Architectural Composition 3 (II module)”
11/09/2006 – 31/10/2007 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
12/09/2005 – 31/10/2006 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
18/02/2013 – 17/05/2013 IUAV, Faculty of Architecture of Venice (Italy)
“Theories of Architectural Design” (Course leader: Prof. Renato Bocchi)
17/09/2012 – 21/12/2012 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
“History of Contemporary Architecture (I module)” (Course Leader: Arch. Fabio Campolongo)
19/09/2011 – 23/12/2011 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
12/10/2010 – 21/12/2010 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
19/01/2010 – 01/06/2010 Università Politecnica delle Marche (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
Title of the course: “Workshop of Architecture and Architectural Composition 2 (EA)” (Course leader: Prof. Mario De Grassi)
12/10/2009 – 21/12/2009 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
01/11/2008 – 19/12/2008 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
Title of the course: “History of Architecture (I module)” (Course Leader: Prof. Marco Mulazzani)
03/07/2006 – 21/07/2006 IUAV Faculty of Architecture of Venice (Italy)
Title of the course: “Workshop of Architectural Composition” (Course leader: Arch. Henrique Perreria Pessoa Alves
17/10/2005 – 23/12/2005 IUAV Faculty of Architecture of Venice (Italy)
Title of the course: “Architectural composition 3” (Course leader: Prof. Claudio Lamanna)
28/02/2005 – 03/06/2005 IUAV Faculty of Architecture of Venice (Italy)
Title of the course: “Laboratory of Architectural Design – Architectural Design 2” (Course leader: Prof. Claudio Lamanna)
18/10/2004 – 17/12/2004 University of Trento (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
Title of the course: “Architecture and Architectural Composition 3 (II module)” (Course Leader: Prof. Renato Bocchi)
2003 – 2004 Università Politecnica delle Marche (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
Title of the course: “Architecture and Architectural Composition 2A” (Course leader: Prof. Mario De Grassi)
2002 – 2003 Università Politecnica delle Marche (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
2001 – 2002 Università Politecnica delle Marche (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
2000 – 2001 Università Politecnica delle Marche (Italy), Faculty of Engineering
3. Evidence of relevant professional experience/knowledge in the areas of architectural practice and discourse.
01/01/2002–30/06/2002 Research fellow (“Assegnista di ricerca”) on the topic: “Web Based Intelligent Tutoring System” (Università Politecnica delle Marche, Faculty of Engineering of Ancona (Italy)
01/07/2002–30/06/2004 Research fellow (“Assegnista di ricerca”) on the topic: “Creativity Techniques in Architecture” (Università Politecnica delle Marche, Faculty of Engineering of Ancona (Italy)
01/05/2005–31/10/2009 Scientific Director of Collaboratorio
Collaboratorio was a start-up company devoted to set up a platform to design and build prefabricated buildings. It was based in VEGA (the Scientific and Technology Park of Venice). The company shut down in 2013.
01/10/2012–2014 Partner of MDMZ
In October 2012 I founded with Alessandro Miniussi, Ivan Del Ponte and Stefano Medda MDMZ, a firm devoted to architecture, design, rendering, and graphics. MDMZ has been involved mainly in graphic and product design commissions.
I collaborated with «Arketipo», a monthly bilingual (Ita/Eng) architectural magazine, from its foundation, in 2006, until 2013.
I have been collaborating with «L’industria delle costruzioni», a bimonthly architectural magazine (partially translated in English), since 2002. «L’industria delle costruzioni» is owned by ANCE (National Association of Italian Builders).
4. Ability to effectively undertake course, programme, and module leadership, development and administration of a large and complex course (including knowledge and understanding of academic regulations).
I have been teaching courses and led workshops on architectural design, theories of architecture, history of architecture, and landscape architecture at faculties of architecture and engineering as course leader or teaching assistant for more than ten years (see section 2, “Possession of a HE teaching qualification”, for the complete list).
Those experiences gave me the necessary skills to undertake course, programme, and module leadership development and administration of a large and complex course.
I have always obtained excellent scores in the student surveys at the Faculty of Engineering of Trento.
5. Evidence of engagement in research, enterprise and/or professional practice, together with a commitment to engagement with research and enterprise activity relevant to the School.
5.1 Engagement in Research
I have participated in several regional, national (Italian), and European research projects.
5.1.1 European Projects
01/04/1999 – 30/06/2004 WINDS (Web-based INtelligent Design tutoring System)
I joined the WINDS project as Research Fellow at Università Politecnica delle Marche, Faculty of Engineering of Ancona.
WINDS co-funded by the European Commission in the 5th framework of the IST programme – Flexible University Action Line – IST-1999-10253.
The WINDS platform represented a new methodological approach to design education on the web. Its main purposes were to build a large knowledge database in support to Architecture and Civil Engineering Design courses, and to test a comprehensive Virtual University of Architecture and Civil Engineering Design.
«The main aim of the WINDS project was to contribute to the reorganization of the pedagogical, cultural, and functional aspects of the design education at the university level. The traditional approach to design teaching shows some frequent problems that increase learning time and reduce knowledge retention. The WINDS project offers specialized tools for teaching professional skills. The ALE (Adaptive Learning Environment) system provides a new methodological approach to design education on the web. It is adaptive and adaptable, supporting individualized learning by personalization of study materials according to the learner model and history of actions performed. Course authors can reuse materials and create flexible learning objects. [...] The crucial idea was to keep the authoring process simple so that users without programming knowledge can create adaptive courses. Authors design the default structure for the course and choose from predefined templates when creating learning objects. Based on these attributes and the learner model the learning environment provide adaptive link annotation and adaptive navigation support for the user» (quotation from: Milos Kravcik, Marcus Specht, Reinhard Oppermann, “Evaluation of WINDS Authoring Environment”, in Paul De Bra, Wolfang Neidel (Editors), Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Web-Based Systems, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg 2004, p. 166).
Twenty-one online courses were set up as part of WINDS. I was responsible for designing the course “Design and Computer Design in Contemporary Architecture”. This online course was tested on several students, in order to evaluate performance and potential flaws of the WINDS platform.
I have adopted all the pedagogical methodologies of WINDS in my next “real” courses.
01/09/2006 – 31/08/2009 MACE (Metadata for Architectural Contents in Europe)
I took part in MACE as scientific director of Collaboratorio.
The MACE project was co-funded by the European Commission in the 6th Framework Programme of the eContentplus Programme – ECP-2005-EDU-038098.
MACE’s main purpose was to develop tools for e-learning and for searching digital content, in order to enhance education in the architecture and engineering by integrating and connecting a large amount of content from different European repositories.
MACE created innovative tools that enable users to search, find, tag, enrich, use and discuss architectural and engineering content that had previously limited access or availability.
MACE’s foundations were the archives of previous successful European research projects: DYNAMO, INCOM, WINDS, ARIADNE. New repositories and websites were integrated in, foreseeing the possibility of creating a pan-European web portal for architecture and engineering.
MACE developed and used several types of metadata to tag contents coming from the federated archives: traditional content metadata and ontologies, context metadata, competence metadata and learning process metadata, usage related metadata and metadata acquired through social interaction, e.g. recommendations by peer users or blog entries.
Since MACE users were distributed across countries in Europe, the project developed a multicultural and multilingual approach, designing and deploying working solutions to share content across borders. MACE set up an architectural glossary that was translated into Belgian, English, German, Italian, Dutch and Spanish.
MACE offers several free experimental widgets to browse and search (faceted and filtered searches). These widgets are embeddable in web portals wanting to join the MACE consortium.
Other Eurpean Research Projects
I took part in the following European projects, with a minor role and for a short time frame, while I was Research Fellow at the Faculty of Engineering of Ancona (Università Politecnica delle Marche):
I took part in the following European project, with a minor role and for a short time frame, while I was Scientific Director of Collaboratorio:
5.1.2 National Research Projects
While I was PhD student and subsequently Research Fellow in Ancona, I took part in three projects, funded by the Faculty of Engineering of Ancona, whose main goal was to devise pedagogical methodologies and set up technologies in order to create an innovative e-learning platform in the field of architectural design. Some of the results we achieved in these projects were used and implemented in WINDS.
I also took part in the following three projects, co-funded by the Italian Ministry of Education (“Ministero della pubblica istruzione”), with a minor role, while I was PhD student and then Research Fellow at the Faculty of Engineering of Ancona. The projects did not directly pertain architectural design domain.
5.1.3 Regional Projects
As scientific director of Collaboratorio I took part in the following project co-funded by Regione Veneto (Veneto Region):
30/04/2009 - 31/11/2010 Interoperable Digital Media Archiving
(“Archiviazione Multimediale Interoperabile” – Bando Regionale Veneto 2007 Distretti e Metadistretti)
The goal of the “Interoperable Digital Media Archiving Project” was to enable users of “Metadistretto DigitalMediale del Veneto” to have an exclusive resource to produce, catalogue and interactively share documents, images, video, audio, drawings and 3D digital models.
5.2 Engagement in Enterprise and/or Professional Practice
5.2.1 Green Prefab Platform
During my stay at Collaboratorio, I devised, along with its founder Arch. Furio Barzon, the Green Prefab Platform.
Green Prefab (GPF) is an Internet platform that enable architects and engineers to design, calculate and realize prefabricated buildings.
5.2.2 Architecture.it
During my stay at Collaboratorio, I also worked for the portal, owned by Collaboratorio, devoted to architecture: www.architecture.it. From 2000 until 2008, the Internet portal had become the reference point for a large group of young and innovative architects thanks to its daily posts and site reviews promoting new emerging values in architecture.
PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTES
SERVICE DELIVERY
6. Ability to lead student centred teaching and learning and experience of developing innovative methods of assessment to ensure a positive student experience.
I have extensive experience in developing innovative methods of assessment, with excellent feedback from students.
Since I have taught courses devoted to architectural design and theory of contemporary architecture and I have led workshops of history of modern architecture and landscape architecture, I have had the chance to experiment diverse teaching approaches and methods of assessment because of the different learning goals of each different course or workshop.
A stepping stone in the development of my teaching method and student-centred approach was WINDS project (for a description of WINDS project see: “5. Evidence of engagement in research [...]”). The project involved several cognitive psychologists, whose research was focused on teaching methods, in order to advise the other members in the design of the online courses. Their feedback was invaluable in the development of my teaching methodology. WINDS also gave me the opportunity to compare and discuss teaching methods with more than 20 other faculties teaching in France, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
My methodological approach is built around three points:
1. Architectural Invention Techniques
The main assumption of this cognitive model is that invention techniques do exist. Invention techniques are means to help designer, expert or novice, start and guide/lead the designing process.
During my PhD and the following years as a research fellow at the University of Ancona, I have extensively studied authors and architects who have written about invention techniques.
Among authors who have searched for “constants of fantasy”, namely, commons invention techniques that can be employed to create tales, works of art and architecture, etc., I have considered for example Gianni Rodari (a famous Italian storyteller, author of “The Grammar of Fantasy: An Introduction to the Art of Inventing Stories”), and Bruno Munari (a well-known Italian designer, artist, and teacher, author of “Fantasia”).
I have also studied in depth the work of several architects, such as Peter Eisenman, Franco Purini, Bernard Tschumi, Greg Lynn and UN Studio, who have written about invention techniques.
I documented, wrote about, and developed the results of those studies and findings in my PhD thesis and in the book “Invention Techniques in Architecture. The Years of Deconstructivism”. In these I detail the invention techniques I devised from the analysis of buildings by deconstructivist architects: metaphor, estrangement, between, diagrams, decomposition, superposition, contrasts between elements. These techniques were tested by the students of the courses of “Architectural design” I have taught.
2. Case-based reasoning
The assumption of this cognitive model is that designers – expert or novice – confront architectural issues by finding, adopting, adapting, and reusing precedents (also called cases). Precedents can be whole or partial pieces of known designs. They may be solutions previously employed by the same designer or by famous designers, or buildings, landscapes, or towns visited.
This cognitive model stems both from previous scientific studies and from research and experiments I conducted at the Faculty of Engineering of Ancona as part of three research projects devoted to the “Experimentation of innovative e-learning technologies in architectural design domain”.
As part of this research, I filmed professors of architectural design giving feedback to students on their projects. Analysing the images, it emerged that the use of precedents is pervasive in dealing with design assignments. In particular, it emerged that the main difference between an expert and a novice is not just the richness of the knowledge, but also, and foremost, how knowledge is structured and archived. Experts have matured the skills to archive their own knowledge in a scalable and useful way, in particular they know how to archive and tag precedents in order to reuse them in different contexts.
3. Keywords as a means for archiving and searching for architectural precedents
In order to solve a design problem, designers need to know a good number of precedents, well memorized and archived. Designers have to structure their knowledge in flexible, scalable, dynamic, and retrievable ways. Keywords are the necessary means to achieve this goal, as they enable designers to browse precedents and retrieve their own knowledge.
I have dealt with the issue of how to archive architectural knowledge in the following occasions:
- in MACE, a European research project co-funded by the European Commission;
- in the MAEVE installation at the 11th Biennale di Architettura of Venezia (2008);
- in “Online Repositories in Architecture”, an international conference held at the 11th Biennale di Architettura di Venezia (2008) that I co-organized;
- in the book “Browsing Architecture. Metadata and Beyond” that I co-edited.
3.1 MACE
See: “5. Evidence of engagement in research”, for a description of the MACE project.
3.2 MAEVE installation at the 11th Biennale di Architettura of Venezia (2008)
Maeve stands for MACE+Everyville. This was an interactive installation, held at the 11th Biennale di Architettura of Venice (2008), designed to showcase the best projects of Everyville, a competition open to architecture’s students world-wide. The ten selected entries were presented through various media, descriptions and metadata provided by the authors. The installation also presented the architectural references used by the students as sources of inspiration. All these documents were linked to MACE’s contents and metadata.
Maeve provided visual and tangible access to the architectural, social and intellectual references that are always evolving and transforming behind any architectural project.
The installation acted as an amplifier, since users could not only explore the project and its media in detail, but also discover the relationships among the various entries.
The unveiling of this hidden relationship structure helped understanding the connections among different resources and the identification of shared themes.
The purpose of the installation was to illustrate of how metadata can be used in order to intertwine different architectural resources and of how the understanding of each project is enhanced when the network of the relations is clearly showed.
More information and videos on Maeve can be found at http://portal.mace-project.eu/maeve.
3.3 “Online Repositories in Architecture”
“Online Repositories in Architecture” was a two-day international conference that I co-organized, as scientific director of Collaboratorio, with Herman Neuckermans from EAAE (European Association for Architectural Education) at the 11th Biennale di Architettura of Venice.
The participants of the conference exchanged methodologies and technologies to classify, search, tag, use, retrieve, and make available architectural and engineering content spread on different websites, databases and archives on the Internet.
The conference was organized in three sessions:
3.4 “Browsing Architecture. Metadata and Beyond”
On the occasion of “Online Repositories in Architecture”, I co-edited the book “Browsing Architecture. Metadata and Beyond” with Herman Neuckermans and Anna Janowiak. The book was published in English by Fraunhofer irb Verlag (Stuttgart, Germany, September 2008, ISBN: 978-3-8167-7770-0.
“Browsing Architecture. Metadata an Beyond” collects essays by international experts of e-learning, archiving, Information Technology and management of websites on how to make available architectural and engineering contents for the fields of education, formation and professional activities.
The book offers the opportunity to divulge knowledge to a wider public about the research and approaches of innovative e-learning tools that enable expert and non expert users to find, tag, acquire and use digital architectural and engineering resources for educational, formative and professional purposes.
7. A commitment to undertake personal and collaborative research, consultancy and scholarly activities and evidence of subject specific innovation and creative outcomes within relevant discipline areas.
As the list of research projects I have been involved shows (see section 5), I am deeply committed to undertaking personal and collaborative research.
As far as scholarly activities are concerned, I have written several books and around 50 articles and essays dealing with new architectural trends and research (see: “10. Evidence of knowledge and understanding of current thinking about developments in research, theory and practice”).
I also collaborate regularly with two architectural magazine, «Arketipo» and «L’Industria delle costruzioni», devoted to current trends in architecture, where I review recent projects. That collaboration enables me to be constantly up to date on recent developments in architectural research.
As an example of my scholarly activity, last year I published three books.
The first book deals with the history and the events related to the restoration of the High Line of New York. The book is the result of a two-year research.
The second book is a monograph devoted to Behnisch Architekten, the well-known German architectural firm.
The third book, “Fragments | Frammenti” (Ita-Eng edition), collects three essays by Juhani Pallasmaa, the thought-provoking Finnish scholar and architect, along with an interview I made with the author. I edited and translated the book from English into Italian.
Currently, I am editing a comprehensive reader featuring key essays and passages from several books by Juhani Pallasmaa’s. The book is conceived for an academic and scholarly audience. Wiley & Sons Publisher has shown interest in issuing it in English.
The book is a completely new edition of “Lampi di pensiero (Flashes of Thought)”, the book I conceived (starting from nine unpublished essays by Juhani Pallasmaa), edited, and translated from English into Italian for Pendragon Publisher (Bologna) in 2011. The book, collecting Juhani Pallasmaa’s thoughts about phenomenology of perception in architecture, is structured as a dictionary containing more than 100 keywords obtained by fragmenting the nine essays in short chunks of thought. Each keyword is treated like a haiku, since it has the strength to unveil unexpected (sudden like a flash, a lightning) revelations. This “weak” and fragmented structure of the dictionary let the readers free to browse content and find their own path through the book.
TEAMWORK
8. Ability to work as part of a team in the delivery of teaching, the development of new curriculum, learning materials, external and collaborative projects across the faculty as appropriate to discipline.
In all the courses I have taught and the research projects I have participated in, I have always worked in team with faculties, often from different disciplines, and students.
In particular, in the WINDS project (for the description of the European project see: “5. Evidence of engagement in research”) I was the leader of a team of three architects and six students, with the task to develop the learning material for an online course. In the WINDS project I also collaborated with more than 20 faculties from France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, in order to set the first e-learning courses for the virtual pan-European Faculty of Architecture and Engineering, that was WINDS’ main goal.
In the context of MACE (for the description of the European project see: “5. Evidence of engagement in research”) I collaborated with partners coming from Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, and The Netherlands. I took part in all the consortium meetings (at least twice a year) and the video-conferences (once a week for three years). All these meetings enabled me to hone my skills to work as a member of a team.
In the second year of MACE, my responsibilities were:
1. “Online Repositories in Architecture” international conference
Along with Herman Neuckermans from EAAE (European Association for Architectural Education), I organized the Call for papers in order to select the speakers.
The conference, held on 20-21 September 2008 at “Teatro Piccolo della Biennale”, hosted 43 speakers from 14 countries: Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The international conference summoned educators, researchers, students, archivists, IT practitioners, and managers of major European architectural portals in order to share knowledge and experience, to convey approaches and research, to promote conceptual and technological tools and to seek out common or integrated visions. I managed the relationships with all the lecturers.
2. “Browsing Architecture. Metadata and Beyond”
On the occasion of “Online Repositories in Architecture”, I co-edited the book “Browsing Architecture. Metadata and Beyond” with Herman Neuckermans and Anna Janowiak. The book was published in English by Fraunhofer irb Verlag (Stuttgart, Germany, September 2008, ISBN: 978-3-8167-7770-0); the book can be downloaded at
http://www.mace-project.eu/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=54&Itemid=151).
In order to issue the book, I collaborated with the authors (educators, researchers, scholars, students, archivists, IT practitioners, and managers of major European architectural portals) of the 26 essays featured in the book, the Italian graphic designer, and the German Publisher.
3. “Maeve”
At La Biennale di Architettura of Venice 2008, MACE set up an installation at Le Artiglierie dell’Arsenale: MAEVE (http://portal.mace-project.eu/maeve). I was part of the team who designed the interactive installation and analyzed the material provided by the students whose projects were exhibited in MAEVE. The team was composed of people coming from different domains: architects, interaction designers, computer scientists, and computer programmers. I was able to collaborate with all the team members. The Maeve installation was appreciated by the visitors of La Biennale di Architettura.
COMMUNICATION
9. Evidence of high level interpersonal skills including the ability to communicate complex information to audiences with a mixed level of understanding.
I have been teaching courses of “Architectural Design” and “History of Contemporary Architecture” in the Faculties of Engineering of Trento and Ancona, and the Faculty of Architecture of Venice for ten years (please refer to: “2. Possession of a HE teaching qualification and/or experience of teaching”).
I have taught students from the first up to the fourth year.
I have always obtained excellent scores in the student surveys at the Faculty of Engineering of Trento (I can provide the official documents upon request, please also note that the University of Venice and the University of Ancona did not conduct student surveys).
As further evidence of my ability to communicate with people outside of the field of architecture, since 2004 I have been giving lectures on a voluntary basis at the “University for the Elderly” of Belluno (Veneto, Italy), a non-for-profit organization aimed at delivering courses for adult and elderly citizens. My lectures were greatly appreciated by the attendees, who felt enabled to grasp complex topics on which they had no previous exposure.
I have given research seminars in several Italian universities, invited by faculties interested in my books and research.
LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
10. Evidence of knowledge and understanding of current thinking about developments in research, theory and practice as a basis for preparing and supporting students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
I devoted my main studies to architectural experimentations, trends, and research starting from the ’80 until now. In particular, my interest has been devoted to:
All these topics have been:
For the complete and updated list of my publications, please see "Pubblicazioni" in the Italian box of my personal page.
As concerns my topics of research, see:
