Full Professor at the University of Bologna since 2016, he carries out his research in the field of architectural restoration. Her research interests are directed in particular at the history of the discipline, with particular reference to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; a. She currently focuses her research on the theme of the permanence and function of myth in contemporary industrialised societies.
Education
Graduated from the IUAV University of Venice (1991); PhD in Architectural Conservation from the University of Naples "Federico II" (1999). He is director architect at the Superintendencies of Arezzo (2000) and Venice and Lagoon (2000-2005).
Academic career
Contract professor first at the IUAV University of Venice, then also at the University of Trieste, since 2005 he has been associate professor at the University of Molise, Faculty of Engineering, and then at the Alma Mater (since 2010). Since 2016 he is full professor in Architectural Restoration at the Department of Architecture of the same University.
Teaching activities
He is currently professor of the restoration workshop at the CdLMCU in Architecture; of the course on theories of conservation of historical buildings and architectural heritage at the CdLM in Ingegneria dei processi e dei sistemi edilizi; and of the workshop Preserving Heritage and Shaping New Urban Features at the CdLM Architecture and Creative Practices for the City and Landscape.
Scientific activity
In the whole of his activity, he has carried out research on themes, always inherent to the area of restoration, related to the study of the history of the discipline, with particular reference to nineteenth- and early twentieth-century themes, the foundations of the same (research on the figure of Giacomo Boni; research on the activities of Alfonso Rubbiani in Bologna; of Max Ongaro in Venice; on John Ruskin and Aloïs Riegl); the study of the activity of legislation, especially with reference to its historical evolution; more specifically operational issues, with reference to more general questions related to the intervention and management of the cultural heritage with a view to the integral protection of its values, and the particular aspect of the insertion of systems in an artefact of high historical and artistic value. As part of his Superintendence activities, he has designed and directed restoration sites for important buildings (Palazzo delle Prigioni Nuove and the Church of San Geremia in Venice; the Convent of San Francesco del Deserto, in the Venice Lagoon), which have provided opportunities for research as well as technical and professional commitment, where he has experimented and refined methodologies, design and intervention strategies.
He has also dealt with issues related to the definition of the intended use of historical buildings; landscape protection management issues, with particular reference to aspects of protection of the agricultural landscape; management of the old town centre resource, especially with reference to the historical evolution of the related issues; issues of consolidation of the facades of historical buildings.
He has also conducted investigations into the use and compatible functions of historic architecture and its enhancement; and into the problems of conserving historic installations, strategies for their reuse and the impact of including new installations in restoration projects. For years he has been working on issues relating to the restoration of modern architecture, with particular reference to the heritage of the twenty-year fascist period, to which his latest published monograph is dedicated ("Materiali autarchici. Conservare l'innovazione", 2021). This research has produced a large number of publications (over 130). The topic of investigation, connected to the proposed project, is the study of the microclimate of historical architecture, which began in 2013 with studies on the Malatesta Library in Cesena and continued through numerous historical architectures in Italy and abroad.
He is responsible for numerous national and international research programmes.
Institutional activities and academic positions
He has been a member (2010-2013) of the Doctorate College in Conservation of Architectural Heritage at Politecnico di Milano, DAStU Department; he is currently a member (since 2013) of the Doctorate College in Architecture and cultures of the project activated at the Department of Architecture of the University of Bologna.
He is currently coordinator of the Master's Degree Course in Engineering of Building Processes and Systems, University of Bologna; he has been the Rector's delegate at the Landscape Observatory, established at the Emilia Romagna Region (2016-2021) and at the Third Mission Observatory of his University (2016-2021).
Membership in scientific and editorial boards
He is a member of the Board of Directors of AISU International (Italian Association of Urban History); he was a member (2016-2020) of the Board of Directors of SIRA (Italian Society for the Restoration of Architecture), a scientific society of the disciplinary field to which he belongs (ICAR/19).
He is currently a member of the Scientific Committee of the journal Recupero e Conservazione; he is a former member of the Scientific Council of the association Scienza e Beni Culturali, organiser of the annual conference of the same name, which will reach its XXXV edition in 2021. He is on the scientific committee of the association ATRIUM-Architecture of Totalitarian Regimes of XX Century in Urban Managements, recognised as a trans-national cultural route by resolution n. 12/07 of the Council of Europe.
He is a reviewer for numerous scientific journals in the field (among others, Materiali & Strutture and Restauro Archeologico).
He is part of the scientific committee of the Collana editoriale Architettura e Restauro, Nardini, Florence (director: prof. arch. V. Russo).
He has been the promoter of several national and international conferences; among the last ones Ruskin200 (Florence, 2019) and LA CITTA GLOBALE - La condizione urbana come fenomeno pervasivo (Bologna, 2019).
Other activities
He was scientific advisor to Fondazione CaRiPLo for the call "Beni al sicuro "dedicated to the protection of cultural heritage at risk (2018-2021).
He has acted as commissioner in numerous competitions for architectural restoration; among others, the competition for the assignment of the executive design of the restoration and renovation works of the "Ex Convento San Benedetto" complex in Ferrara; and for the design of the restoration works of the former Casa del Fascio, in Predappio.
