Spring 2019 seminar: Ph.D. candidate, History of Architecture and Urban Development
Architect and senior fellow of the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology of Toronto University, Marialuisa Palumbo has been a member of the Italian National Institute of Architecture (INARCH) in Rome since 2003 where, for more than a decade, she led the institute's programs in advanced studies in architecture, new technologies, and urban ecology. The study of human evolution and footprint, the nexus between nature and technique, and the role of technology to shape the private and public sphere are at the background of her research interests, which focus on architectural theory as a practice of social engagement to question and promote notions of justice, ecology, and democracy. She is the author of New Wombs. Electronic bodies and architectural disorder (Birkhauser, 2000) and Paesaggi Sensibili. Architetture a sostegno della vita (Duepunti, 2012); and the editor of Architettura Produttiva. Principi di progettazione ecologica (Maggioli, 2012) and Fare città nella città (Aracne, 2017). In 2012, she curated reMade in Italy, a final section of the Italian Pavilion at the 2012 Venice Biennale of Architecture. Through her books, essays, and articles, and curating exhibitions, debates, and workshops, she explores issues related to the urban condition; climate change and ecological footprint; soil sealing and urban renewal strategies; public housing and community building; migrations and citizenship. Overall, the social impact of design and the nexus between polis and politics are at the core of her present research interests. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the History of Architecture and Urban Development program at Cornell.