Engineering-based Architecture and Urban Planning

Department

Department of Civil, Constructional and Environmental Engineering (DICEA)

Main research activities/topics/projects

The PhD program in “Engineering-based Architecture and Urban Planning” is aimed to train researchers through a high educational level to operate in the field of architecture and/or town planning by using a multidisciplinary and cross disciplinary approach and appropriate methodologies and technologies.

Indeed, today, in the national scenario, a strong demand is felt for specialized, but not sectoral, researchers capable of interacting with the various components of the productive, administrative and cultural world in order to contribute, through their multidisciplinary training, to govern the complexity of both architectural work and urban design as a whole.
In conclusion, the PhD program has two aims pursued by the two following curricula.
Engineering-based Architecture curriculum:
to endow doctoral students, at the end of the training process, with research capacity that can be employed by Institutions and public or private organizations in the fields of design, building and management (until the end of the life cycle and ultimate recycling and/or disposal) of the architectural organism, the building elements and materials, both in constructing new buildings and in the rehabilitation and restructuring of existing buildings.
The main research topics that be relevant for the prospective Brazilian PhD candidates are:

• architectural and urban planning project with emphasis in social housing and slum upgrading urban planning
• collective housing (cortiços)
• housing development in informal settlements
• rehabilitation of disused industrial heritage for housing
• urban regeneration
• reactivation of disused spaces within the urban fabric
• new housing strategies within the city
• recovery of disused building heritage

Urban Planning curriculum:
to introduce graduate students to the issues related to organizing and planning of cities and territories and to the environmental impact of human pressure on nature, investigating new social tools and practices for sustainable development of the city and the land.
As regards specific objectives, the PhD-program will set up a training synergism with the scientific sectors involved in technical physics, materials technology, history of architecture, social science, economics and health sciences.

Working language

The language of the PhD course is Italian. The language of the work produced can be Italian, English, or both.

Special entry requirements

Experience in the use of architectural design software

Duration in months (min-max)

PhD sandwich: 6-12