Alessandro Melis, Thelmo Pievani and J. Antonio Lara-Hernandez Address/Affiliation: University of Portsmouth
2. Definition of the Market
3. Table of Contents/Chapter Synopses
4. Selling Points
5. Distinctive Features
6. Textbook Suitability
7. Professional Readership
10. Potential Reviewers
11. Materials to Include
Thank you for considering Routledge as a potential publisher for your work. The guidelines below are intended to clarify what your proposal is about, who it is for, and why it’s different from existing books or other sources of information on the market. Please fill out the guidelines in their entirety and provide all requested materials. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions as you prepare these materials.
When completed, please email this form to:
Krystal Racaniello
Editor, Architecture
Routledge, Taylor and Francis
605 3rd Ave, Floor 22
New York, NY 10158
1. Statement of Aims
Please provide a 250 word summary of the book such as might appear on the book jacket, written in accessible language. Include:
1 what is your book about, what is its main purpose and your reasons for writing it
2 a broad description of its scope and contents
3 the main themes and objectives.
The book focuses on the significance and the originality of the study of the exaptation as a possibility to extend the architectural design towards more sustainable approaches aimed at enforcing urban resilience. The use of exaptation’s definition, in architecture corroborates the heuristic value of the cross-disciplinary studies on biology and architecture, which seems even more relevant in times of global environmental crises.
Additionally, the book aims to make a critique of the pre-existing and extensive paternalistic literature. Exaptation will be described, in the book, as a functional shift of a structure that already had a prior but different function. In architecture, a functional shift of a structure that already had a function may apply to forms of decorative elements embedded in architectural components, and to both change of function of tectonic elements and chance of use of the architectural space. The book illustrates examples from around the globe, looking at different civilisations and from diverse historical periods, ranging from the urban to the architectural scale. Such examples highlight the potential and latent human creativity capacity to change the use and functions that cities and buildings as an outcome product of the associative thinking could offer when facing disturbances. Exaptation is shown as an alternative narrative to the simplifications of the evolutionary puritanism. The book offers an innovative perspective to look at the architecture, which represents an opportunity to re-think the manner in which we design and redesign our cities. The book is a key reading for architecture and biology scholars.
2. Definition of the market
In answering these questions, consider the market in the UK, Europe, North America, and the rest of the world and indicate whether any particular countries will be especially strong (or weak) markets for the book.
● Please identify the most likely readers, and explain why they would want to use your proposed book.
● Under which subject areas would you anticipate your book being listed? In which section of a book shop would you expect to find it?
● Would this subject have international appeal outside your home country? If so, where and why?
This book will be the interest of scholars related to the field of architecture, planning, urbanism and biology. This book could be listed under subject areas such as architecture or cross-disciplinary studies such as architecture, biology, geography, environmental studies, liberal art education and urban studies. The book subject is likely to have an international appeal because the main topic is about a new taxonomy of architecture, which is a global interest. The book will include examples from China, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, USA and the UK.
3. Table of Contents & Chapter Synopses
Please list working chapter headings and provide a short paragraph of explanation on what you (or your contributors) intend to cover in each chapter. Please include details of geographic range of content, case studies and illustrations (where relevant).
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
1. Barbora Foerster.
2. Dana Hamdan
3. Selenia Marinelli
4. Ingrid Paoletti
5. RebelArchitette
6. Daniela Perrotti
7. Marcella Del Signore
8. Antonino Di Raimo
9. Maria Perbellini
10. Wendy Fok
11. Stefano Mancuso
12. Cristina Favretto
13. Claudia Pasquero
14. Marco Poletto
15. Eric Goldemberg
Contents/ Chapters
1. Introduction to a “deep time” architectural perspective
This chapter introduces what biologists and geologists call “deep time”, as a possibility to understand the evolutionary trends of the city, beyond the conventional architectural historic perspective. According to biology studies, the limited time perspective of the History of architecture, can expose the design to errors of interpretations on future trends. The chapter highlights the problem of the current taxonomy in architecture which doesn’t allow to fully understand the architectural development, transformation and change across civilisations. Thus, depriving the possibility to use associative thinking to comprehend and solve crucial issues related to cities and society. This risk also includes the possible reading of the contemporary city in recapitulation form, meaning as such that contemporary cities are considered, mistakenly, as the pinnacle of a linear and progressive evolutionary progress at the origin of which less advanced urban forms, deriving from the past, are found.
2. Exaptation Vs Adaptation in architectural design
The second chapter will introduce the topic of Exaptation and will explain its meaning. This text will also include an extensive discussion on the importance of cross-disciplinary in times of global crisis and on the prying value of a notion such as exaptation.
Between the 1960s and 2000s, a relevant discussion took place in the field of biology fuelled, above all, by Stephen Jay Gould, regarding the definition of the evolutionary mechanisms of adaptation. This discussion, which explored a vast existing literature, from Williams (1966) to Bock (1979; 1967; 1965), resulted in a pivotal article by Gould and Elisabeth Vrba on exaptation (1982). With this text, the authors intended to challenge and extend the traditional taxonomy around the term of adaptation by highlighting that the same referred exclusively to that process through which the form follows a certain function, thus excluding from this process all those cases in which the forms (i.e. pre-existing structures) were subsequently co-opted by an adaptive function.
2. Bio-inspired architecture
This chapters describes and discusses previous relevant architecture inspired by the field of biology, providing a context for the coming chapters. It includes the work of Laugier’s primitive hut, going through the various typological studies of architecture via Durand and beyond, through Camillo Sitte, Ebenezer Howard’s garden city concept, biocentrism at the Bauhaus, and Einfühlung disposed or expressionist modernism to sustainability in the late twentieth century to parametric, living materials and exaptation in the architecture of the present.
3. Spandrels: The missing link between architecture and biology
The third chapter will explore the pivotal importance of architectural observation for understanding the mechanisms of exaptation in the biology of evolution. In fact, the most surprising aspect of the lack of cross-disciplinary studies linking biology of evolution and architecture is Gould's use of an architectural metaphor to explain exaptation. Gould even uses an architectural tectonic component (‘spandrel’) to define in biology the characteristic that is a by-product of the evolution of some other characteristic, rather than a direct product of adaptive selection. Architectural constraints have a structural function, independent of their subsequent artistic and symbolic use. Although the use of the architectural term, spandrel, in biology has turned more than forty years old, the biological term, exaptation, vice versa, is absent in the architectural literature with the exceptions of few very recent papers by Furnari (2011, 2009) and Faulders (2014). The case studies explored by these authors have shown “that in design, like in biology, innovation-by-exaptation can be usefully contrasted to innovation-by-adaptation, which assumes evolution of the structure of a feature towards better function. In contrast, exaptation describes the unforeseen connection between an existing feature and a new function, different from the function for which the feature was originally designed or selected for” (Pievani, 2008).
4. Non deterministic design: the architectural missing link
The scope of the first three chapters was to stress the significance of the exaptation as a concept in architecture. If what has been described up to here is true, one might wonder why this mechanism, despite its potential application in architecture, has not been adequately considered up to now. The fourth chapter is therefore an exploration of the forms of reification that have favoured the deterministic perspective in architecture. As humans, we often, “abstract the variation within a system into some measure of central tendency, like the mean value – and then make the mistake of reifying this abstraction and interpreting the mean as a concrete thing” (Gould & Duve, 1996:p.40). Known as reification, this is "a legacy as old as Plato". The reification is, therefore, "our tendency to abstract a single ideal or average as the essence of a system, and to devalue or ignore variation among individuals that constitute the full population” (p. 40).
5. Ontogeny and Phylogeny: the recapitulation of the city
The fifth chapter focuses on the concept of recapitulation as a possible tool for reading the city, in an evolutionary key, which has led to some forms of reification. Evolutionary biology can also help us understand the potential bias towards the contemporary city, which follows a deterministic design as a main driver of urban design. However, we do not want to put it into debate, rather is just give examples about the deterministic design has driven (and continues to do so) cities growth during the last XX century. Even if the term does not exist in architecture, the recapitulation can explain the reasons why we now believe that the city is the most advanced result of human creativity.
6. Architectural exaptation: an initial taxonomy
This chapters attempts to formulate a first hypothesis of taxonomy on the architectural exaptation. We have already indicated that this feature is present in architecture and is highly relevant
We will explain the need for a taxonomy to make the existence of a concept effective. The new taxonomy will imply the possibility of an intrinsic ecologic architecture, which can contribute in overcoming current environmental crisis. The proposed taxonomy does not intend to be conclusive; rather it is a starting point aimed to enhance an aspect of architecture that has always been considered secondary or insignificant. A vast literature In archaeology will be considered here (Ingold, 2013; Steadman, 2016). However we do not intend to retrace the history of architecture (and its relationship with archaeology), in an orthodox way. Instead, we aim to analyse only a neglected aspect in literature, which is the presence of functional co-optation in selected case studies.
7. Functionalisation of existing geomorphologies
The seventh chapter will explore a series of case studies belonging to this specific classification of the architectural exaptation. It could be said that from the beginning the first form of architecture was the result of a mixture of adaptation and architectural exaptation. From the first settlements in the caves, to the use of its protrusions as seats, to its walls for decorations, to its cavities for sepulchres, and for the accumulation of waste and so on (Steadman, 2016; Rapoport, 1998). The forms of tectonic symbiosis between geomorphology and design, therefore the functional co-optation of redundant forms, born for other function or for no function, successfully crosses every historical epoch and every geographical place on Earth. Such forms can count on milestones such as le domus de janas of Sardinia, the hermits' hermitages scattered in almost every place in the Mediterranean, the architectures carved in the stone of Cappadocia, Petra in Jordan, Montezuma Castle in Arizona, Mada'in Saleh rock tombs in Saudi Arabia, and unknown and overlooked works of contemporary and modern architects . We could distinguish examples in which design determinism seems to prevail (e.g. Petra), with respect to the functionalization of forms, from cases in which the informal (not designed) approach emerges in a more evident way (i.e. caves). Contemporary case studies such as land art projects or exhibitions will be considered, too.
8. Integration of function in existing structures
This chapter will focus on the Integration of function in existing structures as a form of architectural exaptation. It will include case studies belonging to this specific classification of the exaptation.
Although we have a tendency to describe architecture as the result of a single intended function, resulting from a deterministic design (from which the typology also derives), which we then break down into a series of separate and complementary uses (equally determined), almost in each tectonic component there are different functions, some designed deterministically, others co-opted. So much so that the presence of several functions, decorative, structural or otherwise, in the same tectonic component is probably an intrinsic feature of architecture. In most cases, especially if we observe the architecture of the past, from Classicism, to Romanesque and Gothic to distinguish the primary function from the secondary one, it is virtually impossible (Melis & Pievani, 2020).
9. Re-functionalisation of existing structures
Having described how new functions are integrated to existing structures, chapter 9 will explore a series of case studies belonging to re-functionalisation of existing structure as a form of architectural exaptation.
In the history of architecture, literally distinct functions following one another in the same tectonic component are very frequent. A striking case is the use of pre-existing masonry structures, as foundations of successive buildings. In no case had this secondary use been planned, even if, paradoxically, it constitutes a topos of extensive architecture period like the Romanesque one. The chapter includes example from Europe, America and Asia.
10. Integration or change of use
This chapter will explore a series of case studies belonging to the integration or change of use in existing structure as a form of architectural exaptation. In this category, we intend to include all subsequent and unforeseen uses of a given architecture, when the required transformations have occurred through a deterministic project. Essentially, it is the change of use not foreseen when the architecture was built and, for this reason, falls within the modality of architectural exaptation. However, this type of activity has already been included in the taxonomy of architecture, albeit independently of the analogy with the adaptation. This particular category proves once again that design determinism is what has so far been given a dignity that deserves inclusion in what is architectural design, even in those cases where this second determinism architectural, is a necessity due to the failure of the objectives of the initial project.
11. Temporary appropriation of space
This chapter will focus on several modalities of functional co-optation in architecture that remain excluded from the presumed interpretation of secondary determinism described in the previous category. The objective of this chapter goes beyond the architecture as just mere building design and is focused on the urban sphere, providing theoretical background and examples within the urban landscape. For example, the phenomena of temporary appropriation of public spaces, which contribute to the resilience of the neighbourhoods, concern the uses of space not planned in any conventional design (Lara-Hernandez & Melis, 2018; Melis, Lara-Hernandez & Thompson, 2020). The chapter includes examples from Mexico, Italy, US and New Zealand.
12. Non deterministic design: Towards a new Architectural taxonomy
Through the lens of biology studies, this chapter is an initial discussion on the informal hypothesis as a form of exaptation, in opposition to the conventional perspective of informality as a result of the deterioration of the urban environment. According to Gould (1977), taxonomies in biology can be affected by prejudices and may incur errors due to the identification of trends that, in reality, compared to a time period or to a larger population, turn out to be simple fluctuations. Architectural exaptation can contribute to a narrative as an alternative to the simplifications of the evolutionary puritanism. Utilising Foucault’s approach the chapter illustrates how the way in which architectural styles has been classified during the last century has fostered the overlook of architecture produced by non-architects.
13. Towards diversity: the relevance of the female perspective
This chapter will focus on the relevance of diversity as an instrument to reinforce the resilience of the city. It will then discuss the female perspective as a first step towards diversity. It will include several case studies. A serious side effect of the reification of trends is the underestimation of some phenomena that do not align with the narrative of linear progress. The Covid-19 narrative, told as the story of a virus, similar to the Spanish flu, that triggered a sudden pandemic, which affected everyone, without distinction, will lead to a different response than that referring to a chronicle of a virus spillover, prompted by environmental pressure, which has reached the heart of the West, in a perhaps less dramatic way than what happened in the Kenema slums, in Sierra Leone, due to Ebola.
14. Conclusions: the possibility of redundancy and variability in architecture
The final chapters will summarise the research presented in the previous chapter in order to understand further the potential and the transferability of the Exaptation concept. Exaptation is an extension (and a revolution) of the taxonomy of evolutionary biology which, in fact, calls into question the orthodoxy of Darwinism and, for this very reason, has met for many years a resistance. Only recently, thanks to the confirmations by the studies on genetics (i.e. Ewan Birney/ Encode) and paleoanthropology on the origin of creativity (i.e. Heather Pringle), the inertial positions on determinism, intentionality, order, artificiality (i.e. Huxley chessboard) have been overcome, in favor of the possibility, for instance, of an intrinsically ecological, non-deterministic, chaotic, fluid dynamic, serendipital and non-anthropocentric interpretation of the reality. This chapter summarises findings, showing the intersectionality of the perspectives and positions described in other chapters.
4. Selling Points
Why do you feel your proposal is distinctive? Please highlight at least four distinctive features or commercial ‘selling points’ that distinguish your book. (Note that “no other book like it exists” is not a selling point. “Seventeen built case studies in six countries, including China, France, Japan, Canada, the United States, and Norway” is a good selling point.)
1. The discourse on the heuristic value of the biology of evolution concerns the possibility of revolutionising the taxonomy of architecture, universally. It therefore does not have a specific geographical connotation and, in different cultural and technological forms and modalities, it affects all regions of the world. As can be seen from the selection of the case studies.
2. As this is a cross-disciplinary topic that mainly involves the fields of evolutionary biology and architecture (and not limited to them), we expect extensive interest from researchers.
3. In times of environmental crises like the present ones, the possibility of an intrinsically ecological architecture is fueling the international debate and the interest of scholars. Although the relationships between biology and architecture have been previously explored (as in the case of biomimicry and bioarchitecture), nothing has been published to date in architecture concerning the heuristic value of the mechanisms of the biology of evolution and natural selection in relationship to design. Yet exaptation, that is the indeterministic mechanism of natural selection, is among the most important revolutions in biology that have ever been made, in which architecture has been considered the ideal metaphor to explain the mechanism (case of architectural “spandrels”). We believe that a publication on exaptation and architecture can be a success because the comparison between exaptation and technology, linguistics, engineering has already been successfully brought to the attention of scholars.
4. The research is the background of the exhibition of the Italian Pavilion at the XVII Architecture Venice Biennale. The Venice Biennale is unanimously considered the most relevant event in architecture, globally, with 160.000 visitors and 69 countries as exhibitors. Alessandro Melis, curator of the book, has been appointed by the Italian Minister of Culture as the curator of the Italian pavilion. We expect a major impact of the book and significant dissemination of it, thanks to the Venice Biennale. If the book is published before November 2021 it is also possible to officially present during the Biennale.
5. Teaching Features
Please list any pedagogical features you plan to include in the book with a brief explanation of what they are trying to achieve, such as chapter summaries, discussion questions, exercises, glossary, bibliography, annotated further reading lists.
We expect that in the short term it will be a text for advanced and postgraduate masters students of both architecture and biology. We believe it can be a versatile and useful book especially for dissertations in the fields of history, architectural theory and criticism, and architectural technology.
6. Textbook Suitability
Textbooks are those books which cover all or most areas of a taught course or module within a course. Within the architecture curriculum they can be required or recommended. In some instances books may be suitable for use as a textbook and for a professional readership.
● Does your book have potential to be used as a textbook in a course? If so, at what level?
● Will it be written specifically in order to be used as a course textbook?
● If your book is not a core textbook, but may be supplementary reading for a course, please list the sorts of courses for which it is likely to be recommended.
● Please include details of whether you are planning to supplement the book with online resources for lecturers and students. Please include details of the features you could include such as Powerpoint slides, test banks, links to websites.
The book is suitable for students as a complementary reading material for courses such as history of architecture. Additionally, the book could be of interest to architects, planners and landscape architects, because it offers a new taxonomy of architecture.
Being a cross-disciplinary text, which focuses on the possibility of a revision of the architectural design taxonomy thanks to the heuristic value of biology, our ambition is that in the medium term, it can become a fundamental text for the undergraduates (especially in the field of history of architecture). In fact, the text also implies the overcoming of current thresholds teaching concepts of teaching in times of global crisis.
Given the obsolescence of architectural knowledge, which has not yet contributed to overcoming the aforementioned crisis (on the opposite, construction are the main causes of climate change), we hope this book can be considered ground-breaking and, and, therefore, pedagogically, pivotal. Less revolutionary in the field of biology, for its specialised nature from biological perspective, we expect this book can be helpful for master theses, Mphil and Phds.
7. Professional Suitability
If your book is likely to have a professional, industrial or institutional readership, please list the likely job titles of these readers and the type of organisation or institution in which in which they will be found.
The book would be the interest of professionals of architecture, planning, urban design, urbanism and even landscape architecture.
8. Length and Schedule
We will need initial estimates of the word and image counts so that we can estimate the book’s specifications and budget>
About how many words will the manuscript have, including all frontmatter, chapters, notes, bibliography, and captions?
The book will be around 75,000 words. Four chapters of the manuscript are nearly finished while the other two are on the way. We expect to have a total of 5-6 illustrations per chapter and 3-4 tables per chapter.
*If you plan to include material in your final manuscript from other published sources, for which you do not hold copyright (such materials can include photographs, illustrations, figures or extensive sections of text) you will need to provide us with preliminary details as part of your proposal. It is an author's responsibility to apply for permission to use copyrighted material. If you have any queries or concerns about this responsibility, please do speak to your commissioning editor.
How many tables, photographs and diagrams will it have?
a) Line drawings:
b) Halftones (black and white photographs):
c) Tables:
d) Colour Images:
At this stage, when do you anticipate being ready to deliver the final manuscript?
We are aiming to finish it by the end of March 2021. Prof Melis is the curator of the Italian Pavilion in the Architecture Venice Biennale 2021, thus we could take full advantage of the event to promote the book.
9. Review of Competition
It is important that you are aware of your book’s place in the existing literature. Please list books here which are either directly in competition with your book or else could be considered to be related in some way. If you see no direct competitor, it is worth listing those books already being bought by your intended audience. Please list the book’s details and provide a brief analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the book and explanation of the ways in which your proposed book will improve upon or be different to the competing / related title. Please also consider whether your intended readership can get the information from a non-book source – journals, websites, and so on.
Competing/Related Titles
Title: Understanding Innovation Through Exaptation.
Author: C. La Porta AM, S. Zapperi, and L. Pilotti
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG
ISBN
Date: 2020
List Price (not Amazon’s price)
Strengths: This book establishes a clear link between the concept of exaptation and innovations processes across different fields of study such as architecture, medicine, design, urbanism, finance and economy.
Weakness: Due to the latter, the focus of the book remains dispersed without going deep in any of the discussed fields of study.
Routledge titles closest to your title
Title: An Anthropology of Architecture
Author: Buchli V.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN
Date: 2020
List Price (not Amazon’s price)
Strengths: The book examines from an anthropological perspective what architecture 'does' - how it makes people and shapes, sustains and unravels social relations though a wide range of worldwide case studies.
Weakness: It does not address the how the latter is driven to some extent by evolutionary processes, which can be understood through the use of evolutionary theories.
10. Potential Reviewers
Please give the names and addresses of at least three people (no two at the same school or institution) who would be able to assess your proposal and advise us on it. Taken together they should provide as wide an overview of your proposal as possible. Please be sure to pick experts on your topic as well as representatives of your target audience. It is best if the individuals are uninvolved with your project or your research and are outside of your personal circle. We aim to reflect an even gender and racial mix in our reviewers, and to commission reviews that truly represent a global spread, so please do consider this when making reviewer suggestions.
Agatino Rizzo, professor at Lulea University
agatino.rizzo@ltu.se
Maurizio Carta
maurizio.carta@unipa.it
Christian Pongratz
christian.pongratz@nyit.edu
Daniela Perrotti
Eric Goldenberg
11. Materials to Include
Along with the completed proposal guidelines please include:
A sample introduction and chapter (should be a middle chapter, not a beginning or an end chapter)
ARCHITECTURAL EXAPTATION
“In King's College Chapel in Cambridge, for example, the spaces contain bosses alternately embellished with the Tudor rose and portcullis. In a sense, this design represents an "adaptation," but the architectural constraint is clearly primary. The spaces arise as a necessary by-product of fan vaulting; their appropriate use is a secondary effect. Anyone who tried to argue that the structure exists because the alternation of rose and portcullis makes so much sense […]. Yet evolutionary biologists, in their tendency to focus exclusively on immediate adaptation to local conditions, do tend to ignore architectural constraints and perform just such an inversion of explanation”. (Gould & Lewontin, 1979)
Introduction to a “deep time” architectural perspective
Many scholars have focused on cross-disciplinary studies involving biology and other disciplines, including glottology, economics, and technology (Andriani & Carignani, 2014; DeWolf, 2019).
Despite the potential applications in design practice, there are no significant studies on the relationships between evolutionary biology and architecture if we exclude those on biomimicry and evolutionary design as a general computation approach about incremental changes.
Beginning with the comparisons, between the phenotypes of the human body, from classical to Renaissance architecture, then codified, paradigmatically in the primitive hut by Marc-Antoine Laugier (Buchli, 2020; Kaufmann, 1964; Kruft, 1994), explorations on bio architecture, biomimicry and architectural biology have today reached high levels of interest, especially in the study of materials technology and bio-inspired technologies such as bio-robotics, and are also promoted by influential educators and scholars.
The potential of bio-inspired architecture lies in the fact that in several cases we are still far from being able to simulate what evolution by natural selection has produced in billions of years (for example, photosynthesis). The limit of bio-inspired approaches, such as biomimicry, however, is that any architectural reference to biology stays on a phenotypical level of design processes and very rarely instead consider biology as a potential starting point for a radical and paradigmatic change in the principles of design and its workflow, which, however, in times of global crises caused mainly by the way we design cities, may be necessary (Pievani, 2008). The term autopoiesis, for instance, expressed for the first time by the Chilean Biologist Humberto Maturana, along with his colleague, the late neuroscientist Francisco Varela, is about the self-generating and self-maintaining systems, which influenced system thinking and cybernetics as well as computation architecture.
In this book, however, the interest in the relationship between biology of evolution and architecture is attributable to the possible analogies between natural selection and architectural design, which could potentially corroborate the relevance of autopoiesis in architecture, as an approach aiming at understanding the design process rather than its final product.
This analogy is also confirmed by the several definitions of biologists regarding the principles of evolution and adaptation ), which, very often, are superimposable with those used by architects regarding systemic architectural design and sustainable projects.
However, despite the relevance of the relationships indicated in the premises, architecture is still considered an autonomous discipline for a large part of architectural theorists, and, generically, refers, in the most well-known history of architecture books, to a quite short timeframe, starting from the beginning of the Bronze Age, up to the present day (Melis, Davis & Balaara, 2017).
In some cases, what happened before this period is ascribed rather to the field of archaeology which, only selectively, is considered relevant for the growth of knowledge in the field of architectural design.
Biological and cultural evolution, on the other hand, in terms of only what concerns the relationships between Homo sapiens and the habitats, covers a period of at least 200,000 years, called “deep time” since we were born in Africa as a new species.
Also in this case, the study of ecology shows that a wider time span allows to better measure the effects of global crises, such as the climate change, highlighting how, therefore, the study of the biology of evolution offers opportunities for reading the futuristic scenario, more efficiently than those developed over the time of traditional urban studies. Coincidentally, according to Pringle, the extension of the research towards 200.000 years ago, allows us to discover the origin of human creativity and, therefore, its skill to design (Pringle, 2013).
In fact the reading of the evolutionary trends of the city, according to long times (what biologists and geologists call “deep time”), in the architectural perspective, but very short if interpreted in terms of the biology of evolution, exposes the design to errors of interpretations on future trends, precisely on the basis of biology studies (Gould & Lewontin, 1979). This risk also includes other terms of a possible analogy between biology and architecture, such as the possible reading of the contemporary city in recapitulation form, meaning as such that contemporary cities are the pinnacle of a linear and progressive evolutionary process at the origin of which less advanced urban forms are found.
The limited heteronomy of research in architecture, therefore, in addition to a more limited time span research, has also led to overlooking theories already known instead in the biology, and already considered in other fields of research (archaeology), such as that of "niche construction": the recursive and constructive process by which organisms actively alter environmental states, thereby modifying the conditions that they, and other organisms, experience, and the frame of selective pressures in their environments (Laland, Matthews & Feldman, 2016; Gould, 1977). This kind of selective pressures actively modified by human activities, as an evolutionary account of Anthropocene, has started to be relevant in architecture, quite recently, and mostly through a limited literature review including quite exclusively philosophical trends, such Tim Morton’s Dark Ecology (Morton, 2016), rather than hard sciences. It could instead be assumed that the architectural interventions and the shaping of landscapes have long been true drivers of the human niche construction.
The transposition in the history of architecture of criticism of Ernst Heackel's doctrine that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny (Williams, 1966) could in itself be another significant and original topic for the writing of a book. Here Haeckel’s ideas are understood in terms of contemporary genomics and postgenomics.
Thus, an architecture of exaptation, of deep time, would decidedly expand its purview beyond human values, as a form of coexistence with non-human species and also with non-living presences. Case studies include:
Borboleta
Created for group exhibition “FEEDback” in La Usina del Arte - XVII Bienal Internacional de Arquitectura de Buenos Aires Borboletta is a sonic installation, simultaneously operating as display system with living organisms and as stage for the instrumentalization of a viewing spectacle with participation by humans and insects alike. Borboletta consists of four integrated entities representing the essential ingredients of a future resilient ecosystem: a variable scaffolding structure which allows interaction with the human body, sensorial milieu activated by the sonic integration (two 3D-printed guitars) and the Arduino feedback audio systems; the self-sufficient habitat oriented to the proliferation of biodiversity (Wunderbug spheres), and the climate responsiveness of the system, through expansion and contraction of an acellular mass of creeping gelatinous protoplasm containing nuclei (Slime Mold).
Mutual Aid
The hypothesis of the installation is that a strategy of mutual aid and sharing of resources such as water, energy, food, as well as pure air, can be widely applicable to the urban scale. The biggest showcases which host tall plants are botanical filters which purify the air inside the Pavilion. Through an underground network, the air is forced to flow to smaller elements thus spreading the pure air within the installation. The idea is to suggest an urban landscape where plants and the built environment are indistinguishable and where buildings not only do not create environmental impacts, but generate benefits at a large landscape scale. Mutual Aid triggers a synergic relationship between men and plants, in which human waste serves as a nutrient for plants: plants benefit from a controlled and nutrient-rich environment, while visitors can breathe clean air. Plants are a fundamental player in a model of exchange and sharing through which all of us, visitors, users, and citizens “support the community that supports”.
Genoma
Located in the space dedicated to Arte Sella, Genoma is an installation that operates simultaneously as a visualisation system with living organisms and as a stage for the staging of a visual performance with the participation of both humans and insects. For more than thirty years Arte Sella has been synonymous with art in nature, a unique creative laboratory in Italy and in the world, where art has woven a continuous dialogue with the surprising nature of the Val di Sella, in Trentino. Hundreds of international artists have come and gone over time, invited to interpret the spirit of the place and to return, through an original and inspired gaze, works of art in continuous transformation. The installation is composed of integrated entities that represent the essential ingredients for a future resilient ecosystem: a mutable structure that allows interaction with the human body, Arduino feedback systems, a self-sustaining habitat oriented to the proliferation of biodiversity (Wunderbug spheres), and the climatic reactivity of the system through the expansion and contraction of an acellular mass of polynuclear gelatinous protoplasm (slime mould).
Given the vastness of the possible analogies between evolutionary biology and architecture, however, the present one is dedicated to an initial study limited to the specificity of “exaptation” or functional shift, which, according to the following chapters, can become a key term in reading the cities in terms of resilience.
Consequently, late palaeontologist Stephen Jay Gould’s seminal work on exaptation will be the main reference of the study.
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Mid-chapter
Community Resilience Through Exaptation.
Abstract
The cities planned to date are the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, it is now necessary to study an alternative way of designing resilient cities. Starting from this consideration, this chapter is an exploration of the possibilities of using non- deterministic tools, therefore not suitable for designating a use (function) from the planning stage, as a way to respond to the uncertainties of the future. To do this, it is hypothesised a methodology that compares biology with architecture and, in particular, natural selection with design. The components of the natural selection’s aptation are, in fact, both deterministic (adaptation) and non-deterministic (exaptation).While adaptation is a concept widely studied in architecture, there is no literature regarding the study of the mechanisms of exaptation, as defined by Stephen Jay Gould, despite the obvious practical applications of this principle in city planning. From the studies carried out, the difficulty of overcoming an exclusively deterministic planning emerges, above all, because of some prejudices in the form of reification, including the ‘recapitulative’ reading of the city. In conclusion, the diversity of subjects who can contribute to city planning is essential to increase their resilience in view of future unexpected effects of the global crises.
Keywords Sustainability; resilience; exaptation; informality; reification.
Background
While sustainable design is aimed to mitigate the effects of climate change through the reduction of impacts, urban resilience deals with the crises beyond the point of no return. On the one hand, thus, resilience confirms the objectives of sustainability; on the other, it imposes its expansion towards adaptation strategies to future scenarios that are constantly changing and largely unpredictable due to the complexity of the feedback phenomena (Melis, 2020a; Melis & Foerster, 2020; Melis & Medas, 2020; Melis, Medas, & Foerster, 2020). In times of global crisis, radicalism is, therefore, a need: any scenario hypothesised to date, and over the past two centuries, has failed, to the point of transforming solutions into problems. The heroic modern city, founded on specialisation and mass production, is today the main generator of greenhouse gases. And even the much admired Eighteenth century city, with its elegant boulevards, can generate a majestic heat island effect, like the one which caused an unprecedented number of deaths in 2003 in the Haussmanian Paris. The planning in which we believed, imagined the future as a static picture, as a result of an alignment to an alleged linear growth chart. The resilience of the city, therefore, in the long term, depends more on the immediate cultural change of the whole society than on its future planning made today, for ex- ample under the influence of the pandemic crisis. The failure of deterministic planning requires, in fact, shifting our attention from viewing a scenario set at a certain moment in our future, towards the design processes that allow us to reproduce urban systems capable of reconjugating and adapting to scenarios, even unpredictable ones. The idea of design as a process, rather than a scenario, is not new. However, process and systemic design have often been confused with the reference to a theoretical endogenous transformation of the workflow, and not as an evolutionary transposition of the project.
Huxley Chessboard «…much as we may love ourselves, Homo sapiens is not representative, or symbolic, of life as a whole. We are not surrogates for arthropods (more than 80% of animal species), or exemplars of anything either particular or typical. We are the possessors of one extraordinary evolutionary invention called consciousness - the factor that permits us, rather than any other species, to ruminate about such matters [...]. But how can this invention be viewed as the distillation of life’s primary thrust or direction, when 80 percent of multicellularity (the phylum Arthropoda) enjoys such evolutionary success and displays, over time, no trend to neurological complexity through time - and when our neural elaboration may just as well ends up destroying us as sparking a move to any other state that we would choose to designate as ‘higher’?». This preliminary consideration by Stephen Jay Gould, in
Full House (1996, p. 15), leads us to reflect on how much our society has been conceived to respond to a superior perception of ourselves, and, therefore, to last for a limited time. The city, as the most ‘advanced’ product of man's neural capacity, more than any of its other products, suffers from the poor resilience of this approach.
Continuing in the transposition, why, therefore, do we continually portray the pitifully limited image of the human settlement, in the form of city, village or other, which, instead, is nothing more than a brief episode in the life of vertebrates, as if it were the more advanced multicellular coexistence model? And why, then, do we fight wars to keep alive a form of settlement that inevitably seems to lead us to self-destruction? Gould is in good company here: according to Freud, the main revolutions in knowledge have led to the dethronement of human arrogance from Olympus of our cosmic certainties (from the Copernican revolution to the discovery of the unconscious, and, evidently, through Darwin's theory of evolution). Coming to today's global crisis and recognising that the city's CO2 emissions are the main threat to human survival, it follows that the new paradigms, which presuppose a revolution in human thinking, will imply a less ‘arrogant’ vision of human settlements (city?) than the idea that they represent the most advanced outposts of life on this planet. According to Gould, we are "narrative creatures", and, as such, we seek directionality, a trend towards which to turn, even if this is not real. For these reasons, before building an idea of the city, we must build a new narrative that leads to an idea of humanity as an alternative to the current one, less privileged, along a non-existent evolutionary single scale. This recalls the allegory known as Huxley's chessboard, discussed in biology for some time, and still present, in the 1970s in the famous diagram by M. Scott Pegg, which accompanies the best seller The Road Less Traveled: «The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe, and the rules of the game are what we call the laws of nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his game is always correct, fair and patient. But we also know, at our expense, that he never neglects a mistake and has no tolerance for ignorance» (From A Liberal Education and Where to Find It, 1868). Contemporary biologists of evolution have widely refuted this view, which, paradoxically, was proper to advocates of Darwinian theories such as Huxley, who, however, did not accept the hypothesis that humanity was a subset of nature like any other species. Mankind at the top of any evolutionary ladder is a bias, which even the supporters of Darwinian evolutionism agree, clashes with its most subversive truth and is shared by the wider society. This legacy is probably still present in our cities, or rather in their forms. The alleged assumption that architecture and nature are separate and equivalent players on a game table, sometimes coexisting in harmony, often in conflict, led architects to promote an alternative category of existence called artifice, into which cities and buildings fall.
Exaptation «Adaptation has been defined and recognized by two different criteria: historical genesis (features built by natural selection for their present role) and current utility (features now enhancing fitness no matter how they arose). Biologists have often failed to recognize the potential confusion between these different definitions because we have tended to view natural se- lection as so dominant among evolutionary mechanisms that historical process and current product become one. Yet if many features of organisms are non-adapted, but available for use- full co-optation in descendants, then an important concept has no name in our lexicon (and unnamed ideas generally remain unconsidered): features that now enhance fitness but were not built by natural selection for their current role. We propose that such features be called exaptations and that adaptation be restricted, as Darwin suggested, to features built by selection for their current role» (Gould, Vrba, & Pievani, 2008). According to their Promethean nature, it could be said that human interpret design as a replica of the deterministic mechanisms of natural selection known as adaptation. The deterministic design of the cities, as the main cause of the emissions at the origins of the environmental crisis, is the clearest evidence that we were wrong: artifice as a category is a pure intellectual invention, and the only consequence of imagining ourselves as competitors of nature is our self-destruction. It follows that, to adopt a truly ecological design, the definition of exaptation, an alternative to adaptation, can contribute to a better understanding of the development dynamics of the cities. The opposition formal-informal, intended as a contrast between a deterministic and anti-deterministic planning, seems to me the architectural concept most matching to the biology definition of adaptation - exaptation. When we talk about informality we usually refer to settlements lacking in adequate infrastructures for potable water and hygienic-sanitary services, with low quality of life. Namely the poorest areas, those not based on the design efforts of urban planners and architects. The planned city - the ‘evolved’ concept of the urban settlement - contributes to the environmental crisis, which affects dramatically the life in the informal settlements. Paradoxically the latter are indicated as a problem, rather than the ‘victim’. If, however, we think of a more extensive definition of informal, such as to include, for example, also the phenomenon of temporary appropriation of public space, we can find creative and unexpected solutions and behavioural practices of low environmental impact, including coexistence with non-human species (Lara-Hernandez, Coulter, & Melis 2020; Lara Hernandez & Melis, 2020; Lara-Hernandez, Melis, & Caputo. 2019; Lara-Hernandez, Melis, & Lehmann, 2019. 2020, pp. 11-26). Obviously, the idea is not to put a positive spin on infra- structural shortcomings and social pressures. Instead, we need to think about the dynamics of adaptation activated in places, like the Algerian El Houma, the historical centre of Mexico City and the suburbs of Akure, analysing their value as a possible antidote to design determinism (Ijatuyi, Ayoola, & Melis, in press; Khemri, Caputo, & Melis, in press; Khemri & Melis, in press; Khemri, Melis, & Caputo, 2020). The discussion, here, is not intended to exclude determinism as a planning practice. It remains a fundamental component, as adaptation is for natural selection. It is, however, a matter of recognising this second mechanism of use for the survival of elements that were born for another function. Consequently, we could speculate that it is a back-up mechanism capable of responding to crisis conditions. Thus, a parallelism can be built between linear logic, to be used as a standard survival mode and, therefore, as a deterministic instrument of adaptation, and the crisis mode that depends on the activation of associative thinking and which, perhaps, leads to the design version of adaptation. In order that the analogy with evolution does not re- main a pure theoretical speculation, it is, however, necessary to understand what are the practical modalities through which the exaptation operates in such a way as to increase the chances of survival of the species (Gould, 1991). Gould, for example, has explained that a variability of forms responds to unpredictable environmental conditions. These proliferating and redundant forms, which can be co-opted to fulfil an unforeseen function, are called ‘spandrels’. The classic example is the sixth finger of the panda, a previously existing bony growth that became a tool when the animal - originally a carnivore - wound up handling bamboo to gain its nutrition (Gould, 1982, p. 22). The redundancy and variability of forms offer incredibly practical applications for urban resilience, similarly to exaptation (Gould, 1991), seen, in design, as the capability of cities to adapt to unexpected conditions. What might happen if, like the panda, we began to use forms that we already have (and now consider useless), as tools to cope with the issues of the present? If we intend informal design as a planning approach based on functional co-optation, it can teach us a lot regarding alternative, non-anthropocentric processes of colonisation of the biosphere.
Reification
As humans, we often, «abstract the variation within a system into some measure of central tendency, like the mean value -and then make the mistake of reifing this abstraction and interpreting the mean as a concrete thing» (Gould, 1996, p. 40) Known as "reification", this is "a legacy as old as Plato".
The reification is, therefore, «our tendency to abstract a single ideal or average as the essence of a system, and to devalue or ignore variation among individuals that constitute the full population» (p. 40). This happen because we are «story-telling creatures, products of history ourselves. We are fascinated by trends, in part because they tell stories, by the basic device of importing directionality to time, in part because they so often supply a moral dimension to a sequence of events […]. But our strong desire to identify trends often leads us to detect a directionality that doesn’t exist, or interfer causes that cannot be sustained» (Gould, 1996, p. 30). «A focus on particulars or abstractions (often biased like the lineage of Homo Sapiens), egregiously selected from a totality because we perceive these limited and uncharacteristic examples as moving somewhere - when we should be studying variation in the entire system (the ‘Full House’ of my title) and its changing pattern of spread through time» (Gould, 1996, p.15) Cross-disciplinarity, therefore, is an essential discriminant to reduce the risk of reification, in the study of the phenomena of the history of architecture and civilization, which have developed, respectively, over the past two-thousand years and the past seventeen thousand years. In palaeoanthropology, the evolution of man is measured in the order of hundreds of thousands of years. In biology, the evolution of organisms is measured in millions of years (Melis, 2020a; Melis & Foerster, 2020; Melis & Medas, 2020; Melis, Medas, & Foerster, 2020). Climate change studies by Michael Mann are an emblematic example of the contribution of cross-disciplinary research in overcoming reification, due to lack of information. Twenty years ago, the graphic chart, drafted by the trio Mann-Raymond-Huges, and indelibly renamed Hockey Stick by Jerry Mahlman, irrefutably demonstrated the existence of global warming and its anthropogenic origin, despite a general convincement that global warming was a cyclical fluctuation of the climate (Melis & Foerster, 2020). The hockey stick is epochal, both for the data collected and for the introduction of an innovative and cross-disciplinary methodology. Thanks to the collaboration with Raymond S. Bradley, also a climatologist, and Bradley Malcolm K. Hughes, professor of dendrochronology, it was possible to extend the results to different regions of the globe and for long periods, through the intersection of the quantitative data coming from the rings of the trees, those of cores in the ice, corals and lake sediments. The trees proved to be a climate seismograph of absolute precision, capable, for example, of confirming the evidence of the presence of El Niño in 1791 and the absence of summer in 1816 (Melis & Foerster, 2020). Until then it had not been possible to distinguish the nor- mal fluctuations of the climate compared to a unique event such as that described by the hockey stick. Thus, if the historian of the city, as well as any other human, transforms their abstractions into empirical facts deriving from a few hundred years of observation, how many times have planners designed cities, or transformed them on the basis of reification? Whether it was an unshakable trust for the Modern, or for the Marxist criticism of post-Fordism, each interpretation risks being a mere scenario of a non-existing progress to be aimed at or decadence contrasted with. If we consider a time span of 200,000 years - twenty times more extensive in the history of humanity and about 40 times more extensive in the history of cities - we could detect environmental crises comparable to the present one. Consistently, we will find more useful answers to address the issue of global crises in those disciplines that have already developed research over such long periods, such as archaeology, palaeoanthropology and biology, rather than in the history of architecture. This approach also involves the questioning of millennial paradigms such as the binary model of the human settlement city-countryside, or the attribution to man of creative roles in society. Unlike the autonomy of architecture, transdisciplinary research, therefore, lays bare the senselessness of constructing visions on trends, which manifest themselves in a very short time, and which lead us to confuse a symptom, like the current pandemic, with the cause, that is, the environmental crisis on a global scale. If the immutable categories of architecture based on deterministic dichotomies such as artifice-nature, on which our idea of design is based, enter into crisis, evidently it is the design itself that becomes obsolete. To date, the architects move with the speed of the most inertial part of the society, believing that the immediate danger, like Covid-19, was our main concern, also for the future, without grasping the extent of the transformations, slow for humanity, but very rapid and inexorable, if read in the light of palaeoanthropology. Some of us have now rushed to hypothesise future scenarios based on the need, for example, for social distancing, which stands as an evident reification. These are certainly necessary projects in the immediate term; however, the strategic component of the discussion is missing from the debate. For instance, moving to internal villages, as suggested by many parties, is desirable, if this contributes, in some way, to mitigate desertification or the tropicalisation of the climate. It should certainly not be proposed with the scope to offer more opportunities for social distancing without considering potential infrastructural consequences and environmental impacts in the abandonment of settlements compact models. If, inspired by the three months of lockdown, we risk proposing permanent changes to our urban fabric, we may pay the price in the coming years, due to the rigidity and limited approach. A similar polarisation of trends can be observed be- tween those who wait for everything to return as before and those who have developed a real obsession with the ‘all on- line, immediately’. Thus, we risk neglecting, once again, the interpretation key on the complexity that the cross-disciplinary reading of environmental phenomena has given us for some time. Moreover, the complexity is also synchronic: everything that happens today in the western world has already happened elsewhere in recent times.
Onthogeny and Phylogeny: the Recapitulation of the City.
«Evolution occurs when ontogeny is altered in two ways: when new characters are introduced at any stage of development with varying effects upon subsequent stages, or when characters already present undergo changes in developmental timing. Together, these two processes exhaust the formal content of phyletic change; the second process is heterocrony» (Gould, 1967, p. 4).
Before the emergence of the biology of evolution, thanks to molecular genetics, the recapitulation theory stated that the development of the embryo of a living being (ontogeny) occurs in stages that recall the stages of the evolutionary development of its species (phylogeny) starting from the most remote ancestors. The theory is often summarised with the famous formula created by Ernst Haeckel: "ontogenesis summarizes phylogeny". Strongly present since the time of Aristotle (Gould 1967, p. 5), and, despite its success and its instrumental interpretation during Nazism, the theory of recapitulation still enjoys credit in many scientific disciplines, such as, for example, glottology. At the same time, precisely the issue of Nazism has also pushed aside Van Boer's interpretation which, according to Gould, still has theoretical validity in opposition to Haeckel’s recapitulation. Here Haeckel’s ideas are understood in terms of contemporary genomics and postgenomics. However, there is no literature in architecture on recapitulation regarding the development of the city, de- spite this seems to be the only reading made by historians on the city (albeit through the use of different definitions). With years of delay, therefore, the recapitulatory idea of the city has never been subjected to real criticism, although, in one way or another, each architectural critic’s book interprets the city as a progressive evolution of the previous ones, in a ‘summary’ form. Hence the ontogenesis of the contemporary cities includes a ‘recapitulation’ of the phylogeny of the previous ones. This Haeckelian reading of the city, which also includes the accelerations, the crises and the condensation in it of the traces of previous cities, has led to dogmas regarding the untouchable manifestations of architecture of the last two hundred years. In evolutionary terms, if we wish to overcome the recapitulative concept of the city, as a reification of the progress to which it should aspire, what remains is the aim at complexity and variability of its components (spandrel), as a possibility of adaptation to unpredictable events (resilience), through the functional co-optation of these components (exaptation). Although apparently very different points of view are encountered, from Leonardo Benevolo to Manfredo Tafuri, none of these critical positions on cities, therefore, question the general urbanisation paradigms: the different perspectives which fuelled the discussion on the city belong to and represent a very limited portion of the human society. The differentiation of points of view, in architecture criticism, has not led, until now, to an effective increase in diversity. Diversity and diversification, in transdisciplinary terms, cannot be superimposed and are both pivotal components to guarantee the resilience of a system. In addition, both different and diverse positions should provide an equivalent, and not alternative, contribution to recurring or dominant thinking (thus ensuring a greater potential for resilience).
Towards Diversity
A serious side effect of the reification of trends is the under- estimation of some phenomena that do not align with the narrative of linear progress. The Covid-19 narrative, told as the story of a virus, similar to the Spanish flu, that triggered a sudden pandemic, which affected everyone, without distinction, will lead to a different response than that referring to a chronicle of a virus spillover, prompted by environmental pressure, which has reached the heart of the West, in a perhaps less dramatic way than what happened in the Kenema slums, in Sierra Leone, due to Ebola. The narration is important, because, in the second case, a designer from Guinea (or an NGO) could hypothesise a different scenario for the future of our cities, but just as useful because it is built, perhaps, on experiences in the city plagued by epidemics and endemic diseases. It can be observed, in fact, that the attention towards extemporaneous solutions, and the obsession for the consequences of a symptom, rather than to- wards the structural causes of the crisis, is proportional to the little diversity of points of view and the limited diversity of subjects who tell the story of the pandemic. In simpler words, the idea that the crisis from Covid-19 is resolved with solutions ‘as needed’, such as larger houses, plexiglass partitions, or, more seriously, with better hospitals, is likely to be, once again, the narration of those who live in the north of the world. Each story has its own coefficient of importance, which depends on the economic and communicative power of those who describe it. Here, it is not a question of repeating the adage according to which history is written by the winners, or by the strongest. Nor is it to make morals against the cultural colonialism of the West. Instead, it is a matter of emphasising that, in times of global crisis, a limited narrative also puts the winners them- selves at risk. Situations like these could also occur countless times in architecture. If we look at ancient cities like Shybam, in Yemen, we immediately realise that something is wrong with our interpretation of the urban paradigms that we consider very recent. In the past years, the underestimation of some forms of radicalism, such as the Oasis of Haus Rucker Co., a declared response to the development threads described in the Club of Rome Report, is an evidence of the inability of critics to read in advance the signs of changes and crises, when they get lost
themselves along an imaginary evolutionary scale of progress The fallout in the field of design is as disarming as it is obvious. This diversity increases the breath of the narrative which, in turn, increases the proliferation of opportunities that can be functionally co-opted, exactly as organisms do in the course of evolution, when subjected to environmental crises. The success of the design processes, which aim at the resilience of the city, will be proportional to the diversity of those who participate in their realisation. It is, therefore, legitimate to ask whether a history of architecture written with the contribution of what we consider ‘minorities’, on the border of the empire, or of the less ‘dominant’ categories, in its heart, could question Huxley's chessboard.
The Female Perspective
The city we know, its organisation and, to a certain extent, its lack of resilience, are the products of a man-centred society (Kern, 2020, pp. 5-6; Johnston-Zimmerman, 2017; Melis, 2020b). To respond to the current crisis, therefore, before thinking about the project, it is necessary to invest in the processes and on the diversity of those who implement them. In this sense, greater inclusiveness, for example, considering the female perspective, with its innovative, disruptive and original potential, not only as a gender alternative to the male one, is more important than the project or the extemporaneous scenario. We must obviously consider the risk that even the two-sex model is, in turn, an abstraction of "a single ideal aspect or an average to make it the essence of an entire system, and to devalue or ignore the variations between the individuals that make up the entire population "(Gould, 1996, p. 37). It is, therefore, not surprising that the author of one of the very few iconoclastic texts of post-war town planning was written by a woman, not an architect. I refer to the Jane Jacobs of Life and Death of the American Cities, written in 1962, when the Modern was still an object of worship for many historians, and when postmodernism, as its apparent alternative, the Post- Modern, was one of the most evident manifestations of the architect's recapitulation trend (Jacobs, 1961). In the latest issue of National Geographic, a recent study showed that the first signs of creativity were mostly expressed by women. Rather than attributing them to women, the author of the study notes that the inconsistencies in the size of the hands measured in the cave paintings had been traced back to the young males. Consistent with the premise, we can imagine a female city as a first step towards diversification and inclusiveness. Marco Romano, in his recent City of Women, claims to have found traces of the influence, always underestimated or hidden, of women in the organisation of historic cities (Romano, 2019, p. 79). The reception of some public spaces, such as the arcades in front of the shops, seems to be a prelude to the use of space by women. In some scenic features, such as baroque facades, you can glimpse the vocation for the female declinator theatrical space in the city. However, one has the impression that Romano's, however intriguing, is rather a narrative that does not allow one to indulge in the fact that even a possible female influence in the design has gone through its reading and interpretation in the male (Foerster, 2020, pp. 146-147). It is necessary to wait to find the first attempts to reset the city in a paradigmatic way on gender diversity: it is necessary to wait until more recent times. The first incontrovertible evidence of female influence in the idea of the city dates back to the years of experimentation of the hippie communities that had made a manifest of sexual liberation. In fact, when Jacobs wrote her revolutionary The Death and the Life of the Great America Cities, it called into question the dominant urban model, also as a fetish of the heroic phase of American capitalism, now dying. At the same time, this text also shows that the female perspective, less compromised by conventionality, allows an unexpected forward momentum, the same that, in architecture, had contributed to the success of architects such as Lina Bo Bardi and Denise Scott Brown (Rustin, 2014). It is surprising that Jacobs' intentions are present in a programmatic dimension, only in very recent times, as in contemporary Vienna. The Aspern neighbourhood, for example, which was deliberately designed with a clear female gender identity, offers examples of spaces on a human (and female!) scale and extended inclusiveness. All streets and public spaces are named after women, as if to say that the symbolic aspect also has its communicative importance. The 1997 Frauen-Werk-Stadt (Women-Work-City) complex, designed by women, offers a perspective on uses that are generally over- looked by men: «the wheelchair storage on each floor and the wide stairs to encourage the interactions of the neighbourhood; flexible layouts and high-quality secondary rooms; up to the height of the building, low enough to guarantee the view of the street» (Hunt, 2019). Two years later, volleyball and badminton courts were preferred in Margareten rather than the conventional basketball cage; the courtyards have been designed to accommodate sessions for groups of girls, to chat and look around. The quality of the lighting and the economy of the paths promote a sense of security and encourage parking (Hunt, 2019). The debate on gender equity in Vienna, as mentioned, quickly turned towards tools for social emancipation, especially in terms of universal accessibility. Marihilf's work between 2002 and 2006 concerned an improvement in public lighting in areas which, according to preliminary investigations, caused a sense of anxiety; the traffic lights have been modified to give priority to pedestrians; public seating has increased; architectural barriers have been eliminated, so as to accommodate wheelchairs, as well as encourage the reception of elderly people. According to Giorgia Vitale, of Arup, gender equitable planning and design must be fundamentally more inclusive in general for the whole community. If we want this to learn about the place, take care of it and celebrate the shared spaces, it is essential to rethink the city in terms of short distances and consider accessibility, aiming to welcome and use the space: more mixed use and differentiated land use, more accessible public transport, with greater frequency and options, greater security and more strategic and hybrid location of social structures (Vitale, 2020). The aforementioned examples, therefore, show a focus on obsolete or unrecognised uses that acquire centrality in the female city as an instrument of openings towards a multisexual city, and, therefore, more resilient, but which still do not tell us much, regarding the aesthetic perception of the architecture from a female perspective. On this it would be necessary to deepen the theme, starting from two perhaps more emblematic authors: Kazuk Sejima and Zaha Hadid. The extremes of the architectural minimalism of the former, and the maximalist flood of the latter offer two opposing interpretations of aesthetic sensuality that suggest that, in addition to a universe of uses, a female architecture also opens doors to a universe of forms still unknown today.
Conclusion In the premises we have identified a trend aimed at the centrality of man in human society that has led to a model that, today, faced with global crises, has proven to be not resilient. The diversity increases the variability and, therefore, the possibility of adaptive and exaptative transformations. Justice and equity are, therefore, not exclusively ideological categories, but express qualities that increase our chances of survival. In recent experiments, the female point of view has been fundamental not only for a greater use of space by women, but also for greater attention to minorities and less advantaged categories. In fact, the feminine perspective has allowed the development of safer neighbourhoods, with better and more accessible infra- structures, contamination and extension of conventional uses towards previously underestimated activities. However, ecology today teaches us that the two-sex model is also a limited model. We have learnt from Gould's research that both the exclusively male and the binary perspective of the two sexes can be the result of a reification. We must, therefore, embrace the evocative complexity of cities, welcome its opportunities, precisely where our certainties are called into question. The examples proposed in this chapter show that the radical and subversive vision of women opens up to more extensive and inclusive perspectives that also go beyond the traditional interpretation of genres. The aim of the research was to show that the current-past male dominated city is not resilient, due to the lack of diversity. So, the female perspective is intended, in our research, as a first step to increase diversity, not to suggest an alternative female dominated model, which would effectively lack diversity as does the male one. The case of districts like Viennese Mariahilf, for example, show that the inclusion of the female perspective has increased the inclusiveness for all, not the dominance of women’s position (i.e. uses that have been overlooked appear for the first time, without neglecting the existing ones). Families with children, elderly, minorities simply find these places more safe and liveable. Our argument is that including the underestimated female perspective is a first step leading to universality, equity, and diversity. In conclusion, since the categories change over time and respond to culture, for an effective resilience of cities with respect to unpredictable phenomena, we should begin to consider the city organised ac- cording to a multi-sexual and multi-ethnic perspective, and, in addition, even metasexual and meta-ethnic. The next step is the questioning of anthropocentrism in an ecological key.
Reference
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Foerster, B. (2020) Città inclusive per la fine del mondo. In: A. Melis (Ed.), ZombieCity. Riprogettare la tua città (pp. 137- 154). Roma: D Editore.
Gould, J.S. (1967) Ontogeny and Phylogeny. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
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Gould, J.S., Vrba, E.S., & Pievani, T. (Eds.) (2008). Exaptation. Il bricolage dell’evoluzione. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri. Hunt, E. (2019, May14) City with a female face: how modern Vienna was shaped by women. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/may/14/city-with-a- female-face-how-modern-vienna-was-shaped-by-women.
Ijatuyi, O., Ayoola, H.A., & Melis, A. (Accepted/In press). In- formality in formality: the case of a neighbourhood in a Nigerian city. In DiRaimo, A., Lehmann, S., & Melis, A. (Eds.), Informality Now - Informal Settlements through the lens of Sustainability. Abingdon: Routledge.
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Johnston-Zimmerman, K. (2017, December 19) Urban Planning Has a Sexism Problem. Next City. Retrieved from https:// nextcity.org/features/view/urban-planning-sexism-problem.
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Khemri, M. Y., Caputo, S., & Melis, A. (Accepted/In press) The drawbacks of a global concept of sustainable neighbourhood in developing countries. Resourceedings.
Khemri, M. Y., & Melis, A. (Accepted/In press) Achieving community resilience through informal urban practices: the case of El Houma in Algiers. In A. DiRaimo, S. Lehmann, & A. Melis. (Eds.), Informality Now - Informal Settlements through the lens of Sustainability. Abingdon: Routledge.
Khemri, M. Y., Melis, A., & Caputo, S. (2020) Sustaining the liveliness of public spaces in El Houma through placemaking: the case of Algiers. The Journal of Public Space, 5(1), 129-152.
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Lara-Hernandez, J., Melis, A., & Caputo, S. (2019) Understanding streetscape design and temporary appropriation in Latin American cities: the case of Mexico City Centre. In H. Bougdah, A. Versaci, A. Sotoca, F. Trapani, M. Migliore, & N. Clark (Eds.), Urban and Transit Planning: Advances in Science, Technology and Innovation (IEREK Interdisciplin- ary Series for Sustainable Development) (pp. 3-21). (Advances in Science, Technology and Innovation). Springer. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-3-030-17308-1_1.
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Melis, A., & Medas, B. (2020) Tecnologie avanzate per la re- silienza dell’architettura e della comunità. In Bioarchitettura: Appunti per una città sostenibile. Nardini Editore.
Melis, A., Medas, B., & Foerster, B. (2020) (Accepted/In press). Resilienza radicale e informalità, una risposta alle crisi ambientali e sanitarie negli ambienti costruiti. Largo Duomo.
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Full CV for all authors or editors – this is optional for chapter contributors
Alessandro Melis CV
Full Professor of Architecture Innovation Ambassador of Italian Design (ADI - Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Curator of the Italian Pavilion - Venice Architecture Biennale (Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage) Director, Innovation Cluster for Sustainable Cities Director, Resilient Communities Research Centre (Peccioli) alessandro.melis@port.ac.uk
Qualifications
· 2011 – PhD in Architecture and Urban Design (University of Florence)
· 2010-2012 – Honorary Fellow (University of Edinburgh)
· 1996 – Professional Architect Qualification equal to RIBA-Part 3 (Abilitazione alla Professione - University of Florence)
· 1995 – Master of Architecture (University of Florence)
Employment (University of Portsmouth)
· 2016-2018: UK Senior Lecturer (corresponding to US Associate Professor)
· 2018-2019: UK Principal Lecturer (corresponding to US Full Professor)
· 2019-today: UK Professor (corresponding to US Distinguished Professor)
Current leadership – management roles
Current appointments/ Leadership (University of Portsmouth)
· Director of the Cluster for Sustainable Cities (University of Portsmouth)
(2 Co-Directors, 5 Research Stream leaders, 8 administrative staff, 56 Researchers & members)
· Founding Director of the Research Centre for Resilient Communities (University of Portsmouth)
· Architecture Research Leader (University of Portsmouth)
· UK REF & Coordinator of the impact statements (UoA13) – UK Research Excellence Framework, Unit of Assessment 13 (Architecture) - (University of Portsmouth)
· Head of Technology Area – School of Architecture (University of Portsmouth)
Current appointments/ Leadership (Extra-Moenia)
· Curator of the Italian Pavilion – Venice Architecture Biennale 2020 (Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage)
· Italian Design Ambassador (ADI, in partnership with the Italian Foreign Ministry)
· Founding Director of Heliopolis 21 – Architects (Pisa, Berlin, Portsmouth, Merida)
Memberships of academic and professional bodies
· 2017 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA Chartered Membership)
· 2017 UK Architects Registration Board (ARB Membership)
· 2017 UK Academy of Urbanism (AoU Membership)
· 1996 – Registered Architect and Town Planner, Italy (Pisa), No. 488, permitted to work in all European Union Member States, 10/06/85 No. 85/384 EWG0 (A.C.E., Architects’ Council of Europe).
Previous employment and appointments held
Years
Position
Institution
Teaching
Roles
2013-2016
NZ Senior Lecturer over-the-bar/ US Associate Professor
School of Architecture and Planning - University of Auckland
Sustainable Architecture Design, Urban Design, Technology, environmental Design, Conservation
Postgraduate Studies Direction, Postgraduate Committee Chair, Technology Area Direction, Units Coordination
2010-2014
Director of Postgraduate program
University of Applied Arts Vienna
Sustainable urban strategies
Program Direction and teaching
2010
Honorary Fellow
ESALA – Edinburgh School of Architecture
Architecture and Urban Design
Research collaborations
1996-now
Founder and Principal
Heliopolis 21 Associated Architects (Berlin, Pisa, Auckland)
Professional activity - private practice
Design Director
2012-2018
Founder and Associated
XXL project – Engineering Company (Pisa)
Professional activity – private practice
Design Director
Visiting appointments
2020
Visiting Professor
Foster Foundation
Future Cities
Teaching and Lecturing
2009-2014
Visiting Professor
University of Applied Arts Vienna
Sustainable Architecture design
Teaching and thesis supervision
2011-2013
Visiting Professor
Anhalt University of Applied Sciences
Sustainable Urban design, Conservation and Technology of organic materials
Teaching and thesis supervision
2009-2010
Visiting professor
DADU – University of Sassari
Environmental design
Teaching
Full details of grants, and external income generation.
Year(s) of
Award
Funding body
Brief project title
Grant (pounds)
Role
2019
GCRF Strategy QR Research Project Fund
‘Catalysing sustainability transitions in cities in the global south suffering from severe plastic pollution’.
176,825
CoI
2019
GCRF Strategy QR Research Project Fund
Building resilient coastal communities: learning from Small Island Developing States
154,000
CoI
2019
University of Auckland
Seismic Resilience Exhibition (Venice Biennale 2020)
44,000
PI
2018
European Regional Development fund (ERDF)/ Interreg-2-Seas.
Plasticity: Towards an Urban Plastic Refinery
5.250,000
CoI
2018
British Council/ Newton Fund
INSIGHT: UK-China: Urban regeneration and sustainable communities
43,600
CoI
2017
Sustainable Urbanisation Global Initiative Food-Water-Energy (FEW) Nexus - Urban Europe/ EU
CRUNCH - Climate Resilient Urban Nexus CHoices
1.450,000
PI
2017
EU
ASSURE - Innovative building-integrated urban wind power technology.
5.000
CoI
2016-2017
University of Auckland
(2 PBRF)
Research and publication on technology and sustainability
4,600
PI
2015-2016
University of Applied Arts Vienna
Island To Island: Higher Education and Research Program, as part of the TPAI program
68,000
PI
2013-2015
Regione Toscana
The Energy Gallery
47,500
PI
2014-2015
Regione Autonoma Sardegna
(RAS)/ EU - Fondi strutturali per l’Alta Formazione
Architecture and Arts Innovation. Higher Education and Research Program
92,000
CoI
2013-2016
Regione Autonoma Sardegna
(RAS)/ EU - Fondi strutturali per l’Alta Formazione
TPAI: Research and Higher Education Program
460,000
PI
2012-2013
Regione Autonoma Sardegna
(RAS) - Master&Back EU Program
Brain City Lab Higher Education and Research Program
46,000
PI
Keynotes
More than 50 lectures/ keynotes in the last 10 years (United States, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom, China, Czech Republic, New Zealand).
Selected keynotes
Sarajevo Festival of Architecture (2020)
Chandigarh University (2020)
Foster Foundation, Madrid (2020)
TEDx, Mestre (2019)
Italian Institute of Culture, London (2019)
Cambridge University, Cambridge (2019)
International Festival of Culture, Assisi (2019)
Architecture International Festival Rome (2019)
Buenos Aires Biennale (2019)
Annual RIBA Conference. Winchester (2018)
China Institute of Arts, Hangzhou (2015)
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York (2015)
Cooper Union, New York (2015)
Selected visiting critics (2019-2020)
UCL Bartlett
AA-Architectural Association London
SCI-Arc Los Angeles
RMIT Melbourne
TU Berlin
Florida International University
New York Institute of Technology
Publications
ACADEMIC ARTICLES (PEER REVIEWED)
Melis, A. & Foerster B. (2021). Notes for a transposition of the notions of exaptation into a design practice to promote diversity and resilience as an alternative to planning determinism during crisis. Forum A+P
Melis, A., Goldemberg, E., Lipari, F., Zalcberg, V., Gokchepinar, J., & Cereghetti, J. (2020). Borboletta. Antagonismos, 4, 22-33.
Khemri, M. Y., Melis, A., & Caputo, S. (2020). Sustaining the liveliness of public spaces in El Houma through placemaking: the case of Algiers. The Journal of Public Space.
Lara-Hernandez, J. A., Coulter, C. & Melis, A., (2020). Temporary appropriation and urban informality: Exploring the subtle distinction. Cities. Elsevier
Lara Hernandez. J.A., Melis, A. & Lehmann, S. (2019). Temporary appropriation of public space as an emergence assemblage for the future urban landscape. Future Cities and Environment. 5(1), 1-22. Ubiquity Press.
Lara-Hernandez, J. A., Melis, A., Coulter, C. (2019). Using the street in Mexico City Centre: temporary appropriation of public space vs legislation governing street use. The Journal of Public Space.
Lara Hernandez. J.A. & Melis, A. (2018). Understanding the temporary appropriation in relationship to social sustainability. Sustainable Cities and Society. 39, 366-374. Elsevier.
Melis, A. & Gatley, J. (2018). A Romantic in Tuscany: Alessandro Gherardesca and the transformation of Pisa’s Piazza del Duomo. Cogent Social Sciences. Taylor and Francis.
Melis, A., Lemes De Oliveira, F., Lara Hernandez, J. A., & Repetto, D. (2018). The return to nature in the Austrian radical thinking: the case of Gunther Domenig. Journal of New Frontiers in Spatial Concepts. Karlruher Institute Fur Technolgie Scientific Publishing.
Balaara, A., Haaroff, E., & Melis, A. (2018). J. Max Bond Jr. and the appropriation of modernism in a library design in Ghana. Fabrications. Taylor and Francis.
Davis, M., Mecredy, E., & Melis, A. (2018). Material Openings: Ark and the materiality of the vessel. Drawing On. 2 University of Edinburgh Press.
Melis, A., Davis, M., & Balaara, A. (2017). The history and invocation of the Arche in Austrian Radical architecture thinking. Cogent Social Sciences. Taylor and Francis. 3(1)
Ijatuyi, O., Haaroff, E., & Melis, A. (2017). Housing and an aging population: implications for architectural education. The International Journal of Aging and Society, 7(3), 75-96.
Melis, A. (2017). Book review: Responding to climate change: lessons from an Australian hotspot. Urban Policy and Research. Taylor and Francis.
Melis, A. (2013). Good morning Babylon: The cathedral is a movie. Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, 54(1), 82-84. doi:10.1353/frm.2013.0006
Melis, A. (2011). The invocation of the ancient in the Radical architecture. Journal of ESALA – Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape, 3.
Melis, A. (2010), Curating the city with new strategies, in Florence: Curating the City. D. Wiszniewski (Ed.), Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh.
Melis, A. (2009). Coop Himmelblau: Architecture = Work = Labour. Journal of ESALA – Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape, 2.
Melis, A. (2003). Architettura oltre i confini: Alessandro Gherardesca (1777-1852) / Architecture beyond the borders: Alessandro Gherardesca (1777-1852). Critica d'Arte. Rivista dell'Universita' internazionale dell'Arte / Journal of the international university of Arts, 8(20).
BOOKS AND CHAPTERS
Melis, A. (2021). Periferia e Pregiudizio. Bordeaux Editore.
Melis, A. (2020). Informal behaviour as a form of community resilience. In A. Di Raimo, S. Lehmann, & A. Melis (Eds.), Informality Now: Informal Settlements Through the Lens of Sustainability Routledge.
Melis, A. (2020). ZombieCity: Strategie urbane di sopravvivenza agli zombie e alla crisi climatica. D Editore. https://deditore.com/prodotto/zombiecity/?fbclid=IwAR0CC2qMy782mXb7cR83E31r8c1U29ERs89n5kT6EJgjyp0Ujx7LONZ8eWs
Melis, A. (2020). La Scacchiera di Huxley e l'Architettura. In D. Menichini, & D. Repetto (Eds.), Panglissismo. Architetto Postpandemico Pacini Editore. https://www.pacinieditore.it/
Melis, A., & Medas, B. (2020). Tecnologie avanzate per la resilienza dell’architettura e della comunità. In Bioarchitettura: Appunti per una città sostenibile Nardini Editore. https://www.nardinieditore.it/prodotto/bioarchitettura-appunti-per-una-citta-sostenibile/
Melis, A. (2020). Resilient Communities. Catalogue for the Italian Pavilion – Architecture Venice Biennale. D Editore
Di Raimo, A., Lehmann, S., & Melis, A. (2020). Informality Now — Looking at Informality through the lens of Sustainability. Routledge
Khemri, M. Y., & Melis, A. (2020). Achieving community resilience through informal urban practices: the case of El Houma in Algiers. In A. Di Raimo, S. Lehmann, & A. Melis (Eds.), Informality Now - Informal Settlements Through the Lens of Sustainability Routledge.
Ijatuyi, O., Ayoola, H. A., & Melis, A. (2020). Informality in formality: the case of a neighbourhood in a Nigerian city. In A. Di Raimo, S. Lehmann, & A. Melis (Eds.), Informality Now: Informal Settlements Through the Lens of Sustainability Routledge.
Lara Hernandez, J. A., Khemri, M. Y., & Melis, A. (2020). Understanding temporary appropriation and the streetscape design: the case of Algiers, Auckland and Mexico City. In Informality Now: Informal Settlements Through the Lens of Sustainability Routledge.
Mansour, N., Teba, T., & Melis, A. (2020). Domestic architecture and the city identiy: the historic city of Homs and its traditional courtyard houses as a case study. In Y. Mahgoub, N. Cavalagli, A. Versaci, H. Bougdah, & M. Serra-Permanyer (Eds.), Cities' Identity Through Architecture and Arts (Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation: IEREK Interdisciplinary Series for Sustainable Development). Springer. https://www.springer.com/gb/book/9783030148683
Lara Hernandez, A., Melis, A. & Lehmann, S. (2020). Between Assemblages and Temporary Appropriation: The Case of Mexico City. In Melis, A., Lara Hernandez, A. & Thomson, J. (Ed.) Temporary Appropriation in Cities Human Spatialisation in Public Spaces and Community Resilience. Springer International Publishing
Lara Hernandez, J. A., Melis, A. & Coulter, C. (2020). Temporary Appropriation and Informality. In Melis, A., Lara Hernandez, A. & Thomson, J. (Ed.). Temporary Appropriation in Cities Human Spatialisation in Public Spaces and Community Resilience. Springer International Publishing
Lara Hernandez, J. A. & Melis, A. (2020). Temporary Appropriation and Social Sustainability. In Melis, A., Lara Hernandez, A. & Thomson, J. (Ed.).Temporary Appropriation in Cities Human Spatialisation in Public Spaces and Community Resilience. Springer International Publishing
Lara Hernandez, J. A., Melis, A. & Coulter. (2020). Using the Street in Mexico City Centre: Temporary Appropriation of Public Space Versus Legislation Governing Street Use. In Melis, A., Lara Hernandez, A. & Thomson, J. (Ed.). Temporary Appropriation in Cities Human Spatialisation in Public Spaces and Community Resilience. Springer International Publishing
Lara Hernandez, J., Melis, A., & Caputo, S. (2019). Understanding streetscape design and temporary appropriation in Latin American cities: the case of Mexico City Centre. In H. Bougdah, A. Versaci, A. Sotoca, F. Trapani, M. Migliore, & N. Clark (Eds.), Urban and Transit Planning: Advances in Science, Technology and Innovation (IEREK Interdisciplinary Series for Sustainable Development) (pp. 3-21). (Advances in Science, Technology and Innovation). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17308-1_1
Shamout, S., Boarin, P., & Melis, A. (2019). Energy retrofit of existing building stock in Amman: state of the art, obstacles and opportunities. In C. Alalouch, H. Abdalla, E. Bozonnet, G. Elvin, & O. Carracedo (Eds.), Advanced Studies in Energy Efficiency and Built Environment for Developing Countries. (Advances in Science, Technology and Innovation). Springer.
Melis, A. (2019). The introduction of nature in the Austrian Radicals practice. In Lemes (Ed.), F. Planning Cities with Nature: Theories, Strategies and Methods. Springer
Fallacara, G., Melis, A. & Repetto, D. (2019). New landscapes. In Pellegri, G. (Ed.). De-Sign Environment Landscape City. University of Genova. Genova. David and Matthaus Athaeneum
Stumbles, L. J., & Melis, A. (2018). How to build cities and destroy motorways: radical perspectives on environmental design. D Editore.
Melis, A. & Davis, M. (2018). Mai i te ngahere oranga: a restricted competition in the Pacific. In Menteth W. (Ed.) Competition Culture in Europe: Voices. Project Compass CIC
Melis, A. & Davis, M. (2018). Italian Restricted Competition Practice. Three Illustrative Cases. In Menteth W. (Ed.) Competition Culture in Europe: Voices. Project Compass CIC
Auer, T., Melis, A., & Aimar, F. (Eds.) (2017). Disruptive technologies: the integration of advanced technology in architecture teaching and radical projects for the future city. Wolters Kluwer
Melis, A., & Stumbles, L. (2017). Advanced technology for urban mutations: the case of Auckland CBD. In Disruptive Technologies: The Integration of Advanced Technology in Architecture Teaching and Radical Projects for the Future City. Wolters Kluwer.
Melis, A., Davis, M., & Liang, B. (2017). The integration of advanced technology in live projects studio teaching: the case of Samson Studio at the University of Auckland (2014-2017). In Disruptive Technologies: The Integration of Advanced Technology in Architecture Teaching and Radical Projects for the Future City Wolters Kluwer. (Contribution: 50%)
Melis, A., Ijatuyi, O., & Lisci, E. (2017). The potential of remote sensing cartography as a new tool of analysis of the UHI effect to inform the design: brightness temperature of the urban surfaces of Auckland from satellite multispectral maps. In Disruptive Technologies: The Integration of Advanced Technology in Architecture Teaching and Radical Projects for the Future City Wolters Kluwer.
Auer, T., Melis, A., & Aimar, F. (2017). Introduction to the disruptive technology in the teaching of environmental design. In Disruptive Technologies: The Integration of Advanced Technology in Architecture Teaching and Radical Projects for the Future City Wolters Kluwer.
Aimar, F., Boarin, P., Melis, A., & Lara Hernandez, J. A. (2017). Energy galleries: a sustainable opportunity for the future cities. In Disruptive Technologies: The Integration of Advanced Technology in Architecture Teaching and Radical Projects for the Future City Wolters Kluwer.
Melis, A. (2017). BIM e progettazione parametrica. In A. Fabrizio (Ed.), I professionisti del BIM. Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands: Wolters Kluwer.
Melis, A. (2017). Il BIM nel Regno Unito e in Nuova Zelanda. In Fabrizio, A. (Ed.), I professionisti del BIM. Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands: Wolters Kluwer.
Melis, A. (2017). Il caso di Christchurch in Nuova Zelanda. In Fabrizio, A. (Ed.), I professionisti del BIM Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands: Wolters Kluwer.
Melis, A. (2017). L'esperienza di Heliopolis 21. In Fabrizio A. (Ed.), I professionisti del BIM. Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands: Wolters Kluwer.
Melis, A., & Ijatuyi, O. (2015). Regeneration of the historical villages of Tuscany, through conservation and tourism development strategies. In Y. Xiujing (Ed.), 中国美术学院建筑遗产保护国际论坛论文集: Proceedings of the Architecture Forum of the China Academy of Arts (pp. 35-40). China Academy of Arts Publishing House.
Gasperini, M., & Melis, A. (2015). Shining dark territories: 100 thoughts of architecture. Pisa: ETS - Edizioni tecnico Scientifiche.
Melis, A., & Pilia, E. (2014). Lezioni dalla fine del Mondo. Strategie urbane di sopravvivenza agli zombie e alla crisi climatica. Roma: Deleyva. (Contribution: 60%)
Melis, A., & Gasperini, M. (2010). Pisa tridimensionale. In Daniele E. (Ed.), Le dimore di Pisa. Florence: Alinea Editrice.
Melis, A. (2009). La Galleria energetica vetrata di via Mazzini. In Belardi P. (Ed.), Camminare nella storia: Nuovi spazi pedonali per la Perugia del terzo millennio. San Sisto, Perugia, Italy: Effe.
Melis, A. (2009). Le chiese di Giovanni Michelucci. In S. Sodi (Ed.), Giovanni Michelucci e la chiesa italiana. San Paolo Edizioni.
Melis, A. (2007). La citta' stratificata. In M. Agnoletto, A. Del Piano, & M. Guerzoni (Eds.), La civilta' dei superluoghi. Bologna: Damiani.
Melis, A., & Vasarelli, F. (2007). L' Arena Garibaldi. Pisa: ETS.
Melis, A. (2004). Note Architettoniche. In A. Panajia (Ed.), I Palazzi di Pisa nel manoscritto di Girolamo Roncioni.
Cavazza, E., & Melis, A. (2003). Le fortezze. Pisa: ETS.
Melis, A. (Ed.) (2003). Roger Diener. Inside the volume. ETS (Italy)
Melis, A. (2002). Le ville del Valdarno (schede). In Le ville del Valdarno (pp. 145 pages). Firenze: EDIFIR.
Melis, A., & Melis, G. (2002). I teorici dell'Architettura Illuminata. In G. Morolli (Ed.), Alessandro Gherardesca. Architetto toscano del Romanticismo (1777-1852). ETS.
Melis, A., & Melis, G. (2002). La piazza del Duomo di Pisa. In G. Morolli (Ed.), Alessandro Gherardesca. Architetto toscano del Romanticismo. ETS.
Melis, A., & Melis, G. (2002). Architettura romantica. In G. Morolli (Ed.), Alessandro Gherardesca. Architetto toscano del Romanticismo. ETS.
Melis, A. (1996). Le ville dei comuni di Santa Croce sull'Arno e di Castelfranco di Sotto (schede). In Le ville del Valdarno (pp. 143 pages). Firenze: EDIFIR.
Melis, A., & Melis, G. (1996). Architettura pisana dal Granducato lorenese all'Unita' d'Italia. ETS
CONFERENCE PUBLISHED PROCEEDINGS (PEER REVIEWED)
Melis, A. & Lara Hernandez. J.A. (2018). Fonte Mazzola. A Test project for Practice Based research (REF 20121). CARU Annual Conference (2018), Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK.
Lara-Hernandez, J. A., Melis, A. and Hinojosa-Rebolledo, E. (2018). The relationship between public transport and healthy public spaces: a contribution to democracy. 15th International Conference on Urban Health. Munyonyo, Uganda: Elsevier B.V
Davis, M., Patterson, A., Melis, A., & Mecredy, E. (2017). Transitioning the live project: a managed interface between the architectural academy and professional practice. In R. Hay, & F. Samuel (Eds.), Professional Practices in the Built Environment, 27-28 April 2017, University of Reading, UK: Conference Proceedings Reading: The University of Reading.
Melis, A., Figg, A., Lisci, E., & Auer, T. (2015). Urban strategies for achieving positive development in Christchurch (New Zealand) through a new infrastructure system for a region of the inner city. In International Conference on City Sciences. Shangai 4 June – 5 June 2015.
Ijatuyi, O., Haaroff, E., & Melis, A. (2015). Housing and an Aging Population: Implications for Architectural Education. In Aging & Society, Catholic University of America. Washington D.C.
Ijatuyi, O., Haaroff, E., & Melis, A. (2015). Ageing population growth and critical housing questions in New Zealand Housing. In Critical Futures. University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University (JMU). Liverpool. Melis, A., Figg, A., & Lisci, E. (2015). A collaborative research program to develop an urban model for achieving positive development in Christchurch (New Zealand): Results and perspectives from Studio Christchurch Summer School 2015. In AASA Applied Collaboration Conference and Studio Christchurch Retrospective Exhibition. Christchurch.
Melis, A. (2015). Heliopolis 21: Energy Gallery. Poster session presented at the meeting of AASA Applied Collaboration Conference. Christchurch, New Zealand. 2 October - 3 October, 66-69.
Melis, A., Masiello, G., Froli, M., Mamone, V., & Giammattei, M. (2014). The energy gallery: a pilot project in Pisa. In engineered transparency. International Conference at glasstec, Düsseldorf, Germany. Düsseldorf, Germany. (Contribution: 30%)
Melis, A., Khanna, S., & Li, P. (2014). Energy Plus Downtown. In Building a better New Zealand. Auckland.
ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE ARTICLES
Melis, A., & Foerster, B. (2020). “Tane Mahuta”, sentinella del pianeta e sismografo del clima. Moreness.
Melis, A. (2020). Scenario vs processo nella città resiliente: Scenario vs process in the resilient city . Artribune, (55), 36-41. https://www.artribune.com/magazine/
Melis, A. (2020). To learn a new way of designing the city, let's see at slums. Interni Design Journal. https://www.internimagazine.com/opinions/designing-city/?fbclid=IwAR31njNsuNKl6e87dgfe2ipAAWOVffymZ_3CfjFUzRe69CvSqOXR9KG3mAg
Melis, A., Medas, B., & Foerster, B. (2020). Resilienza radicale e informalità, una risposta alle crisi ambientali e sanitarie negli ambienti costruiti. Largo Duomo.
Melis, A. (2020). Progettare per la Fine del Mondo. Not
Melis, A. & Ijatuyi, O. (2019), Imporvvisazione su Roma, AR Journal, 121.
Melis, A., & Coulter, C. (2019). The Da Vinci Flow. Topos.
Melis, A. (2019). Stadiums aren't fated to disrepair and disuse. History shows they can change with the city. The Conversation (re-pubished by The Indipendent).
Melis, A. & Ijatuyi, O. (2018), Un radicalismo alternativo, AR Journal, 120.
D, (34).
Melis, A. (2017). Memoriale ai partigiani caduti a Neive. Un approccio psicosofico all’architettura. AND, (32).
Cole, P., & Melis, A. (2017). Dalla demolizione dei Robin Hood Gardens alle new town. Fallimenti e speranze ai tempi della piu’ grande emergenza casa nell’Inghilterra del Dopoguerra. Il Giornale dell’Architettura. Torino: Allemandi.
Melis, A. (2017). Scenarios analysis through radical drawings. AND, (31).
Melis, A., & Lipari, F. (2016). Un museo inossidabile. International Journal of Wired and Wireless Communications.
Melis, A. (2011). Storico del III Millennio: Torre Agbar vs Pozzo di Santa Cristina. ArkNews, n.5.
Melis, A. (2010). Ecocentrico: interview with Wolf Prix. AND, (17).
Melis, A. (2010). David Chipperfield. Tea for three (projects). AND, (17).
Melis, A. (2010). Ibrido lussureggiante. Hof, sede degli uffici tecnici del Comune di Perugia. AND - Rivista di Architettura, Citta' e Architetti, 16.
Melis, A. (2010). "L'arte se non e' nuova non e' assolutamente nulla". ArkNews, 9.
Melis, A. (2010). Curating the city with new strategies. ArkNews, 4.
Melis, A. (2010). Raimund Abraham muore. ArkNews, 3.
Melis, A. (2010). Lo strano caso della Torre di Pisa. ArkNews, 2.
Melis, A. (2009). Architettura di processo. Salvatore Re, residenza studentesca a Praticelli. AND, 16.
Melis, A. (2008). One day + works with Behnisch Architekten. AND, 12.
Melis, A. (2007). David Chipperfield: campus urbano. AND - Rivista di Architettura, Citta' e Architetti, 10.
Melis, A., & Rosseti, F. (2007). "I like to draw". Meeting Will Alsop. AND, 9.
Melis, A. (2007). Dalla citta' stratificata al recupero delle aree industriali. Architetture Pistoia, 2.
Melis, A. (2006). Richard Meier in Jesolo. AND, 9.
Melis, A. (2006). Progetto per Palazzo Ricci. Architetture Pisane, 9.
Melis, A. (2005). Architettura e formalismo nei centri storici. Architetture Pisane, 4.
Melis, A. (2004). Interview with Roger Diener. AND, 3.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS PUBLISHED
Fallacara, G., & Stigliano, M. (2020). Alessandro Melis. Utopic real world, invention drawings. D Editore.
Melis, A. (2017). 5 radical drawings from, "Scenarios analysis through radical drawings". AND. 31.
Melis, A. (2017). Waterfall: architectural drawing. Xia Intelligente Architektur. Morfelden-Walldorf : DPV Deutscher Pressevertrieb GmbH.
Melis, A. (2017). Termite Nest II: architectural drawing. Xia Intelligente Architektur. Morfelden-Walldorf : DPV Deutscher Pressevertrieb GmbH.
Melis, A. (2017). Termite Nest V: architectural drawing. Xia Intelligente Architektur. Morfelden-Walldorf : DPV Deutscher Pressevertrieb GmbH.
Melis, A. (2017). New Zealand Series Geological City I 2016. Xia Intelligente Architektur. Morfelden-Walldorf : DPV Deutscher Pressevertrieb GmbH.
SELECTED CONFERENCE PAPERS AND OTHER RESEARCH OUTPUTS (DISSEMINTATION)
Melis, A. (Author). (2020). OnStage: Interview with Alessandro Melis. Artefact, Floornature. https://www.floornature.com/design-trends/strongonstage-interview-alessandro-melis-strong-15511/
Melis, A. (Author). (2020). A Future on Resilience: Architecture Drawings and Interview. Artefact https://www.floornature.com/ceramic-innovation/design-trends/strongonstage-interview-alessandro-melis-strong-15428/
Melis, A. (2020). Resilienza e salute. Cityvision. http://www.cityvisionweb.com/mag/01-resilienza-e-salute-alessandro-melis/
Melis, A. (2019). Disruptive technologies in architectural education. In T. Auer, & D. Santucci (Eds.), Transforming Built Environments: Addressing Resource Awareness in Architectural Design Technology (pp. 7-11). Technical University of Munich. https://www.ar.tum.de/index.php?id=5868
Melis A. (2018). Heliopolis 21: Stella Maris Hospital. Poster session presented at the NHS – Conference on Health and Hospitals, University of Portsmouth. Portsmouth 13 June.
Tang, S. & Melis, A. (2016). Understanding of environmental quality from urban sprawl to urban intensification in Auckland. In IV World Planning Schools Congress. Rio de Janeiro.
Besen, P., Melis, A., & Leardini, P. (2016). Passive House performance in Auckland: A postoccupancy hygrothermal comfort study. In 2nd South Pacific Passive House Conference. Melbourne.
Melis, A. (2016). Selection of the best German practices for the research publication titled "IN practice. The state of committed architecture in Europe". The contribution includes a short article with selection criteria regarding world class firm Sauerbruch Hutton. In L. Prestinenza Puglisi & I. van‘t Klooster, IN practice. The state of committed architecture in Europe. (Roma: A10, 2016).
Melis, A. (2016). Rendere visibile l'invisibile. Presstletter
Melis, A. (2016). Piranesi su Giove. Presstletter
Tang, S., & Melis, A. (2015). From sprawl to high density: the case study of Auckland, New Zealand. In 1st International City Regeneration Congress. Tampere, Finland. Tampere
Melis, A., Masiello, G., Li, P., & Khanna, S. (2014). Form finding and optimization of a structural steel-glass system for passive cooling and energy harvesting. In Energy Forum 2014. Bressanone, Italy
Melis, A., & Li, P. (2014). City retrofitting through cultivable envelopes. In Architectural Ecologies_EMCSR 2014. Vienna.
Melis, A. (2014). Alessandro Melis - interview - Architects meet in Fuori Biennale "Off", Venice biennale.
Melis, A. (2014). La 14. Biennale per Alessandro Melis - interview. From Il Giornale dell'Architettura.
Melis, A. (2014). El-nino-vs-zombiecity. Presstletter
Melis, A. (2014). Il futuro dell'utopia. Presstletter
Melis, A. (2014). Un mammut in giardino. Presstletter
Melis, A. (2014). Accademia vs navigatori globali. Presstletter
Melis, A. (2013). Zombiecity. Presstletter
Melis, A. (2013). Qualche volta preferisco la forma ai contenuti. Presstletter
Melis, A. (2001). Lebbeus Woods: Radical Reconstruction. Archit. (3)
Teaching and Education
Current teaching University of Portsmouth
· 2016-2020 Design Studio coordinator (BA3, MArch2, and Thesis): 20 undergraduate students; 15 postgraduate students; responsible for authoring the material taught;
· 2017-2020 Technology and Sustainability coordinator (BA3, MArch1): 95-120 undergraduate students; 60 postgraduate students; responsible for authoring the material taught;
· 2017-2019 Professional Practice coordinator (MArch 1): 60 postgraduate students;
· 2018-2019 Course coordinator and teaching: MA Conservation Architecture: (responsible for the change from Msc Historic Building Conservation into MA Conservation Architecture; responsible for course specifications and for authoring the material taught). Postgraduate (Master)
· 2016-2018 - Unit coordinator and teaching: MA Sustainable Cities Integration: 15 students (responsible for authoring the material taught). Postgraduate (Master)
· 2017-2019 - Unit Coordinator and teaching: MA Sustainable Cities Practice: 6 students (responsible for authoring the material taught). Postgraduate (Master)
· 2016 - Unit Coordinator and teaching: MA Sustainable Architecture Theory (505): 5 students (responsible for authoring the material taught). Postgraduate (Master)
· 2016 – 2018 - Teaching: Dissertation (320): 14 students (partially responsible for authoring the material taught for the Dissertation. Responsible for the unit: Heather Coleman). Undergraduate
Supervision of research students
March/ MASTERS SUPERVISIONS (60)
· University of Portsmouth - Main supervisor (MA Sustainable Cities): 5 (2017-2018)
· University of Auckland - Main Supervisor (Master research – Sustainability): 5 (2014-2016)
· University of Auckland - Co Supervisor (Master - research – Sustainability): 3 (2015-2016)
· University of Auckland - Main Supervisor (MArch): 13 (2014-2016)
· University of Auckland – Co Supervisor (MArch): 2 (2016)
· University of Applied Sciences, Dessau – Main Supervisor (Master Research): 3 (2012)
· University of Florence – Co Supervisor (Master Research): 4 (2002-2006)
MPhil SUPERVISIONS (14)
· University of Applied Arts Vienna - Co Supervisor: 14 (2010-2016)
PhD SUPERVISIONS
· Current PhD supervisions: 6
· PhD completed: 2
· Major reviews successfully completed: 8/8
Academic Leadership and Management
University of Portsmouth
· University level
o Director Cluster Sustainable Cities
o UoA13 Deputy REF Leader & coordinator of the impact statements
o Architecture Research Leader
o TMC/EE Project Procurement Travel Management and Employee Expenses Project – User Group Member
· Faculty level
o Chair major review
o Assessor PhD major reviews
· Department level
o Member of Learning and Teaching Committee
o Member of Architecture Research Committee
o Founder and co-director of the Media Hub, first open media lab of the school of architecture.
o Research group - Mentoring
o Associate member of Architectural and Urban History and Theory Research Group
· School - discipline
o Head of Architecture Technology and Sustainability area (undergraduate and postgraduate)
o BA3, MArch 2 and Thesis Studio Tutor
o Course Coordinator MA Conservation Architecture
o Unit Coordinator: MA Sustainable Cities Practice
o Unit coordinator: MA Integration (2016-2018)
o Unit Coordinator: Techne (1st year March Technology and Professional Practice)
o Unit Coordinator: MA Sustainable Architecture Theory (2016)
Previous academic leadership experience (period 2011-2016)
o Foundation and direction of joint-post professional Master’s programmes (Territorial Planning - University Applied Arts Vienna)
o Member of the Faculty Postgraduate Committee (Creative Arts and Industry Faculty - University of Auckland).
o Committee for the assignment of international scholarships (CAI - University of Auckland)
o Coordinator European Relationship (SoAP – University of Auckland)
o School Director: Postgraduate Engagement (School of Architecture and Planning - University of Auckland)
o Chair Postgraduate School Committee (SoAP – University of Auckland)
o Coordinator of the re-organization of PhD studies accordingly with the new statute and university guidelines for provisional year assessment (SoAP – University of Auckland)
o Chair major reviews and PhD application assessor (SoAP – University of Auckland)
o Co-foundation of the PPU - Proto Practice Unit (University of Auckland) (2016) (with Michael Davis)
o Co-foundation of the first MA in Conservation in New Zealand (2015) (with Julia Gatley, Paola Boarin)
o Direction of the Studio Christchurch for the post-earthquake reconstruction of Christchurch (New Zealand) (2015)
o Co-foundation of the Italian branch of the University of Applied Arts Vienna (2013) (with Walter Mayrhofer)
o Co-foundation of the post-graduate Master Urban Strategies at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna (2011) (with Reiner Zettl, Walter Mayrhofer, Andrea Boerner)