Author: Alice Buoli

Laura Montedoro is an architect and urban planner, specializing in the History of Art. She is also an associate professor of Urban Design and Urban Planning at the Polytechnic of Milan, where she has been teaching since 1998. Since 2011, she has been involved in research on urbanization in the countries of the Global South within the context of international cooperation, with particular attention to the cities of Africa and the growth models of reference. She is a promoter and referent of the Agreement between Politecnico di Milano and M_EIA, Mindelo_Escola Internacional de Arte de S. Vicente, Cabo Verde, and with the ENAM École Nationale d’Architecture de Marrakech. In the context of the Polisocial Programme, she has been part of the research team ‘Mo.N.G.U.E. (Mozambique.Nature.Growth.University.Education)’, which is focused on Mozambique (Polisocial Award 2016, coordinator Michele Ugolini), and serves as scientific coordinator for the 2018 Polisocial Award-winning “Boa_Ma_Nhã, Maputo!” project, a study for the integrated development of the region BOAne, Mo Amba, Namaac HA, Mozambique. She is co-director of the “Design for development. Architecture, Urban Planning, and Heritage in the Global South” Master’s program and a member of the scientific committee of the PIMI Project – the Master’s and Doctoral training project funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Maputo and the Faculty of Architecture of Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique. She is also a member of the PAUI Doctoral Board. On invitation, she has held lectures and seminars at both Italian and international universities; moreover, she has activated co-tutelages of degree and doctoral theses with the ETSAM of Madrid, the Universidade Autonoma de Lisboa and the School of Architecture and Design of Melbourne.  Alice Buoli is an architect and Ph.D. in Territorial Design and Government. She is currently an assistant professor in Urban Planning and a tutor for the Ph D program in Urban Planning, Design and Policy (UPDP) at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano. Her academic and professional experience combines urban research within the Euro-Mediterranean context, African urbanism, borderland studies, creative practice research, and editorial and curatorial activities. Over the past years, she was involved in different international projects and institutions, such as the MSC Initial Training Network “ADAPT-r – Architecture, Design and Art Practice Training-research” at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn (Estonia), the Tallinn Architecture Biennale TAB 2017 “Bio Tallinn”, and the “Boa_Ma_Nhã, Maputo!” project (recipient of the 2018 Polisocial Award) at Politecnico di Milano.  Alessandro Frigerio is an architect, urban and landscape designer, Ph D, as well as a post-doctoral research fellow and adjunct professor at Politecnico di Milano. His research and professional activities investigate the processes of sustainable urban development or regeneration within a transcalar and socio-ecological perspective, combining landscape, urban, and architectural design. He has worked in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, with a special interest in East African urbanization and projects in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, and Somalia, in cooperation with local authorities and international organizations such as UN-Habitat (Urban Planning and Design Branch) and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). He has also collaborated on research and teaching activities with the Measure and Scale of the Contemporary City Lab and the International Cooperation Lab at Politecnico di Milano and is currently part of the teaching staff of the Master’s program “Design for development. Architecture, Urban Planning, and Heritage in the Global South”.