The team of the PRIN research project "Upcycling Architecture in Italy" is pleased to announce the upcoming Upcycling Architecture International Conference, which will take place at Politecnico di Torino on October 29-30, 2025. This event is organized in the frame of the research project “Upcycling Architecture in Italy. Forging and Promoting a Renewed Building Culture”. PRIN 2022 PNRR. Funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU.

Organizing Committee and Research Project Steering Group:
Alberto Bologna (Sapienza Università di Roma),
Josep-Maria Garcia-Fuentes (Politecnico di Milano),
Ilaria Giannetti (Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata),
Gabriele Neri (Politecnico di Torino)

Executive Committee and Coordination:
Alessandro Benetti (Politecnico di Torino),
Viola Bertini (Sapienza Università di Roma),
Roberto Germanò (Sapienza Università di Roma),
Giulia Sergi (Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata)

Scientific Committee:
Filippo De Pieri (Politecnico di Torino),
Corentin Fivet (EPFL),
Alfonso Giancotti (Sapienza Università di Roma),
Franz Graf (EPFL),
Giulia Marino (Université catholique de Louvain),
Renato Morganti (Università degli Studi dell’Aquila),
Stefania Mornati (Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata),
Spartaco Paris (Sapienza Università di Roma),
Edoardo Piccoli (Politecnico di Torino),
Adam Przywara (University of Fribourg),
Mario Rinke (University of Antwerp),
Alessandro Rogora (Politecnico di Milano),
Daniel Stockhammer (University of Liechtenstein),
Albena Yaneva (Politecnico di Torino)

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PROGRAM:

DAY 1 / OCTOBER 29
Castello del Valentino, Salone d’Onore

18:00 – Institutional greetings
Silvia Barbero (Vice Rector for Communication and Promotion, Politecnico di Torino), Michele Bonino (Director DAD, Politecnico di Torino)

18:10 – Introduction
Gabriele Neri (DAD, Coordinator Upcycling Architecture in Italy)

18:20 – KEYNOTE LECTURE
Gunter Pauli, author of The Blue Economy
How Systemic Design Secures the Transformation of the Built Environment

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DAY 2 / OCTOBER 30
Castello del Valentino, Sala Caccia

09:00 – Conference registration

09:30 – Introduction
Alberto Bologna, Josep-Maria Garcia-Fuentes, Ilaria Giannetti, Gabriele Neri

10:00 SESSION A / HISTORY
Chaired by Gabriele Neri

Valentina Florio, Nicoletta Marconi (Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata)
The Practice of Reusing Debris from the Records of the Allied Commission Control in the Central State Archives: Some Italian Cases (1943-1947)

Jiayao Jiang (University of Cambridge)
Aluminium from War to Peace: Upcycling and Prefabrication for Postwar Housing

Iván José Márquez Muñoz (Newcastle University)
Miguel Fisac’s Church of the Holy Spirit: on Material Ethics and Architectural Upcycling in Postwar Spain

11:15 – Coffee break

11:45 – SESSION B / THEORY
Chaired by Albena Yaneva (Politecnico di Torino)

Pierre Chabard (ENSA Paris-La Villette)
Architecture Without End: Aesthetical Potential of Upcycling

Simon Mitchell (The Oslo School of Architecture and Design)
Where Materials Precede Design: Upcycling and the Question of Agency in Architecture

Madlen Kobi (University of Fribourg)
“Reuse is like Free Jazz!”. Upcycling Materials as Creative Practice

13:00 – Lunch break

14:15 – SESSION C / DESIGN PRACTICE: ITALY
Chaired by Ilaria Giannetti

Marco Zanini (Politecnico di Milano), Yasmine Dominique Priore (HEAI-FR)
Upcycling Italy's Past: a Case-Study in Low-Cost Circular Renovation

Giulio Basileo (Università degli Studi dell’Aquila)
The Upcycling of Structural Steel Components

Giulia Famiglietti, Carlo Vannini (Sapienza Università di Roma)
Upcycling by Design: a Case Study on Industrialised Housing in Rome

15:30 – Coffee break

16:00 – SESSION D / DESIGN PRACTICE: EUROPE
Chaired by Alberto Bologna, Roberto Germanò

Valeria Gozzi (SUPSI), Cristina Zanini Barzaghi (ETH), Stefano Zerbi (SUPSI)
Structural Reuse in Practice: Technical Challenges and Solutions in Two Case Studies

Ortus (Paolo Catrambone, Maria Ave Romani)
The Politics of Reuse: Architecture Between Teaching, Practice and Regulation

Maicol Negrello (Politecnico di Torino), Adam Ozinsky (3XN GXN), Ann-Britt Vejlgaard (3XN GXN)
Circular Strategies for the Adaptive Reuse of Euston Tower

17:15 FINAL DISCUSSION
Coordinated by Josep-Maria Garcia-Fuentes

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Contact:
For more information, please write to: infoupcyclingarchitecture.it

Registration for the opening lecture by Gunter Paul is required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gunter-pauli-public-lecture-tickets-1789316938129?aff=ebdsoporgprofile&_gl=1*clg6jx*_up*MQ..*_ga*ODEzMTY0Mzg2LjE3NjA3MTM0NzQ.*_ga_TQVES5V6SH*czE3NjA3MTM0NzQkbzEkZzAkdDE3NjA3MTM0NzQkajYwJGwwJGgw