AMINE BENAISSA
He is an architect and urban planner working for both private clients and public administrations. Specializing in large-scale projects, particularly in the Mediterranean area, he provides consultancy in strategic planning and complex project management.
He has contributed to the design and management of projects such as the Alsace Open Plan (France, 1996), the diagnosis of the Strasbourg metropolitan area (France, 1999), the Strategic Plan of French Guiana (France, 2001), the Masterplan of Pointe du Médoc (France, 2002), the Tourism Development Plan of Sicily (Italy, 2004), the Strategic Plan for Southern Lebanon (Lebanon, 2011) and the Greater Algiers project (Algeria), for which he was responsible between 2006 and 2014. He is currently involved in the reconstruction of Beirut and in the development of the final phase of Lake Tunis.
Amine Benaissa is Associate Professor at the University of Paris Sorbonne. He is the author of numerous publications.
LIVIO DE LUCA
He is an architect, PhD in Engineering, HDR (Habilitation) in Computer Science, research director at the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and director of the CNRS-MC MAP unit (Modelli e simulazioni per l’architettura e il patrimonio culturale). He is co-general chair of the international congress UNESCO/IEEE/EG DigitalHeritage (Marseille 2013, Granada 2015) and coordinator and member of numerous national (ANR, FUI, CNRS, MC, …) and international research programs (FP7, Marie-Curie, H2020, …). His scientific work focuses on surveying, geometric modelling, and semantic enrichment of digital representations of cultural heritage objects. He is editor of the Journal of Cultural Heritage (Elsevier) associate editor of the Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage (ACM) and Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (Elsevier). He was nominated member of the CoNRS (Comité National de la Recherche Scientifique) from 2016 to 2020. His work has been organized with the Pierre Bézier Prize (Arts et Métiers Foundation, 2007), the Research and Technology Medal (French Academy of Architecture, 2016), the CNRS Innovation Medal (2019), and the “Targa d’Oro” from UID (Unione Italiana per il Disegno, 2011). Since 2019, he has coordinated the “Digital Data” working group within the CNRS/Ministry of Culture scientific task force for the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris. Since 2022, he has held an ERC (European Research Council) Advanced Grant.
ALESSANDRA FERRARI
She graduated in Venice in 1989, she worked as a designer and project manager for one of the leading engineering companies owned by an American parent corporation. Founder of her own professional practice in Bergamo, she works in design, construction, and consultancy in both the public and private sectors. She was the first female President of the Order of Architects of the Province of Bergamo. She contributed to the establishment of the Provincial Construction Roundtable, which brings together all stakeholders and representatives of the building supply chain. She was a member of the National Council of Architects PPC from 2016 to 2021, focusing mainly on the Culture Department and on legislation for architecture. Re-elected for a second term, she continues to lead the Culture Department, where she is responsible in particular for the Italian Architect Award and Young Talent Award, the Yearbook, and “Open Studi Aperti” across Italy.
ELENA GRANATA
She is professor of Urban Planning at the Politecnico di Milano. Vice president of the School of Civil Economy. She is a member of the Sherpa Staff at the Italian Government Presidency of the Council of Ministers for the G7/G20 (2020-2021), working on biodiversity and urban transformation issues.
Among her books: Placemaker. Gli inventori dei luoghi che abiteremo, Einaudi, 2021; Teen Immigration. La grande migrazione di ragazzini (with Anna Granata), Vita e Pensiero, Milano, 2019; Biodivercity. Città aperte, creative e sostenibili che cambiano il mondo, Giunti, Firenze, 2019.
EZIO MICELLI
He is currently Full Professor at the IUAV University of Venice, where he teaches economic subjects related to design. He is Director of the U-Rise Master’s program in urban regeneration and social innovation.
He has led several international and national research groups. He has held numerous roles related to his research areas and, in particular, since 2020 he has coordinated studies and planning actions for the Territorial Government Plan of Bergamo; he was part of the team for the Scalo Farini project in Milan (2019); and he supervised studies for the implementation tools of the Milan Territorial Government Plan (2010) and the Structural Plan of the Municipality of Bologna.
ERMINIO PEROCCO
author, screenwriter, advertising professional, and director from Venice, selected for the Sundance Film Festival with the documentary “Once we were children” filmed in Texas. In 2019, for the Franco-German channel Arte, he wrote and directed the documentary Tintoretto: The New Venice, which was also broadcast in Italy on Rai5.
STEFANO SAVONA
He was born in Palermo in 1969. He studied archaeology and anthropology in Italy and England and participated in several archaeological excavations in Sudan, Egypt, Turkey, and Israel. In 1995 he began working as an independent photographer. Since 1999, he has been dedicated to documentary filmmaking and video installations.
His documentary Primavera in Kurdistan (2006) received the SCAM International Prize at Cinéma du Réel in Paris and was nominated for the David di Donatello Awards. Piombo fuso (2009) received the Special Jury Prize “Cinéastes du présent” at the Locarno Film Festival.
He conceived and developed an audiovisual archive on Sicilian rural civilization, Il pane di San Giuseppe.
In 2010, he co-founded the production company Picofilms in Paris with Penelope Bortoluzzi. He produced and directed Palazzo delle Aquile, which won the Grand Prix at Cinéma du Réel 2011, Human Rights Award at BAFICI in Buenos Aires, and was selected for Cannes Film Festival by ACID. In 2011, he made Tahrir Liberation Square, selected at the Locarno Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, the Venice Biennale and many other international festivals. The film was released in French cinemas in January 2012 and won both the David di Donatello and the Nastro d’Argento for Best Documentary in 2011.
Samouni Road (2018) was presented at Cannes Film Festival in the Directors Fortnight and received Oeil d’Or, Award for Best Documentary.
GIUSEPPE SMORTO
He is a journalist, who worked for over 40 years at La Repubblica. He served as Head of the Sports section, of il Venerdì, and of the Turin newsroom.
For 13 years, he was editor-in-chief of La Repubblica‘s website. He concluded his career as Deputy Editor of the newspaper founded by Eugenio Scalfari.
In 2021 he won the “Reghium Julii” Award, journalism category, with his investigative book “A sud del Sud”.
NADIA TERRANOVA
She was born in Messina in 1978. She is a writer. Her most recent books: Gli anni al contrario, Addio Fantasmi – Farewell ghosts (Einaudi, finalist for the 2019 Premio Strega), Come una storia d’amore (a short story collection published by Giulio Perrone Editore), Non sono mai stata via. Vita in esilio di Maria Zambrano (rueBallu, illustrations by Pia Valentinis), and Trema la notte (Einaudi). She has also written numerous children’s books, including Omero è stato qui (Bompiani, illustrations by Vanna Vinci), Aladino (Orecchio Acerbo, illustrations by Lorenzo Mattotti), Il Segreto (Mondadori 2021, illustrations by Mara Cerri).
She is also the author of the graphic novel Caravaggio e la ragazza (Feltrinelli Comics, with Lelio Bonaccorso). Her works have been translated worldwide.
She collaborates with several Italian newspapers and magazines, including La Repubblica, Il Foglio, Linkiesta and Vanity Fair.