Mirko Zardini. Following studies at the International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design (ILAUD) in Urbino and Milan, and the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (IUAV), Zardini collaborated with Studio Giancarlo de Carlo (1979–81) and the office of Vittorio Gregotti (1983–85). He practiced as an architect in Milan and Lugano for over a decade while also breaking new ground with his research and publications. Zardini worked as an editor at Casabella (1983–88) and at Lotus International (1988–99); during this time, he collaborated with and contributed extensively to publications including Domus, El Croquis, and Archis, while also developing his profile as an innovative curator. As visiting professor, he taught design and theory at institutions including the Federal Polytechnic University (ETH) in Zurich, the Federal Polytechnic University (EPFL) in Lausanne, the IUAV in Venice, the Politecnico in Milan, the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, and the School of Architecture at Princeton University. Among his seminal early publications and exhibitions projects are Frank O. Gehry: America as Context (1994); Paesaggi ibridi: Highway, Multiplicity (1996); Annähernd perfekte Peripherie: Glattalstadt/Greater Zurich Area (2001); and the exhibition Asfalto: Il carattere della città at the Triennale di Milano (2003). Zardini joined the CCA in 2003 as Consulting Curator, and in 2005 was appointed Director and Chief Curator. His innovative exhibition Out of the Box: Price Rossi Stirling + Matta-Clark (2003) challenged four architectural historians to make a first 'cut' through these four major new archives. This project was followed by exhibition and publication projects including Sense of the City (2005), which enlarged on the basic premise of his earlier Asfalto exhibition to address other ubiquitous but often unconsidered elements of the city, four projects co-curated with Giovanna Borasi, 1973: Sorry, Out of Gas (2007); Actions: What You Can Do With the City (2008); Imperfect Health: The Medicalization of Architecture (2011), and Other Space Odysseys: Greg Lynn, Michael Maltzan, Alessandro Poli (2010), and his more recent projects Rooms you May Have Missed: Umberto Riva, Bijoy Jain (2015) and It’s All Happening So Fast: A Counter-History of the Modern Canadian Environment (2016).
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