Alessandro Melis (Cagliari, 6/7/1969) is an Italian architect and curator of the Italian National Pavilion at the XVII Venice Biennale. He is also a professor of architectural innovation at the University of Portsmouth.
Alessandro Melis is also Director of the International Sustainable Cities Cluster, and was previously Director of Graduate Engagement at the University of Auckland School of Architecture and Urbanism. He has also been invited as keynote speaker at the Chinese Academy of Art, MoMA in New York, Cambridge University, TEDx, the Italian Institute of Culture in London, the New Zealand Cycling Conference, the Foster Foundation (as a member academic staff) and UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
In 1996, he founded Heliopolis 21, a multi-award winning architecture firm based in Italy, Germany and the UK. His projects, such as the SR1938 Institute of the University of Pisa, the Stella Maris Hospital and the Sant'Anna Auditorium, are recognized in both academic publications and popular magazines as examples of excellence in sustainable projects. The recognition of Alessandro's research is corroborated by a record of more than 150 magazine and book publications.
On the other hand, Alessandro Melis is recognized, together with Telmo Pievani, for introducing the concept of Exaptation in Architecture. His work on it was the subject of several exhibitions and a recent monograph (Rome, 2020) written by several scholars from the universities of Palermo and Bari and edited by Francesco Fallacara Chirico, entitled “Alessandro Melis, Utopic Real World”.
In 2017, Alessandro Melis and Steffen Lehmann created the interdisciplinary project CRUNCH: Climate Resilient Urban Nexus Choices: Operationalising the Food-Water-Energy Nexus, a research project funded by Horizon 2020, Belmont Forum Belmont Forum, ESRC and other funding bodies. Alessandro Melis is leading the project on behalf of the University of Portsmouth, where he is a professor of innovation in architecture.
Alessandro Melis is also Director of the International Sustainable Cities Cluster, and was previously Director of Graduate Engagement at the University of Auckland School of Architecture and Urbanism. He has also been invited as keynote speaker at the Chinese Academy of Art, MoMA in New York, Cambridge University, TEDx, the Italian Institute of Culture in London, the New Zealand Cycling Conference, the Foster Foundation (as a member academic staff) and UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
In 1996, he founded Heliopolis 21, a multi-award winning architecture firm based in Italy, Germany and the UK. His projects, such as the SR1938 Institute of the University of Pisa, the Stella Maris Hospital and the Sant'Anna Auditorium, are recognized in both academic publications and popular magazines as examples of excellence in sustainable projects. The recognition of Alessandro's research is corroborated by a record of more than 150 magazine and book publications.
On the other hand, Alessandro Melis is recognized, together with Telmo Pievani, for introducing the concept of Exaptation in Architecture. His work on it was the subject of several exhibitions and a recent monograph (Rome, 2020) written by several scholars from the universities of Palermo and Bari and edited by Francesco Fallacara Chirico, entitled “Alessandro Melis, Utopic Real World”.
In 2017, Alessandro Melis and Steffen Lehmann created the interdisciplinary project CRUNCH: Climate Resilient Urban Nexus Choices: Operationalising the Food-Water-Energy Nexus, a research project funded by Horizon 2020, Belmont Forum Belmont Forum, ESRC and other funding bodies. Alessandro Melis is leading the project on behalf of the University of Portsmouth, where he is a professor of innovation in architecture.
