The Research Doctorate in Architecture and City Construction has as its scientific objective the progress of studies in the different fields of architecture and city construction as well as the training of scholars who are able to operate in the different levels of scientific research, from theoretical elaboration up to the operational application of the knowledge achieved. It is characterized and specified within the school of Architectural Sciences of which it is part, as it collects and brings together different disciplines providing third-level training divided into different disciplinary areas.
The relationship between architecture and construction posed since the foundation of the DRACo Research Doctorate in 2005 has been seen as a complex problem closely linked to the permanent and most urgent issues posed by Italian and international architectural culture. The careful observation of the national and international situation and the different experiences gained during the previous cycles have outlined the main areas of study, identifiable in the relationship between architecture and city construction. In an era in which globalization has reduced the possibilities of differences and limited the variations of local identities, it is necessary to continue to question the reasons for building in an active and critical comparison with the changing reality. The scope of the research is defined through the permanent features of Italian architectural and urban culture and the relationships that this has always had with other traditions of international studies, in a continuous process of renewal and updating. The general objective of the research conducted in the Doctorate in Architecture and Construction of the City is therefore to maintain as a reference the "line of resistance" of the architectural culture of our country, within our specific History, whose areas of application can diversify as a consequence of the most urgent issues that arise from local realities and/or international. In this operational context, the architectural project, a synthetic expression of the different knowledge that contributes to defining the Doctorate in Architecture and City Construction, takes on a decisive importance both in terms of tools and techniques and in terms of the advancement of knowledge. scientific. The PhD in Architecture and City Construction is divided into four different curricula: Architectural and Urban Composition (A), Estimation and Evaluation (B), Urban Morphology (C), Built Environment (D), whose educational objective is the provision of innovative skills and advanced tools useful for research in the scientific disciplinary field of reference. The four curricula and the reference teachers operate interactively with each other, within common and shared seminars in which the individual disciplines contribute to the best achievement of the objectives.
The research addresses issues relating to the city, contexts and architecture, reformulating in an innovative way the theoretical-operational paradigms of built reality, building types and urban form understood as the visible aspect of a continuously transforming structure. The in-depth analysis of the topics selected and addressed will be carried out in reference to a general problematic framework in which environmental emergencies, recent urban mutations, scientific and technical innovations linked to the most pressing demands for sustainability in the context of climate change converge, but also the role of the media with the related processes of spectacularisation which have a significant influence on the orientations of architectural and urban transformations.
In this sense, the scientific community is stable in the different knowledge that identifies it, but it is also open and dialogic, questioning itself on the potential of its own specific knowledge. The research is therefore divided into theoretical and applied, in which theoretical experimentation is accompanied by either case studies or elaborations in which virtuous reciprocity between model and application in real contexts is assumed.
Teaching in the doctorate is organized in a distinct manner over the three years of the course.
In the first year, doctoral students follow two seminars: one theoretical and one project-based, two cycles of lessons held by the professors of the college on topics established from year to year, and finally, ex cathedra lessons by professors from other national and international research centers. Doctoral students participate in conferences, external seminars and calls for papers, requesting verification of the program from the teaching body. At the end of the first year, the delivery and presentation of papers relating to all the activities carried out is expected. The second and third years are characterized by reports on the progress of the research that the doctoral students present to the entire teaching body: every year there are two/three, in February, in July, in December. The July report is also aimed at establishing judgment regarding the admission of doctoral students to the following year. Their involvement in research activities, workshops, seminars and lectures continues. Activities in other research centers in Italy or abroad with proven need in relation to one's research interests are solicited and promoted. Finally, the production of individual and group publications is promoted, to encourage the construction, by each doctoral student, of an adequate scientific curriculum.
Doctoral students must indicate, when applying for admission, which curriculum they intend to opt for. The transition from one curriculum to another during the doctorate is not permitted except in exceptional cases and must be motivated and approved, following scientific reasons, by the teaching board.