Phd in ARCHITECTURE. THEORIES AND PROJECT

email: mariaclara.ghia@uniroma1.it
phone:

Maria Clara Ghia is Associate Professor in History of Architecture and holds a PhD in "Architecture – Theories and Design" and in "Philosophie", with an interdisciplinary thesis jointly supervised between Italy (Sapienza University of Rome) and France (Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, Lyon).
She has conducted research and taught abroad, in both France and Sweden, where she served as Senior Lecturer in History and Theory of Architecture at Umeå University. She has also taught History of Applied Arts at the Quasar Institute for Advanced Design and Architectural History within the Master’s Program in "Management and Digitalization of Cultural Heritage" at John Cabot American University in Rome.
At Sapienza University of Rome, she has taught courses in History of Architecture, Theories of Architectural Research, and Aesthetics, and she is currently teaching Theories of the Contemporary Research in Architecture, History of Garden and Landscape, and Contemporary Architectural History. Interiors and Exhibition Design.
Her research focuses primarily on 20th- and 21st-century architecture, investigating the relationship between ethics and architectural design, as well as the intersections between art and architecture. She concentrates on several key topics: the post-World War II period to the present; the works of Leonardo Ricci (1918–1994), Bruno Zevi (1918–2000), Luigi Moretti (1906–1973), Ludovico Quaroni (1911–1987), Giovanni Michelucci (1891–1990), and Giancarlo De Carlo (1919–2005); and the ethical dimension of architectural practice.
She is actively engaged in the critical re-evaluation and preservation of modern and contemporary architectural heritage.
Among her publications are the monographs: Architecture as a Living Act. Leonardo Ricci, ORO Editions, San Francisco; La nostra città è tutta la terra. Leonardo Ricci architetto (1918–1994), Steinhäuser Verlag, Wuppertal 2021; Da Roma verso il mare. Storie, percorsi, immagini della città moderna e contemporanea, Gangemi, Rome 2017; and Prescrivere Liberare. Saggio su ethos e architettura, Officina Edizioni, Rome 2013.
She is the author of numerous essays published in top-tier academic journals, collective volumes, and conference proceedings.
She has extensive experience in archival research and interdisciplinary collaboration. She has participated in numerous academic conferences and has served as a member of editorial boards and juries.
She collaborates with the Fondazione Scuola dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali and with the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture in the context of the research project "Tools and methods for the knowledge, protection, and enhancement of Italian architecture of the second half of the 20th century".
She is a member of the Architecture Committee for the protection of architectural and landscape works of the Costa Smeralda Consortium (founded by Michele Busiri Vici, Jacques Couelle, Luigi Vietti) and has worked in research groups such as the “Laboratory of Theories and Criticism of Contemporary Architecture” and the “Observatory on Modern Architecture in Rome” at Sapienza University, promoting scientific approaches to the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of modern and contemporary architecture.
She has been part of several research units, including the PRIN Re-cycle Italy project coordinated by Sapienza University.
She has curated architectural exhibitions, most notably in 2019 Leonardo Ricci 100. Writing, Painting and Architecture: 100 Side Notes on the Anonymous (20th Century), held at the Refectory of Santa Maria Novella in Florence.
She was awarded the Bruno Zevi International Prize in 2011 and the Enrico Guidoni Prize in 2019.