Born in Rome on July 18, 1960, after completing classical studies, he graduated in Architecture in 1986 from the University of Rome La Sapienza (110 with honors). Since 1986, he has been qualified to practice as an architect. In 1992, he earned a PhD in History of Architecture (from the University of Rome La Sapienza). From 1992 to 2000, he was a Researcher in the History of Architecture at the Department of History of Architecture, Restoration, and Conservation of Architectural Heritage at Sapienza University of Rome and an Associate Professor from 2000 to 2016. He held the position of Professor of Ancient and Medieval Architectural History from 1994 to 2019. A Full Professor since 2016, he has been a Professor of Contemporary Architectural History at the Faculty of Architecture of Sapienza University of Rome since 2019, affiliated with the Department of History, Design, and Restoration of Architecture. He was the scientific leader of eighteen research missions in the Eastern Aegean Sea, mainland Greece, Turkey, Tunisia, Mexico, Peru, and Western Pakistan (North-West Frontier Provinces) between 1993 and 2006, and of more than 50 research missions in Abruzzo after the 2009 earthquake (2020-2011), Emilia Romagna after the 2012 earthquake, and central Italy after the 2016 earthquake. He has been and continues to be responsible for scientific collaboration agreements with CONI Servizi Spa (2005), the Department of Firefighters, Public Rescue, and Civil Defense of the Ministry of the Interior (2010-2020), the V Division of the General Staff of the Italian Army (2016-2021), and the Historical Office of the Navy (2017-2026) within the Ministry of Defense. Since 1987, he has been an ordinary member of the National Center for Studies in the History of Architecture, and since 2015, a member of its Board of Directors. Since 2001, he has been a member of the faculty of the Ph.D. program in History and Restoration of Architecture at Sapienza University of Rome. Since 2001, he has been a member of the editorial board of the journal Quaderni dell'Istituto di Storia dell'Architettura, and since 2016, a member of its Scientific Council. From 2007 to 2010, he was member of the Italian Institute for Africa and the East (IsIAO) and of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan. Since 2010, he has been a member of the Scientific Council of the Journal of the Institute for the History of Lombard Art and the Scientific Council of Thiasos - Journal of Archaeology and History of Ancient Architecture. Since 2014, he has been the director of the monograph series Conoscenze d'architettura - Storie di spazi e di costruzioni, which he founded, housed at the Department of History, Design, and Restoration of Architecture of Sapienza University of Rome. Since 2017, he has been the director of the "Joint Technical Research Unit on Intelligence, Defense, and Recovery in Architecture" of the Department of History, Design, and Restoration of Architecture of Sapienza University of Rome. Since 2018, he is member of the Advisory Committee of the Historical Office of the Navy, the Scientific Council of its "Archive Bulletin," and that of the "Maritime Review." Since 2014, he has been a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic on the proposal of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Since 2020, he has been a Scientific Advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy. In 2023-2024, he has been the Coordinator of the PhD program in History, Design, and Restoration of Architecture at Sapienza University of Rome.
He is the author of more than one hundred and fifty publications, including monographs, articles in collective volumes, scientific journals, and class A journals. He has participated as a speaker at national and international conferences and organized three international conferences (2009, 2011, 2015) for the National Center for Studies in the History of Architecture and the Department of History, Design, and Restoration of Architecture at Sapienza University of Rome. Among his titles, the main monographs and edited volumes are as follows:
Monographs: L’Ufficio Informazioni della Regia Marina. Storie, ordinamenti e operazioni, 1884-1925, con C. Rizza (2024); Il diario di guerra del viceammiraglio Paolo Thaon di Revel (2019); Sull’Antichità. Scritti d’architettura greca e romana (2015, rist. 2017); Lungo il fiume Swat. Scritti d’architettura buddista antica (2013); Architectures in the Swat valley (stupa, vihāra and dwelling unit), with D. Faccenna (2014); Chios medievale. Storia architettonica di un’isola della Grecia bizantina (2008); Castel Sant’Angelo, la fortezza di Roma. Momenti della vicenda architettonica da Alessandro VI a Vittorio Emanuele III, 1494-1904 (1995).
Edited volumes: Difendere Roma. Architettura militare della capitale d’Italia, 1870-1943 (2022); L’occhio sul mare. La Regia Marina italiana e la ricognizione aerea nella Prima guerra mondiale (2022); Il Corpo nazionale italiano dei Vigili del Fuoco. Storia, architetture e tipi di intervento tra Guerra fredda e XXI secolo (1982-2022), con M. Cavriani (2022); Studi sull’architettura del duomo di Orvieto (2020); Basi navali e aeree della Regia Marina nella Prima guerra mondiale, 1914-1918, con M.G. Turco e S. Isgrò (2019); Al di là delle trincee. Territori e architetture del Regno d’Italia al tempo della Prima guerra mondiale (2017); Il Corpo nazionale italiano dei Vigili del Fuoco. Storia, architetture e tipi di intervento al tempo della Guerra fredda (1945-1982), II, con M. Cavriani (2016); Il Corpo nazionale italiano dei Vigili del Fuoco. Storia, architetture e tipi d’intervento al tempo della Guerra fredda (1945-1982), I, con M. Cavriani (2015); Terra concussa. Territori e architetture d’Abruzzo dopo il sisma del 2009 nel lavoro dei vigili del fuoco italiani (2014); Il Corpo nazionale italiano dei Vigili del Fuoco. Storia, architetture e tipi di intervento al tempo della sua costituzione, 1900-1945, con M. Cavriani (2013); L. Crema, Significato dell’architettura romana, 2^ ed. (2009); C. Tiberi, Culture e momenti d’architettura antichi e medievali (2011).