{{Short description|Italian architect (born 1969)}} {{Infobox person | name = Alessandro Melis | birth_name = Alessandro Melis | birth_date = {{Birth date|1969|6|7|mf=y}} (age 55) | birth_place = Cagliari, Italy | citizenship = Italian | alma_mater = Università degli Studi di Firenze | occupation = Architect • Art Curator • Professor | employer = Italian National Pavilion at the 17th Venice Biennale, University of Portsmouth | awards = Ambassador of Italian Design 2020 by ADI }} '''Alessandro Melis''' (born 7 June 1969) is an Italian architect and the curator of the Italian National Pavilion at the 17th Venice Biennale.<ref name=":1" /> He is also currently a professor of architecture and the inaugural endowed chair of the New York Institute of Technology.

== Career == Alessandro Melis was born on 7 June 1969 in Cagliari, the largest city in the island of Sardinia in Italy. Melis received his Doctor of Architecture degree from the University of Florence in 1995.

In 1996, he founded Heliopolis 21, a multi-awarded architecture practice based in Italy, Germany, and the UK. The SR1938 Institute of the University of Pisa,<ref>{{Cite web |title=ONSTAGE: INTERVIEW WITH ALESSANDRO MELIS {{!}} Floornature |url=https://www.floornature.com/design-trends/strongonstage-interview-alessandro-melis-strong-15511/ |access-date=2020-08-10 |website=Floornature.com |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=25 February 2020 |title=L'università di Pisa fa spazio a 1300 studenti |url=https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/l-universita-pisa-fa-spazio-1300-studenti-ACIcs8KB |access-date=2020-08-10 |website=Il Sole 24 ORE |language=it}}</ref> the Stella Maris Hospital <ref>{{Cite web |date=6 December 2016 |title=Un veliero per i bimbi della Fondazione Stella Maris. Ecco il progetto del nuovo ospedale di Pisa Cisanello |url=http://24o.it/BOnSt4 |access-date=2020-08-10 |website=Sanità24 |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-12-07 |title=Tre anni di lavori, 21 milioni la spesa: sarà il nuovo ospedale per bambini voluto da Stella Maris |url=https://www.ilsecoloxix.it/salute-benessere/2016/12/07/news/tre-anni-di-lavori-21-milioni-la-spesa-sara-il-nuovo-ospedale-per-bambini-voluto-da-stella-maris-1.31316985 |access-date=2020-08-10 |website=Il Secolo XIX |language=it-IT}}</ref> and the Auditorium of Sant'Anna, inaugurated by the president of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella,<ref>{{Cite web |last=informatici |first=Segretariato generale della Presidenza della Repubblica-Servizio sistemi |title=Il Presidente della Repubblica Sergio Mattarella alla Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa in occasione dell'inaugurazione dell'Anno Accademico |url=http://www.quirinale.it/elementi/6189 |access-date=2020-08-10 |website=Quirinale |language=it}}</ref> are acknowledged both in scholar publications and in popular magazines as examples of excellence in sustainable design. The recognition of Alessandro's research is corroborated by a record of over 150 peer review journal and book publications (including practice based research outputs)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Portsmouth Research Portal |url=https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/alessandro-melis(c1756c94-1a9f-4b24-bf56-3837f7e8c9bf).html |website=}}</ref> such as the seminal monograph on Alessandro Gherardesca, pivotal researches on the Algerian El Houma, in collaboration with Yazid Khemri, Temporary Appropriation, with Antonio Lara Hernandez, and by as many citations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ampitheatres |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/ampitheatres |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424114103/https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/ampitheatres |archive-date=2019-04-24 |access-date=2020-08-10 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Melis |first1=Alessandro |date=3 May 2019 |title=Leonardo da Vinci designed an ideal city that was centuries ahead of its time |url=https://theconversation.com/leonardo-da-vinci-designed-an-ideal-city-that-was-centuries-ahead-of-its-time-111884 |work=The Conversation}}</ref>

In 2017, Alessandro Melis and Steffen Lehmann created the interdisciplinary project [http://www.fwe-nexus.eu/ CRUNCH]: Climate Resilient Urban Nexus Choices: Operationalising the Food-Water-Energy Nexus.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=University of Oxford: Urban Transformations Network |url=https://www.urbantransformations.ox.ac.uk/blog/2018/introducing-the-crunch-project/ |website=}}</ref> This is 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 professor of architecture innovation.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" />

Appointed by the Italian Government in 2019,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea|url=http://www.aap.beniculturali.it/padiglioneitalia2020.html|access-date=2020-08-10|website=www.aap.beniculturali.it}}</ref> he follows the previous curators Mario Cucinella (2018) and Tamassociati (2016), as curator of the Italian Pavilion.

In 2020, he is appointed Ambassador of Italian Design in Paris, by [http://www.aap.beniculturali.it/pdf/IDD_2020_ADi_web.pdf Adi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002160202/http://www.aap.beniculturali.it/pdf/IDD_2020_ADi_web.pdf |date=2021-10-02 }} (Associazione Disegno Industriale) and the Italian Mnistery of Foreign Affairs.

Alessandro Melis is the current IDC Foundation Endowed Chair at the New York Institute of Technology. Previously, he was director of the International Cluster for Sustainable Cities at the University of Portsmouth,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=University of Portsmouth professor receives national acclaim for architecture|url=https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/education/university-portsmouth-professor-receives-national-acclaim-architectural-excellence-2881924|access-date=2020-11-21|website=www.portsmouth.co.uk|date=11 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref> and the head of Postgraduate engagement at the school of Architecture and Planning of the University of Auckland.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-10-31|title=Alessandro Melis|url=https://polittico.unipi.it/alessandro-melis|access-date=2020-08-10|website=Polittico Research Lab|language=it-IT}}</ref> He has also been invited as a keynote speaker at the China Academy of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the University of Cambridge,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Leonardo da Vinci: Imagining Futures Symposium – CRASSH|url=http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/28775|access-date=2020-08-10|website=www.crassh.cam.ac.uk|date=19 September 2019 }}</ref> TEDx,<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=TEDx Mestre|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwQclCWkmfE|website=YouTube}}</ref> the Italian Institute of Culture in London, the NZ Cycling Conference, the Foster Foundation (as an academic staff member),<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-02-21|title=Imagining Futures, in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid|url=https://www.normanfosterfoundation.org/imagining-futures-in-collaboration-with-politecnico-di-milano-and-universidad-politecnica-de-madrid/|access-date=2020-08-10|website=Norman Foster Foundation|language=en-US}}</ref> and the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

Alessandro Melis is acknowledged, together with Telmo Pievani,<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-65273-9 |title=Integrated Science |date=2021 |volume=1 |isbn=978-3-030-65272-2 |s2cid=235442301 }}</ref> for introducing the concept of Exaptation in Architecture.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ONSTAGE: INTERVISTA CON ALESSANDRO MELIS {{!}} Floornature|url=https://www.floornature.it/design-trends/strongonstage-intervista-con-alessandro-melis-strong-15511/|access-date=2020-12-13|website=Floornature.com|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Dobbiamo pensare l'architettura come ecologia, non come artificio – Solidaria|url=http://www.solidaria.eu/2020/10/23/dobbiamo-pensare-larchitettura-come-ecologia-non-come-artificio/|access-date=2020-12-13|language=it-IT}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-17|title=To learn a new way of designing the city, let's look at slums|url=https://www.internimagazine.com/opinions/designing-city/|access-date=2020-12-13|website=Interni Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ocio - Riformare, trasformare|url=http://ocio.lombardini22.com/post/riformare-trasformare|access-date=2020-12-13|website=ocio.lombardini22.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Raimo|first1=Antonino Di|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LucLEAAAQBAJ&q=alessandro+melis+exaptation&pg=PT332|title=Informality through Sustainability: Urban Informality Now|last2=Lehmann|first2=Steffen|last3=Melis|first3=Alessandro|date=2020-12-31|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-000-33575-0|language=en}}</ref> His work was the object of several exhibitions and of a recent monograph (Rome, 2020) authored by several scholars of the universities of Palermo and Bari and edited by Francesco Fallacara Chirico, titled "Alessandro Melis, Utopic Real World.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alessandro Melis|url=https://theccd.org/profile/alessandro-melis/|access-date=2020-08-10|website=The Centre for Conscious Design|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fallacara |first1=Giuseppe |last2=Stigliano |first2=Marco |title=Alessandro Melis. Utopic Real World, Invention Drawings |date=2020 |publisher=D Editore |isbn=978-88-94830-46-0 }}{{pn|date=September 2023}}</ref>

== Awards == He has been nominated as an ambassador of Italian Design 2020 by ADI and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Italian Design Day 2020 — Disegnare il futuro|url=https://www.italiandesignday.it/|access-date=2020-11-11|website=Italian Design Day 2020|language=it-IT}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Italian Design Day 2020 - IDD|url=https://www.esteri.it/mae/it/politica_estera/promozione-integrata-del-sistema/italian-design-day-idd|access-date=2020-11-11|website=www.esteri.it|language=it-it}}</ref>

== Publications ==

* Melis, A. (2021). Periferia e pregiudizio. Bordeaux Edizioni. https://www.bordeauxedizioni.it/prodotto/periferia-e-pregiudizio/ * {{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-32120-8 |title=Temporary Appropriation in Cities |date=2020 |isbn=978-3-030-32119-2 |s2cid=209331059 |editor-last1=Melis |editor-last2=Lara-Hernandez |editor-last3=Thompson |editor-first1=Alessandro |editor-first2=Jose Antonio |editor-first3=James }} * {{cite book |last1=Melis |first1=Alessandro |title=ZombieCity. Strategie urbane di sopravvivenza agli zombie e alla crisi climatica |date=2020 |publisher=D Editore |isbn=978-88-94830-49-1 }} * {{cite journal |last1=Lara-Hernandez |first1=Jose Antonio |last2=Coulter |first2=Claire M. |last3=Melis |first3=Alessandro |title=Temporary appropriation and urban informality: Exploring the subtle distinction |journal=Cities |date=April 2020 |volume=99 |article-number=102626 |doi=10.1016/j.cities.2020.102626 |s2cid=214138622 |url=https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/temporary-appropriation-and-urban-informality-exploring-the-subtle-distinction(02a522d9-bd80-42fa-972a-eb7f3a7bf320).html |url-access=subscription }} * {{cite book |last1=Raimo |first1=Antonino Di |last2=Lehmann |first2=Steffen |last3=Melis |first3=Alessandro |title=Informality through Sustainability: Urban Informality Now |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-33575-0 }} * {{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-65273-9 |title=Integrated Science |date=2021 |volume=1 |isbn=978-3-030-65272-2 |s2cid=235442301 }} * {{cite news |last1=Melis |first1=Alessandro |title=Leonardo da Vinci designed an ideal city that was centuries ahead of its time |url=https://theconversation.com/leonardo-da-vinci-designed-an-ideal-city-that-was-centuries-ahead-of-its-time-111884 |work=The Conversation |date=3 May 2019 }} * {{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-01866-5_4 |chapter=The Introduction of Nature in the Austrian Radicals Practice |title=Planning Cities with Nature |series=Cities and Nature |date=2019 |last1=Melis |first1=Alessandro |pages=45–63 |isbn=978-3-030-01865-8 |s2cid=150926275 }} * {{cite news |last1=Melis |first1=Alessandro |title=Stadiums aren't fated to disrepair and disuse – history shows they can change with the city |url=https://theconversation.com/stadiums-arent-fated-to-disrepair-and-disuse-history-shows-they-can-change-with-the-city-109076 |work=The Conversation |date=10 January 2019 }} * Melis, A., & Stumbles, L. J., (2018). ''How to build cities and destroy motorways: a radical perspective on environmental design''. [https://deditore.com/prodotto/how-to-build-the-cities-and-destroy-motorways/ D Editore. <nowiki>http://deditore.com/prodotto/how-to-build-the-cities-and-destroy-motorways/</nowiki>] * {{cite journal |last1=Melis |first1=Alessandro |last2=Gatley |first2=Julia |title=A romantic in Tuscany: Alessandro Gherardesca and the transformation of Pisa's Piazza del Duomo |journal=Cogent Social Sciences |date=2018 |volume=4 |issue=1 |article-number=1487256 |doi=10.1080/23311886.2018.1487256 |s2cid=59330351 |doi-access=free }} * {{cite book |editor1-last=Auer |editor1-first=Thomas |editor2-last=Melis |editor2-first=Alessandro |editor3-last=Aimar |editor3-first=Fabrizio |chapter=Introduction to the disruptive technology in the teaching of environmental design |title=Disruptive Technologies |date=2017 |publisher=Wolters Kluwer Italia |isbn=978-88-5981651-5 }} * {{cite journal |last1=Melis |first1=Alessandro |last2=Davis |first2=Michael John |last3=Balaara |first3=Allan |title=The history and invocation of the Arche in Austrian Radical architecture thinking |journal=Cogent Social Sciences |date=2017 |volume=3 |issue=1 |article-number=1368366 |doi=10.1080/23311886.2017.1368366 |s2cid=56400303 |doi-access=free }} * Melis, A., & Ijatuyi, O. (2015). Regeneration of the historical villages of Tuscany, through conservation and tourism development strategies. In Y. Xiujing (Ed.), ''中国美术学院建筑遗产保护国际论坛论文集: Proceedings of the Architecture Forum of the China Academy of Arts'' (pp.&nbsp;35–40). China Academy of Arts Publishing House. http://www.caajiuye.com/company-157924.html * Melis, A., & Gasperini, M. (2014). ''Shining Dark Territories: 100 thoughts of architecture''. Edizioni ETS. * {{cite journal |last1=Melis |first1=Alessandro |last2=Swenson |first2=Robert |last3=Lewis |first3=Diane |title=Good Morning, Babylon: The Cathedral Is a Movie |journal=Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media |date=2013 |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=82–84 |doi=10.1353/frm.2013.0006 |s2cid=191453364 |id={{Project MUSE|496080}} }} * Melis, A. (2009). L'Architettura Delle Chiese. In S. Sodi (Ed.), ''Giovanni Michelucci e la Chiesa italiana'' (pp.&nbsp;65–84). Edizioni San Paolo. * Melis, A., & Melis, G. L. (2002). Architettura romantica. In G. Morolli (Ed.), ''Alessandro Gherardesca, architetto toscano del Romanticismo (Pisa, 1777-1852)'' * Melis, A., & Melis, G. L. (2002). I teorici dell'architettura illuminata. In G. Morolli (Ed.), ''Alessandro Gherardesca, architetto toscano del Romanticismo (Pisa, 1777-1852)'' * Melis, A., & Melis, G. L. (2002). La Piazza del Duomo di Pisa. In G. Morolli (Ed.), ''Alessandro Gherardesca, Architetto Toscano del Romanticismo (Pisa, 1777-1852)'' Edizioni ETS. * Melis, A., & Melis, G. L. (1996). ''Architettura Pisana: dal Granducato Lorenese all'unità d'Italia''. Edizioni ETS.

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melis, Alessandro}} Category:21st-century Italian architects Category:Italian curators Category:Academics of the University of Portsmouth Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:New York Institute of Technology faculty