Simona CALVAGNA

After graduating in Construction Engineering in 1999, Simona Calvagna obtained her PhD with honours with a thesis on the volcanic urban landscape of Catania, carried out on an Italy-France cotutorship between the University of Catania and the Institut de Géographie de l'Université de Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne. 

She was awarded the National Scientific Appointment as second-rank professor for Competition Sector 08/D1 - Architectural Design, in the first round in 2012, confirmed in the last round in 2016 (valid from 17/10/2018 to 17/10/2024).

She entered the role of fixed-term researcher at Dicar of the University of Catania in 2018, since December 2021 she has been an associate professor in SSD ICAR/14 ‘Architectural and Urban Composition’. 

Scientific research | From 2004 to 2011 she held a research grant in accordance with Art. 51 paragraph 6 of Law no. 449 of 27 December 1997 at the Department of Architecture and Town Planning of the University of Catania, with a research programme in support of the drafting of the Landscape Plan of the Province of Catania, as part of the consultancy entrusted to the SAD of the University of Catania by the Superintendence for Cultural and Environmental Heritage of Catania for the drafting of the Provincial Landscape Plan (scientific managers Anna Maria Atripaldi - ICAR/14 and Giovanni Campo - ICAR/20).

She has participated and participates in university research projects (PRA) of national (PRIN 2009) and international interest. In 2018, she is PI of the departmental project ‘Landscape (and) Architecture in Volcanic Environment (LAVE)’; since 2021, she is PI of the departmental projects ‘At the Margins of the Anthropocene. Landscape, Architecture and Sustainability (MA-PAS)' and “The Role of MAquette in the DIgital Age / MA-DI”. Since 2018, she has participated in the following national and international research groups: 2018-2019. Erasmus Plus project ‘VVITA. Modernizing Learning and Teaching for Architecture through Smart and Longlasting Partnerships leading to sustainable and inclusive development strategies to Vitalize heritage Villages through Innovative Technologies; 2019. International network of architecture schools ‘Designing Heritage Touris Landscapes DHTL’; 2019. Project ‘Shared visions and projects on the theme of urban regeneration of suburbs, G124 - Syracuse, for the urban and landscape regeneration of the Mazzarrona district in Syracuse’; 2020-2021. PON project ‘eWAS: An early warning system for cultural heritage’; 2020-ongoing. PIAno di inCEntivi per la RIcerca di Ateneo (PIACERI) 2020-2022. Project ‘Interdisciplinary and inclusive approaches for the valorisation and communication of cultural heritage. Museums and Architecture (Mu-Arch)’; 2021-ongoing. Erasmus Plus Project ‘ARTEST/ Enhancing education programmes in Arts and Humanities via European STEM methods and tools’. 2022-present PRIN 2022 PNRR (South line) ‘Towards an Earthling Architecture. Strategies of Coexistence and Care for Landscapes at Risk in Southern Italy (TEArch)’ (PI prof. Pasquale Miano UniNa- UniCT responsible prof. Marco Navarra). 

Teaching | From 2005 to 2006 and from 2014 to 2018 she is a contract lecturer at DICAR for the ‘Laboratory of Architecture and Composition I’ and the course of ‘Theory, Practice and Design of the Landscape’ (CdL in Building Engineering/Architecture); she is also a lecturer in the Project Laboratory 4 - Territory and Landscape for the ‘Landscape Architecture’ module at the SDS of Syracuse (A.A. 2014/15 and 2015/16). She performs her teaching duties as part of the course ‘Architecture and Architectural Composition I and Laboratory’ at the CdLM a c. u. in Ingegneria edile-Architettura and she is rapporteur and co-rapporteur of dissertations in architectural and landscape design. Since 2020 she has been a member of the PhD board in ‘Evaluation and mitigation of urban and territorial risks’ at the University of Catania. 

Publications | She has developed her research, which began as a PhD student and continued after the end of her period as a research fellow, publishing the results in monographs, international journals, contributions in books, and discussing them at national and international conferences, from 2000 to the present. She is the author of three monographs: ‘Fabrica’ Complessità Progetto (Gangemi, Rome 2017) ; I paesaggi viventi. Presenze laviche dentro la città di Catania. Les paysages vivants. Présences volcaniques dans la ville de Catane (ANRT, Lille 2012); Oltre l'Asse. La dimensione paesaggistica del progetto urbano tra la Défense e la Seine (Anabiblo, Rome 2012). 

Other activities | He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the DICAR Museum of Representation and scientific head of the sPrA Laboratory (Tools for the Architectural Project).Alongside his teaching and scientific research activities, he has also been involved in applied design experimentation, participating in national and international competitions for ideas and design, winning numerous awards.