Dr Pierangelo Marco Scravaglieri (he/him)
MArch (Hons), PhD
School of Architecture and Landscape
University Teacher
Full contact details
School of Architecture and Landscape
Arts Tower
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
- Profile
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My career has consistently reflected overlapping interests in architecture, arts, and technological innovation. I undertook doctoral studies to conduct scholarly research about a creative practice enquiry in architecture. My PhD research in Experimental Architecture, titled ‘Liquid Architecture: Experimental Practices of Design in a State of Flux’, was concerned with fluid infrastructures, analogue computation, and the architectural potential of liquids. Questioning the Vitruvian principle of ‘firmitas’, my study engaged with complex challenges and emerging technologies (bioreactors and other ‘wet systems’) reformulated via iterative representations and architectural prototypes.
Throughout my doctorate, I engaged in several collaborative research projects with faculty at Newcastle University and beyond, yielding multiple collaborations and participation in architecture exhibitions and biennales. Among them, as a Lead Designer for the Living Architecture (LIAR) project, I had the opportunity to work on design practices, reflecting an interest in how architectural knowledge changes in the face of ongoing economic and climatic shifts. I was awarded a joint scholarship by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) to attend the Space Studies Program in 2022, led by the International Space University (ISU). I am originally from Catania, Italy, where I obtained a first-class honour Master in Architecture degree.
- Research interests
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As an Experimental Architect, I am dedicated to exploring a) the conditions under which ecological principles can be incorporated into engineering solutions and space-based design, b) the impacts of architectural design shifts at a time characterised by climate changes, and c) the universal dimensions of architecture. I am currently engaged in several design projects stemming from my expanded network at the International Space University—where architecture profiles are still a minority—developing productively disruptive research for the next generation of space architecture. Additionally, at the Sheffield School of Architecture, I am working on the development of a Health & Life Safety Advocate role to foster knowledge and skills in relation to life safety and the design of ‘healthy buildings’ along with a Building Simulation Toolkit to explore evidence-based design approaches in the environmental and technical aspects of architectural design.
- Publications
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Books
- Liquid Architecture: Experimental Practices of Design in a State of Flux. Abingdon: Routledge.
Chapters
- Liquid Architecture: design in a state of flux In Mason A & Sharr A (Ed.), Creative Practice Inquiry in Architecture (pp. 230-239). Abingdon: Routledge.
- Responsive bricks In Armstrong R, Hughes R & Ferracina S (Ed.), Living Bricks Newcastle upon Tyne: Experimental Architecture Group (EAG).
Reports
- ProKryos: protein crystallization for the benefit of people
Performances
- 'Unquiet Earth: From Victoria Tunnel to Quantum Tunnelling' in Being Human Festival 2018. Victoria Tunnel, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Artefacts
- 'There be Monsters' in Great Exhibition of the North (GEOTN). Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne.
- 'Flow Reader (III)' in Living with Adaptive Architecture. Lakeside Arts Gallery, Nottingham.
- 'Sensory brick' in Living Bricks exhibition. Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle upon Tyne.
- 'Hourglass brick' in Living Bricks exhibition. Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle upon Tyne.
- 'A Spark of being into the lifeless thing' in the Being Human Festival. Carliol House, Newcastle upon Tyne.
- 'Flow Reader (II)' in Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2017: BioTallinn. Museum of Estonian Architecture (Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum), Tallinn.
Exhibitions
- 'Trace Hall' in Eco-Visionaries: Art for a Planet in a State of Emergency. Matadero Madrid.
- '999 Years, 13sqm (The Future Belongs to Ghosts)' in Is This Tomorrow?. Whitechapel Gallery.
- 'Self-Built Utopias' in Great Exhibition of the North (GEOTN). Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne.
- Living Bricks. Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle upon Tyne.
- Liquid Architecture: Experimental Practices of Design in a State of Flux. Abingdon: Routledge.
- Research group
- Teaching interests
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I have taught architecture students since 2017 at various UK institutions, including Newcastle University, Loughborough University, and Manchester Metropolitan University. At the Sheffield School of Architecture, I currently coordinate and teach various modules across the Master of Science in Sustainable Architecture Studies (MSc SAS) and the Master in Architectural Design (MAAD), as well as supervising Y3 students in the Bachelor of Architecture (BA). In my current teaching agenda, technology serves as a medium for the exploration of trans-species and trans-planetary design.
- Teaching activities
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- ARC6821: Materials for Low Impact Building: Theory
- ARC322: Special Study
- ARC6854: Environment and Technology in Design
- ARC6986: Design Project 1
- ARC6987: Design Project 2