Laura Montedoro
Full Professor of Urban Design
Politecnico di Milano
Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU)
Laura Montedoro, architect and art historian, is full professor of Urban Planning and Urban Design in Politecnico di Milano’s Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), where she has taught since 1998.
Co-director of Politecnico di Milano’s DAStU Design for Development Second Level Master Degree. Member of the scientific board of the PHD program AUID (Architectural, Urban and Interior Design) and of PIMI Master and PhD scientific program at the Faculdade de Arquitectura e Planeamento Fisico of Mozambique’s Universidade Mondlane.
Her research revolves around urban design, forms of urban planning not envisaged by the urban plan in general. In particular, she focuses on design exploration as a cognitive tool of site potential, with a cross-scale approach, often interacting with local authorities, including through consultancy and applied research. Particular attention is turned to the implementation planning dimension as an indispensable tool for controlling the quality of widespread regeneration and spatial results of urban planning in the complex processes of large urban transformations, such as military areas and disused railyard.
She has engaged in critical questioning of the history of urban planning and the twentieth-century city: the evolution of the outskirts of the Fordist city, the period between the two wars and the season of reconstruction in Europe were privileged areas of study, in particular with research dedicated to the work of Piero Bottoni, Alberto Mario Pucci, Giuseppe Terragni, and the processes of change in various Italian and Spanish cities.
After being on the editorial board of QA (2007–2012), in 2015 she joined the editorial team of the Territorio journal. She is also a referee for the journals ASUR, Archivio di Storia Urbana e Regionale; Land Use Policy; Ri-Vista; UPLanD – Journal of Urban Planning, Landscape & Environmental Design; and Routledge Publisher. Member of the scientific committee for Maggioli Edizioni’s Politecnica series and Nuova Cultura’s Leonardo series. Promoter of Italian and international exhibitions and workshops on urban design, author of books, essays and articles in sector press.
From 2012 to 2018, by appointment of the Mayor, she was a member of the Landscape Commission of the Municipality of Milan. She is a member of the Board of the National Institute of Architecture (InArch) Lombardy and a member of CeSAI Centre for African Studies in Italy
