Bio
Mario Carpo
Reyner Banham Professor of Architectural History and Theory, the Bartlett, University College London; Professor of Architectural Theory, Die Angewandte (University of Applied Arts), Vienna (emeritus since November 2023).
Areas of specialization: history of architectural theory and history of cultural technologies, with focus on the early modern period (the Vitruvian tradition and the Italian Renaissance, from Alberti to Vignola) and on contemporary digital design theory (1990 to the present). Theory and criticism of contemporary architecture.
Education: Dr.arch. (University of Florence, Italy, 1983); Ph.D. (History, European University Institute, 1990); HDR (Habilitation à diriger des recherches, Art History, France, 2009).
Teaching Career: Assistant Professor (University of Geneva, Switzerland, 1987-1993); Associate Professor with tenure (France, School of Architecture of Saint-Etienne, 1993-2004; School of Architecture of Paris-La Villette, 2004-2009; School of Architecture of Paris-Malaquais, 2015-, currently on leave); Head of the Study Centre, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal, Canada (2002-2005); Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology (2009-2012); Vincent Scully Visiting Professor of Architectural History, Yale School of Architecture (2010-2014; 2017); Professor, the Bartlett, UCL (2014-); Professor, Die Angewandte, Vienna (2020-)
Lectureships and Visiting Professorships: University of Geneva (1994-1997); Cornell (1996, 2012), University of Copenhagen (1997), MIT (2002), Williams College (2004), Polytechnic of Milan (2007), Yale University (History of Art: 2008), Princeton School of Architecture (2013), etc.
Scholarships and Grants: Visiting Scholar, The Clark Art Institute (2000); Scholar in Residence, The Getty Research Institute (2000-01); Resident, American Academy in Rome (2004-05); Scholar in residence, Internationales Kolleg für Kulturtechnikforschung, Weimar (2011); Grantee, The Graham Foundation, Chicago (2013); Senior Fellow in Residence, National Gallery of Art, Washington (2014), Guggenheim Fellow (2022-23); etc.
Main publications (books): Metodo e ordini nella teoria architettonica dei primi moderni (Geneva: Droz, 1993), La maschera e il modello (Milan: Jaca Book, 1993), Architecture in the Age of Printing (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2001; also translated into other languages), Leon Battista Alberti’s Description of the City of Rome (co-authored; Geneva, Droz, 2000; Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 2007, also translated into other languages), Perspective, Projections and Design (co-edited; London: Routledge, 2007; also translated into other languages), Valerio Olgiati (co-authored; Cologne: Koenig, 2008); The Alphabet and the Algorithm (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2011; also translated into other languages); The Digital Turn in Architecture, 1992-2012 (Chichester: Wiley, 2012); The second Digital Turn: Design Beyond Intelligence (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2017); Beyond Digital. Design and Automation at the End of Modernity (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2023).
Recent articles and essays: Log, The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Grey Room, L’Architecture d’aujourd’hui, Arquitectura Viva, AD/Architectural Design, Perspecta, Harvard Design Magazine, Cornell Journal of Architecture, Abitare, Lotus International, Domus, Artforum, Casabella, Arch+, etc.