Francesco Proto is a chartered architect, design practitioner and an architectural historian and theorist with a diverse and extensive knowledge of history and theory of architecture, architectural philosophy, critical thinking and studio practice. He has a reputation as a leading theorist and historian, with a solid track record of excellence in research and teaching.
Francesco earned a Magna cum Laude degree (first class) in Architecture and Urban Design from the First University of Rome “Sapienza” (Parts I and II equivalent) and completed an MA in Architecture and Critical Theory from the University Nottingham with a dissertation entitled “Architecture and Simulation”, which focussed on the three developmental stages of Post-modern architecture and its transition towards super-iconization. His PhD in Architecture, Visual Culture and Social Sciences from the University of Nottingham, entitled “The Obscenity of Subjectivity”, investigated the ever-changing relationship between architecture and contemporary society. The thesis later developed into an interest in the ‘post-human’, a topic he has addressed in both his research and teaching.
A full member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, registered with the UK Architects’ Registration Board and the Italian Registration Board, Francesco has worked for Dominique Perrault in Paris, where he focused on international competitions and projects such as the London Olympics 2012, Donau City (Vienna), the Marinsky Theatre (St. Petersburg) and the transport exchange in Naples (Central Station, Piazza Garibaldi). He is also an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).
Francesco has either curated and/or participated in a number of exhibition such as “Italian Pop Art: 1960s Until Now” (University of Chieti), the 10th Venice Architecture Biennale, “Cities: People, Society, Architecture”, where he exhibited short films on urbanism entitled “Serial Townscapes I & II” for the cinematic exhibition “Other Visions” (2006), and, recently “The Post-human and Architecture” at the Lincoln ‘Frequency’ Digital Arts Festival (2015). He is also active in entering international architecture competitions. He recently submitted entries for three international ideas competitions - the ‘RIBA Journal Bull’s Eye Design Competition’ (2013), the ‘Berlin Natural History Museum’ (2014) and the ‘Costa Concordia Lighthouse Memorial’ (2015), all of which having received special Honourable Mentions.
Francesco has a sustained record of research and scholarly activity. After publishing his first book in 2006 - Mass Identity Architecture: Architectural Writings of Jean Baudrillard - he has contributed to a variety of specialist refereed journals and conference proceedings on architecture, psychoanalysis, philosophy and art. He has been a peer reviewer for the journals, National Identities (Taylor and Francis), Theory, Culture & Society (Routledge), The Journal of Architecture (Cambridge University Press), and a book reviewer for Ashgate Publishers. He is currently collaborating with the University of Paris IX ‘Nanterre’ and Columbia University in New York for the launch of the 2nd International Conference on Baudrillard Studies.
2016: Baudrillard for Architects (‘Thinkers for Architects’ series), Routledge.
2016: “Seducing God(s): The Ideal City as the Mirror Stage of Western Subjectivity” in Architecture and the Unconscious (John Hendrix and Lorens Holm, eds.), Ashgate.
2013: “Fatal Objects: Lacan in Baudrillard, Part 2 (The 3rd Simulation Stage: Post-modernity)”, The International Journal of Baudrillardian Studies, Vol. 10, No. 2.
2013: “The Subject & The City: A genealogy of Western Narcissism”, AHRC -10th International Conference on ‘Transgression’, Bristol.
2012: “Berlusconi & Other Hostages”, The Journal of Baudrillard Studies, Vol. 9, No. 3.
2011: “Architecture”, The Baudrillard Dictionary. Edinburgh: Yale University Press.
2011: “(In)Visible Cities”, International Symposium on Electronic Arts, Sabanci University, Istanbul.
2010: “On the future of Architecture”; Architecture and Communication conference, University of Lincoln.
2009: “That Old Thing Called Flexibility: An Interview with Robert Venturi” in “Theoretical Meltdown: New Trends in Art and Architecture”, AD – Architectural Design.
2007: “Italy Between Pragmatism & Theory”, in “Italy: A new Architectural Landscape, AD - Architectural Design.
2006: "The Pompidou Centre, or the Hidden Kernel of Dematerialization”, The Journal of Architecture, Vol. 10, No. 5.
2006: “Architecture and Desire”, 2nd International Congress on Transparency in Architecture, University of Thessaloniki, Greece. (Awarded best paper)
2006: “The Chemistry of the Leftovers: Architecture and Postmodernity”, 1st International Conference on Baudrillard Studies, Swansea University.
2006: Mass Identity Architecture: Architectural Writings of Jean Baudrillard. Wiley.
Nello Barile. The research interests of Nello Barile include sociology of media and communication, culture, fashion, and consumption. He has published numerous books, articles and short essays in Italy as well as in France, Germany, Brazil and USA. At the moment he is investigating the relationships between culture, power and emerging media.
He teaches media studies and sociology of cultural processes at IULM University of Milan, where he also coordinated a Master's program in Creativity Management for 6 years.
Publications.-
Barile, N. (2015). Branding the self in the age of emotional capitalism: The exploitation of prosumers, from the rhetoric of “double bind” to the hegemony of confession. LOGOS, 25.
Barile, N., & Sugiyama, S. (2015). The automation of taste: A theoretical exploration of mobile ICTs and social robots in the context of music consumption. International Journal of Social Robotics, 7(3), 407-416. DOI: 10.1007/s12369-015-0283-1
Barile, N. (2014) Brand Renzi. Anatomia del politico come marca, Milano: Egea.
Barile N. (2013) From the posthuman consumer to the ontobranding dimension: Geolocalization, augmented reality and emotional ontology as a radical redefinition of what is real. intervalla: platform for intellectual exchange, 1, 101-115
Barile N (2012). 1968- Jean Baudrillard. Il sistema degli oggetti. In: Mediologia. Una disciplina attraverso i suoi classici. p. 1-264, Napoli: Liguori.
Barile N (2012). A knot to untie: Social power, fetishism, communication in the social history of the tie. In C. Giorcelli and P. Rabinowitz (Eds.), Exchanging Clothes: Habits of Being II (pp. 193- 211), Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Abruzzese, A., Barile, N, Fortunati, L., Gebhardt, J, & Vincent, J. (Editors) (2012). The New Television Ecosystem. Frankfurt am Mein: Peter Lang.
Barile N (2011). Sistema moda: oggetti, strategie e simboli: dall'iperlusso alla società low cost. Milano: Egea.
Barile N (2010). Il posto del consumo: note sul rapporto tra marche e territorio in Italia e all'estero. In: Consumi e trasformazioni urbane tra anni Sessanta e Ottanta. pp. 29-61, Bologna: Bup.
Barile N (2010). Network come neotot: la socialità in rete e gli avamposti di un nuovo fascismo emozionale. AUT AUT, vol. 347, p. 77-91.
Barile N (2009). Brand new world: il consumo delle marche come forma di rappresentazione del mondo. vol. 1, p. 1-191, Milano: Lupetti.
Massimo Mazzone, (Marino, Rome, 1967) sculptor, numerous exhibitions in Europe and beyond, a member of the group of artists complot s.y.s.tem, and a professor of sculpture at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. He has organized several groups to work between art and architecture. Among his recent performances, projects, proposal and publications:
• Ex Polis
• 11. Biennale Venezia
• Edifici concettuali
◦ Post Lauream
◦ Città
• La Penisola degli Agnelli
• 10. Biennale Venezia
• Lezioni di pittura
• Ex Mattatoio
• Piazza Shopping Centre
• Worker Bee Cemetery
• Triennale Milano
• Casa dell'Architettura
• Fass Gallery
• L'altra Roma
• Torretta Valadier
Laura Cazzaniga (1981), currently living in Spain. She studied at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera-Milan with Luciano Fabro and attended Vito Acconci's studio. She collaborates since 2007 with gruppo Koinè and since 2009 with the multidisciplinary collective Escuela Moderna/Ateneo Libertario.
