On 16 February 2026, the conference Upcycling Architecture in Italy. Smontare, riutilizzare, costruire took place in Rome at OAR (Ordine degli Architetti Pianificatori Paesaggisti e Conservatori di Roma e provincia), as part of Contemporanea – Contaminazioni, the cultural programme of Casa dell’Architettura.

The event was promoted by the Ordine degli Architetti PPC di Roma e provincia. The conference was curated by Alberto Bologna (Sapienza Università di Roma) and Ilaria Giannetti (Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata), scientifically coordinated by Federica Morgia, and opened with greetings by Claudia Ricciardi, Director of Casa dell’Architettura.

The conference introduced the themes of upcycling and Design for Disassembly in post-war Italian architecture through historical research, case studies, and design experiments. The aim was to demonstrate how material reuse and reinterpretation can generate new value by integrating history, theory, and contemporary circular practices to produce high-quality architecture.

The event formed part of the dissemination activities of the PRIN PNRR 2022 research programme and was recognised as a training initiative for architects and students. Professional training credits were granted to registered architects as well as to students of Architecture and Engineering.

During the conference, two exhibitions were inaugurated:

Field Research | Best Practices
Cinque architetture-manifesto dell’upcycling in Danimarca

Curated by: Alberto Bologna; Roberto Germanò

Data Mining
Principi di proto-design for disassembly nei brevetti del secondo Novecento

Curated by: Alberto Bologna; Emanuela Fiorletta; Roberto Germanò; Ilaria Giannetti; Giulia Sergi

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The programme was structured into three sessions:

Sessione 1 – Fonti, archivi e genealogie del Design for Disassembly
Introduced by: Ilaria Giannetti
Contributions: Emanuela Fiorletta; Roberto Germanò; Giulia Sergi; Giulio Minuto
Conclusions: Antonella Falzetti

Sessione 2 – Verso l’upcycling
Introduced by: Alberto Bologna
Contributions: Giulia Famiglietti; Carlo Vannini; Cristian Tolù; Francesco Tajani; Giuseppe Cerullo
Conclusions: Serena Baiani

Sessione 3 – Progetti e pratiche di upcycling nell’architettura italiana
Introduced by: Gabriele Neri
Contributions: Giulio Minuto; Roberto Germanò; Paola Altamura
Conclusions: Filippo De Dominicis

L’upcycling come progetto di qualità: smontare per costruire. Il confronto alla Casa dell’Architettura