Marco Falsetti

Architect and PhD, is Assistant Professor at the University of Naples Federico II.

His work explores the role of masters in the formation of architectural thought and the identity-defining nature of architecture, tracing the trends that shaped the formal codes of Modernism, particularly in the postwar period.

From 2016 to 2022 he has been Adjunct Professor and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Architecture and Design (University of Rome “Sapienza”).

 In November 2023 he was Invited Guest Professor at Texas A&M University and in 2024 Visiting Researcher at the Architectural Archives University of Pennsylvania - Stuart Weitzman School of Design and Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Since 2019 he is member of the International Editorial Board of JAU - Journal of Architecture and Urbanism (published by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University) and of the Editorial Board of SEEJAD - South East European Journal of Architecture and Design, (Scientific Foundation SPIROSKI, Republic of Macedonia). He is also Publishing Editor of HPA - Histories of Postwar Architecture (published by the Department of Architecture - University of Bologna) and member of the Editorial Board of SPATIUM, the scientific journal of the Institute of Architecture and Urban&Spatial Planning of Serbia (IAUS). 

Member of the Order of Architects, Rome Chapter, in 2015 he founded with Giusi Ciotoli the architectural firm Volos Atelier that received awards and recognitions.

He participated as keynote speaker and curator at numerous national and international conferences (Swiss Cultural Institute, MAXXI Rome, Japan Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2020, Milan Triennale, Ateneo Veneto, Macedonia Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2025, Accademia di San Luca in Rome). His works and drawings have also been exhibited at the National Institute of Design, the Faculty of Architecture of Rome, the Politecnico di Milano and the Institute for Mediterranean Architecture.

He is the author of numerous publications, including several books, essays, and articles. Among them: Roma e l'eredità di Louis I. Kahn (FrancoAngeli 2014, with E. Barizza), Knottings. The specialization of urban fabrics in the formative process and in the project (FrancoAngeli 2017) and Rome and the legacy of Louis I. Kahn (Routledge 2018) that examined the relationship between the Estonian-American master and the city of Rome, whose ancient ruins inspired in him a new design methodology.

He is member of several international scientific societies and associations (ISUF-International Seminar on Urban Form, SAH - Society of Architectural Historians, SAHGB, AISU Italian Urban History Association, Respatrimoni - Réseau des chercheurs sur les patrimonialisations etc).

Because of the experience gained in his studies of urban phenomena and the relationship with the built heritage, since 2018 he was appointed among the experts of the Level II postgraduate Master's degree in "HERITAGE CULTURES. Knowledge, protection, valorisation, management" and the Level II postgraduate Master's degree "OPEN. Landscape Architecture", both at the Department of Architecture of the University of RomaTre.

In 2021, he published the book Kenzo Tange. The years of the formal revolution 1940-1970 (FrancoAngeli with G. Ciotoli), which enjoyed the patronage of the Italy-Japan Foundation and DoCoMoMo Italy. The volume was officially presented at the Japan Pavilion of the 17th Venice Biennale and the Milan Triennale, and won the second place for the Engineering and Architecture category at the Italian National Prize for Scientific Dissemination 2021. In the same year he was CO-PI of the Scientific Research “Architecture in the Baltic States”, which had the patronage of the Embassies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in Italy.

In 2023 he was co-curator (with L. Altarelli) of the doctoral seminar programme: Modernity of Ruins: Design and Project, dedicated to the values of ruins in modern language and their expressive possibilities within the design studio (University of Rome ‘Sapienza’).

In the same year, he edited two books: Gaetano Rapisardi: Architect 1893–1988 (Campisano Editore) and Louis I. Kahn. Thoughts on Architecture: Writings 1931–1974 (Einaudi). The latter represents the most comprehensive anthology of Kahn’s writings in Italian and was produced in collaboration with the Architectural Archives – Stuart Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania. Louis I. Kahn. Thoughts on Architecture: Writings 1931–1974 was awarded second place in the Engineering and Architecture category at the Italian National Prize for Scientific Dissemination 2024.