THE EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO ANOTHER DATE
The Italian Cultural Institute, in collaboration with ESAR – École Supérieure d’Architecture of Saint Joseph University of Beirut, is organizing a lecture by Architect Alessandro Melis entitled “Out of Time – Systemic Urban Regeneration, Community Resilience and AI-Driven Architecture in an Era of Global Crises.” A round table discussion will take place at the end of the lecture.
The lecture will be preceded by a screening of the film “The Pavilion of Possibilities” by Chiara Andich.
Abstract
We are no longer designing for stability. We are designing for turbulence.
This lecture explores how architecture and urban design can operate simultaneously at multiple scales, from policy frameworks and AI-driven systemic modeling to community-based micro-interventions, to build resilient cities in times of climate, social, and economic crisis.
Through the case of East Harlem, New York, the work moves from participatory community gardens to health-driven spatial design, demonstrating how grassroots engagement and environmental performance can converge. At the scale of territorial regeneration, the transformation of Peccioli illustrates how a landfill economy can become a cultural and architectural engine, turning waste into beauty through circular design strategies and material innovation for a model town. Post-hurricane recovery strategies developed through IDSS in Grenada and Dominica show how AI-assisted modeling and adaptive infrastructure can support long-term resilience beyond emergency response.
From the regeneration of Eindhoven, shifting from industrial justice to sustainable innovation ecosystems, to the environmental remediation of the South Bronx, including antiviral and anti-pollution façade systems, the lecture maps architecture as a tool for environmental health.
Finally, the transition from motorway-dominated landscapes to urban reconnection in Christchurch and Auckland demonstrates how infrastructure can be reclaimed as civic space.
Beyond digital intelligence, the talk introduces radical material and biological technologies, including the use of living organisms, bio-based composites, and research inspired by slime molds as models of decentralized, zero-carbon optimization. These bio-intelligent systems challenge conventional construction logics, proposing adaptive morphologies, resource-efficient networks, and carbon-neutral detailing as integral components of future urban strategies.
Across these cases, the talk proposes a dual approach: strategic, data-driven urban intelligence aligned with community resilience, where AI is not a generator of form, but an enabler of systemic adaptation, working in synergy with biological intelligence and regenerative material ecologies.
BIOGRAPHY
Alessandro Melis, architect, is the founding director of Heliopolis 21, with Gianluigi Melis and Nico Panizzi, an international architecture firm specialized in urban regeneration with offices in Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Mexico. His work has been documented in several monographs, including Heliopolis 21 (Skira, 2022) and Alessandro Melis. Utopic Real World (D Editore, 2021).
Among his most notable projects are the Stella Maris Hospital, Italy’s only facility dedicated exclusively to children neuro-pathologies, and the ongoing construction of the Trentino Fair. Alessandro holds the distinguished position of the first Endowed Chair Professor at the New York Institute of Technology.
In 2021, he was appointed curator of the Italian Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia by the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Since 2020, he has also served as an Ambassador of Italian Design for the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Melis has made significant contributions to research, as evidenced by over 200 publications, numerous citations in leading journals, and keynote lectures at prestigious institutions including the Royal Danish Academy, University of Cambridge, MoMA New York, the China Academy of Art, and TEDx.