Biography

A/Prof Alberto Pugnale is an architect and Associate Professor (Level D) in Architectural Design at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning of The University of Melbourne. He is the Co-Director of the Advanced Digital Design + Fabrication (ADD+F) Research Hub.

He is an expert in computational design and optimisation workflows, including AI-based design methodologies and the digital reinterpretation and analysis of historical precedents, dissecting all aspects of architectural design, from concept development to construction technology. His work is positioned at the intersection between theory and practice: it spans from designing to making and testing prototypes of architectural and structural systems to minimise resource use or tackle specific environmental issues. He has made significant contributions to construction history, investigating how innovation in construction and experimenting with automated fabrication methods impact design and the environment. He is passionate about testing emerging pedagogies for integrating technical knowledge in architectural education.

In 2007, he won the IASS HANGAI Prize, an international contest for research papers related to shell and spatial structures for young researchers under 30. In 2008, he won a research scholarship granted by the ISI Foundation, Lagrange Project (Turin, Italy), related to the study of complex architectural and structural bodies. During the same year, he won the 3rd prize at the IABSE Photo Contest of Structures, an international competition of photos that exhibit the achievement/art of structural engineering, with the picture of the 'Jorge Manrique' footbridge, in Murcia, Spain. In 2023, he received the IASS Tsuboi Award for the most meritorious paper published in the Journal of the IASS in the preceding calendar year. In 2023 and 2024, he won the first prize in the IASS Design Competitions of innovative structures. From 2010 to 2012, he was Assistant Professor at Aalborg University, Denmark. He has been an invited lecturer in Italy, France, Switzerland, China, Mexico and the United States.

He is a member of the ‘International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures’ (IASS) and the ‘Society of Architectural Historians Australia and New Zealand’ (SAHANZ). He is also a reviewer for international journals and a member of the Editorial Board of the “Nexus Network Journal” and the “International Journal of Space Structures”.