Dr Silvia Micheli

Senior Lecturer in Architecture

Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology
s.micheli@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 53849
0413093623

Overview

Dr Silvia Micheli (BArch Politecnico di Milano; PhD, IUAV, Venice) is Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Program Convener of the Bachelor of Architectural Design. She joined The University of Queensland in 2012 after 5 year of teaching and research at the Politecnico di Milano.

Dr Micheli's design research is cross-disciplinary, with a strong focus on the urban environment and its resiliance. Her research investigates the notion of productive city and how small-scale productive projects can enhance livability and resilience in our communities. Her forthcoming co-authored book, House, Precinct and Territory: Design Strategies for the Productive City (ORO, 2024) discusses concrete scenarios for urban production. The book is the result of a research partnership with RMIT, UTS and PRAUD/Seoul. Dr Micheli is cuncurrently studing new forms of urban horticulture and farming to increase food production and foster circular economy in the city. In 2021, Silvia co-designed the Blue Bower Pavilion, receipient of the Crossroads Prize at the 2021 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism as a manifesto of urban resilience during COVID19. In 2018, Silvia's co-designed the multi-awarded residential building One Room Tower, a demonstration project for the densification of the city.

Dr Micheli is currently co-curator of the fothcoming exhibition on the work of AIA gold medallist Enrico Taglietti, in partnership with the Canberra Museum and Gallery. This exciting collaboration is underpinned by her knowledge and experitise on cultural transfer and the related notion of the global architect built through her publications. These includes her new critical co-authored book on the mechanism of cultural production and translation in late 20th century, Paolo Portoghesi: Architecture between History, Politics and Media (Boomsbury, 2023); the co-edited volume Italy/Australia: Postmodern Architecture in Translation (Melbourne, 2018), that reflects on the influence of Italian design culture on Australian architecture; her study on the impact of Aalto in Australia and Japan that was presented at the 2021 DOCOMOMO conference in Tokyo; the co-edited book Aalto beyond Finland: Buildings, Projects and Network (Helsinki, 2018), which explores the global reach of the work of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto and her contribution to the 2014 travelling exhibition catalogue Alvar Aalto: Second Nature, Vitra, with an essay on the impact of Italian urban culture on Aalto design approach.

Contextually, Silvia has also co-authored the book Storia dell’architettura italiana 1985–2015 (Turin, 2013), which reflects on the mechanisms of architectural production in contemporary Italy; co-edited the volume Italia 60/70. Una stagione dell’architettura (Padua, 2010); solo-authored the volume Erik Bryggman 1891–1955. Architettura Moderna in Finlandia (Rome, 2009). Her first co-authored book, published in when she was a graduate student, Lo spettacolo dell'Architettura: Profilo dell'Archistar, looks at the power of media in the making of design culture.

Dr Micheli has a range of international collaborations with cultural institutions, such as the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, Triennale di Milano, Centre Pompidou, MAXXI Museum , Alvar Aalto Foundation and Vitra Design Museum. She has also liaised with prestigious academic institutions, including Seoul National University, Berlage Institute, Politecnico di Milano and University of Manchester. In 2019, Dr Micheli was Visiting Professor at the School of Art and Design at the Guangdong University of Technology, China.

Since 2016, Dr Micheli has assisted ADP to secure DFAT funding to foster UQ students mobility in the Asia Pacific Region, liaising with international academic and industry partners in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Singapore, Hong Kong and Seoul.

Dr Silvia Micheli is a registered architect (Board of Architects, Lecco, Italy) and member of the editorial board of the Springer book series Transnational Histories of Design Cultures and Production.

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Research Interests

  • Urban farming and agritecture
    Looking at urban farming in Australia and related design strategies to improve domestic production.
  • Productive City
    House as a place of production; Working from home: Spaces and urban implications; Production and mobility
  • Italian Architecture
    Postmodern and contemporary Italian architecture; interaction of politics, media and architecture.
  • Modern Finnish Architecture
    I am interested in how Finnish modern architecture has travelled across and beyond Finland and which cultural vehicles have allowed for Finnish design to spread abrod.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy

Publications

View all Publications

Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

  • Doctor Philosophy

  • Doctor Philosophy

View all Supervision

Publications

Book

Book Chapter

  • Micheli, Silvia and Paine, Ashley (2022). Inside becomes outside: Queensland’s domestic landscape. The new Queensland house. (pp. 12-19) edited by Cameron Bruhn and Katelin Butler. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Thames & Hudson.

  • Micheli, Silvia and Ciccarelli, Lorenzo (2022). The International call: Italian design, culture, politics, and economics at the 1972 MoMA exhibition and beyond. Italian imprints on twentieth-century architecture. (pp. 207-220) edited by Denise Costanzo and Andrew Leach. London, United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Visual Arts. doi: 10.5040/9781350257757.ch-016

  • Micheli, Silvia (2018). Alessandro Mendini, Domus and the postmodern vision (1979–1985). Mediated messages: periodicals, exhibitions and the shaping of postmodern architecture. (pp. 115-133) edited by Véronique Patteeuw and Léa-Catherine Szacka. London, United Kingdom: Bloomsbury. doi: 10.5040/9781350046207.ch-007

  • Baracco, Mauro, Macarthur, John and Micheli, Silvia (2018). Between La Tendenza and neoliberty: Mauro Baracco goes to Australia. Italy/Australia: postmodernism in translation. (pp. 180-192) edited by Silvia Micheli and John Macarthur. Melbourne, VIC Australia: Uro Publications.

  • Micheli, Silvia (2018). Ciao Australia: Domus looks to the antipodes. Italy/Australia: Italian postmodern architecture in translation. (pp. 36-46) edited by Silvia Micheli and John Macarthur. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Uro Publications.

  • McDougall, Ian, Macarthur, John and Micheli, Silvia (2018). Culture mining: Ian McDougall in conversation with John Macarthur and Silvia Micheli. Italy/Australia: postmodern architecture in translation. (pp. 164-171) edited by Silvia Micheli and John Macarthur. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Uro.

  • Micheli, Silvia and Macarthur, John (2018). Thinking Italian in postmodern Australia. Italy/Australia: postmodern architecture in translation. (pp. 6-10) edited by Silvia Micheli and John Macarthur. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Uro.

  • Addison, Rex, Micheli, Silvia and Macarthur, John (2018). Thinking about Gino Valle and a few others in my small pool: Rex Addison in conversation with Silvia Micheli and John Macarthur. Italy/Australia: postmodern architecture in translation. (pp. 172-179) edited by Silvia Micheli and John Macarthur. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Uro Publications.

  • Micheli, Silvia (2018). “I am Brunelleschi”: Aalto’s Fever for the Mediterranean. Aalto beyond Finland: Projects, Buildings, Networks. (pp. 62-75) edited by Esa Laaksonen and Silvia Micheli. Helsinki, Finland: Rakennustieto Publishing.

  • Micheli, Silvia and Szacka, Léa-Catherine (2017). Paolo Portoghesi and the postmodern project. Re-framing identities: architecture's turn to history, 1970–1990. (pp. 179-189) edited by Ákos Moravánszky and Torsten Lange. Basel, Switzerland: Birkäuser.

  • Micheli, Silvia and Szacka, Léa-Catherine (2017). Paolo Portoghesi and the postmodern project. Re-framing identities: architecture's turn to history, 1970-1990 . (pp. 179-189) edited by Ákos Moravánszky and Torsten Lange. Basil, Switzerland: Birkhäuser. doi: 10.1515/9783035608151-012

  • Micheli, Silvia (2015). Between history and design: the Baroque legacy in the work of Paolo Portoghesi. The Baroque in architectural culture, 1880-1980. (pp. 195-210) edited by Andrew Leach, John Macarthur and Maarten Delbeke. Farnsworth, United Kingdom: Ashgate.

  • Micheli, Silvia and Wilson, Andrew C. (2015). International influences in post-war Queensland: protagonists, destinations and models. Hot modernism: Queensland architecture 1945-1975. (pp. 117-133) edited by John P. Macarthur, Deborah van der Plaat, Janina Gosseye and Andrew Wilson. London, United Kingdom: Artifice.

  • Micheli, Silvia (2014). Alvar Aalto and Italy: A relationship of exchange. Alvar Aalto: Second Nature. (pp. 316-337) edited by Jochen Eisenbrand, Mateo Kries and Alvar Aalto. Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.

  • Micheli, Silvia (2012). Architecture Italienne: Années 1960 et 1970. La tendenza: Architectures Italiennes 1965 -1985. (pp. 81-89) edited by Frédéric Migayrou. Paris, France: Centre Pompidou.

  • Micheli, Silvia (2012). Biennale di architettura di Venezia. Architettura del novecento - Teorie, scuole, eventi. (pp. 99-106) edited by Marco Biraghi and Alberto Ferlenga. Torino, Italy: Giulio Einaudi Editore.

  • Micheli, Silvia (2012). Genius loci di Christian Norberg-Schulz. Architettura del novecento - teorie, scuole, eventi. (pp. 390-394) edited by Marco Biraghi and Alberto Ferlenga. Torino, Italy: Giulio Einaudi Editore.

  • Micheli, Silvia (2010). Baukuh. Una idea di architettura. MMX: Architettura zona critica. (pp. 185-193) edited by Marco Biraghi, Gabriella Lo Ricco, Silvia Micheli and GIZMO (Research group). Rovereto, Italy: Zandonai.

  • Micheli, Silvia (2010). L'Altra sede. Verso una nuova identita' milanese. MMX Architettura zona critica. (pp. 90-95) edited by Marco Biraghi, Gabriella Lo Ricco and Silvia Micheli. Rovereto, Italy: Zandonai.

  • Micheli, Silvia (2010). La cultura architettonica Italiana: Una generazione "contro". Italia 60/70. Una stagione dell’architettura. (pp. 15-30) edited by Marco Biraghi, Gabriella Lo Ricco, Silvia Micheli and Mario Viganò. Padova, Italy: Il Poligrafo.

  • Micheli, Silvia (2010). Le riviste Italiane di architettura: Il luogo logico del dibattito architettonico. Italia 60/70: Una stagione dell'architettura. (pp. 125-138) edited by Marco Biraghi, Gabriella Lo Ricco, Silvia Micheli and Mario Vigano. Padova: Il Poligrafo.

  • Micheli, Silvia (2009). Un pensiero in continua evoluzione. Editoriali di architettura. (pp. XIII-XVII) edited by Gabriella Lo Ricco and Mario Vigano. Rovereto, Italy: Zandonai.

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

  • Kaji-O'Grady, Sandra and Micheli, Silvia (2019). Rivers and waterfronts. 2019 Seoul biennale of architecture and urbanism: Collective city. (pp. 263-265) Seoul, South Korea: Seoul Metropolitan Government.

  • phorm architecture + design, Micheli, Silvia and Moulis, Antony (2018). One Room Tower. Brisbane, Australia: Phorm Architecture.

  • GIZMO, Biraghi, Marco, Lo Ricco, Gabriella and Micheli, Silvia (2011). L'architettura che ti piace / the architecture you like©. Rome, Italy: MAXXI: Museo nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo.

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Master Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: