24-h

Earlier tonight I returned from a 24-hour trip to Ispra (a small town near Varese in Northern Italy). The location is wonderful, lying on the east shore of lake Maggiore, and fully immersed in green.
Although it was a business trip, I had the opportunity to stroll around the lake and the town-center.
My visit to the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Union stressed my positive opinion even more.

The lake Maggiore dock in Ispra

The lake Maggiore dock in Ispra

Lake view

Lake view

Night view of the lakeside

The best (and only) aperitivo in the premises  

The hotel where I spent the night - “The Lobster” movie renders the idea

Hotel Europa

Tourist port

(on) DCEE 2016

On October 6-8, I co-chaired the 5th International Workshop in Design in Civil and Environmental Engineering (DCEE 2016), which was held in the Faculty of Engineering of the Sapienza University of Rome.

My involvement with the DCEE workshops dates back to 2014 and the third edition held in Copenhagen (where I sent two papers based on the Master Theses of two students) and 2015 in Taipei (where I participated myself presenting two papers).

The workshop scientific program included 18 presentations (divided in 6 sessions) and 2 plenary lectures on design methodology and education, and on the role of the interdisciplinarity in the design process.

Participation on the 1st day

Participation on the 2nd day

2nd day plenary

Participation on the 2nd day

The workshop also included two guided tours. The first tour at the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana known also as the Colosseo Quadrato (Square Colosseum), an icon of Modern Architecture, nowadays housing the luxury fashion label Fendi. 

At the rooftop of the Square Colosseum  

The second tour focused on ancient Rome, and on recent and extraordinary findings in the north-eastern area of the Palatine Hill archaeological site.

The Colosseum (left) and the Arch of Constantine (right)

Inside the excavation site

On the last day

In total, over 30 people took part during the 3 days of the workshop, and exchanged ideas on their topics of research.

Group photo