Student Testimonials

In the environment of SOS4 I learnt the power of connections and synergies among people. I strongly believe that our goal, as designers, should be that of maximizing positive synergies in order to create something more powerful than just a sum of many. Building awareness and consciousness about sustainability, through dialogue, play a key role in our community.

The SOS - School of Sustainability experience was one of the most important challenges of my professional life: after a working experience in an engineering firm, I applied to SOS because I was still wondering what Sustainability - a word not always properly used - really meant to me. I was aware of Mario Cucinella expertise in environmental design, and of his worldwide leadership in this field. As an engineer I realized that the achievement of a holistic approach was crucial if I aimed at becoming a comprehensive technician able to taking care of people’s needs and environmental challenges in each design process, from the early stages of the conceptual phase. I recommend SOS post-graduate program to young ambitious architects and engineers that want to be prepared to present and future changes.

In 2019 I decided to apply to the School of Sustainability after five years of professional experience in global retail companies because I was lacking the match with my purpose and values. Working in a system that is primarily based on growth within a world of finite resources, I was questioning myself: Why am I doing this? For the consumer culture rooted in our society? But what are we leaving behind? Competition, stress, and an excessive use of primary resources. Thanks to SOS’s multidisciplinary program, that works in close collaboration with Mario Cucinella’s studio, the precious contribution of world-renowned experts as well as guest-lecturers and the collaboration with Institutions, I had the opportunity to build a strong knowledge for responding to present & future challenges. I learned new approaches and tools to interpret and tackle complexity, transforming problems in design opportunities. The final project for the “Architecture As a Social Business” Project Track”, which I had the opportunity to complete with a team of colleagues from my course, gave me the possibility to apply Circular Economy principles in practice within the urban context. In the end with the support and passion of all the team, we were able to turn our research project into reality by organizing a public event where all was built only with re-used and rented materials. We also used 3D printing to produce a set of furniture made with recycled raw materials.

After my Master Degree in Architecture, I was looking for something that could give me the opportunity to build the foundations of my professional career, with the aim of implementing the skills I had already acquired, focusing mainly on issues related to environment and sustainability. I applied to SOS because I finally found an innovative program based on integration between research, practice and education, where it was possible to access unique experiences such as site visits and workshops. All these elements together are the key to the SOS program's success. Working on real projects, supported by the expertise of MC A tutors and learning advanced modelling tools, allowed me to grow as a professional. Thanks to the experience at SOS I have been able to join an international firm such as ATI Project, where I currently work as an architect and environmental consultant, and where my approach integrates study on climate conditions and social challenges imposed by current scenarios to the design process.

The SOS-School of Sustainability represented for me the perfect mix between that education I felt I was missing as a recent graduate, and the vibrant context of an International and collaborative environment. Throughout my "journey" at SOS, I had the opportunity to improve my knowledge about Environmental Design, to conduct a research project in collaboration with MC A R&D Unit, and I encountered the unique chance to shape participatory design processes and learn the art of the "Active Listen" under the guide of the sociologist Marianella Sclavi. Moreover, the innovative approach brought by the course of “Design for Circular Economy” has raised the bar, allowing my colleagues and I to become more aware of the challenges our cities are facing today. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, I feel lucky to say that all those expertise concretely took shape in “KABOOM-Circular City Lab”, SOS#6 final experience of the Project Track “Architecture As a Social Business” : it was a live experimentation that combined Circular Economy and Community Engagement, which gave us the extraordinary possibility to light the spark of a real cultural shift in Bologna.

Since childhood, my family gave me the values ​​of attention to reduce, reuse and recycle waste, so I have always had a strong sensitivity towards environmental issues, convinced that doing my part was still a way, even if a small one, of making a positive contribution to the world in which we live. Deciding to participate at SOS#5, one year after my degree in Architecture, was an opportunity to realise that the approach I had pursued up to then was not enough, it had to change scale and become systemic. SOS made me think big, beyond the schemes of conventional Architecture; it made me understand how teamwork, proactivity, vision and innovative skills were the necessary means to really face these problems. SOS also gave me the practical tools for my profession suitable to approach projects at 360°. Moreover, thanks to a lively and stimulating environment, I was taught how to tackle the contemporary world’s challenges, while collaborating with national and international partners. At the end of my experience at SOS, I had the opportunity to collaborate with some important local realities such as the Fondazione Rusconi and the Iris Ceramica Group, one of SOS international partners, with whom I still collaborate.

After graduation, I started professional practice, finding a great distance between what I had studied and what the architecture industry offered regarding sustainability. I spent a year at the School of Sustainability because I needed to learn new tools to deal with work opportunities in a more innovative way. When I arrived in Bologna, I immediately realized that I was in a stimulating context where we dealt with issues concerning our society and environment. I found the program very dynamic and I was able to follow competent experts who provided classes, exercises and reviews on experimental projects. In particular, I appreciated the course “Design for Circular Economy'' and the Project Track “Architecture As a Social Business' where in particular we had the opportunity to focus on Circular Economy in the urban context, designing an exhibition pavilion in Bologna thanks to the support and supervision of MC A experts. This last experience confirmed my very first perception of “SOS - School of Sustainability'': I had been part of a multidisciplinary and collaborative hub where to tackle global challenges that cities, society and nature pose to the designers of the future.

I applied to SOS – School of Sustainability after attending a conference that Mario Cucinella Architects gave at my University. During the conference I realized that I could refer to their values and methods and I wouldn’t have missed the chance to improve my critical thinking related to environmental design and its wider applications. SOS post-graduate program fulfilled my expectations and helped me grow as a professional, by developing technical and communicational skills that I use every day. Right after the completion of the program, I was hired as intern at ARUP.

A comprehensive 10 months program with a practice based approach within the professional context of Mario Cucinella Architects, School of Sustainability gave me the opportunity to work on real projects for industrial partners such as IRIS Group, to collaborate with post-grad students from the Architectural Association in the UK and to contribute to the action carried on by NGOs such as Amani in their efforts to empower communities of the African continent. The final project was done in partnership with Fondazione Innovazione Urbana and allowed to develop new policies for the engagement of the community in the management of the public commons.

I decided to apply to School of Sustainability while I was searching for something that could offer an outlook to the future of the profession. SOS allowed me to discover a different approach to design within a broader understanding of the actions that need to be undertaken for achieving more sustainable outcomes. I learned how to deal with different climate conditions throughout the achievement of environmental knowledge and the application of specialized tools. SOS differs from other programs in giving the possibility to learn sustainability and environmental design while offering exposure to the professional setting of an architectural firm that puts environmental design at the base of its approach. SOS – School of Sustainability has been a great experience that I shared with other fourteen colleagues from architecture and engineering. At the completion of the program I had the possibility to work as a sustainable environmental consultant for different firms.