Manfredo di Robilant

Manfredo di Robilant is an architect and associate professor of Architectural Design at the Polytechnic University of Turin, from which he holds a Ph.D. in History of Modern Architecture. He has been Research Associate to the 14th Venice architecture Biennale and Visiting Scholar at CCA Montréal. The core of his research is the relationship between utilitarian needs and symbolical values in architecture. On these topics he gave talks at Washington University in St. Louis, Institut für Kunstwissenschaft in Bremen, Strelka Moscow, Harvard GSD, Domus Academy, Milan Polytechnic, Tirana Polytechnic, Tu Delft.

Among his publications, the books dedicated to ceiling and window (Marsilio, 2014) for the 14th Venice architecture Biennale (with Rem Koolhaas, AMO, Harvard GSD), the essays “The Aestheticization of Mechanical Systems: Gio Ponti’s Montecatini Headquarters, Milan, 1936–39” in «JSAH», Vol. 77, 2, June 2018; “Gridding of the Sky. The Roof of the Neue Nationalgalerie”, in Neue Nationalgalerie. Mies van der Rohe’s Museum (Deutsche Kunstverlag, 2021); “Utility vs/and/or Symbol. The ceiling as an architectural litmus test” in «World Architecture», 393, 2023; “The Marginalization of the Visual in architectural Theory: Origins, Consequences, and Challenges” in «Limaq», 16, November 2025. He edited the book Gio Ponti: More Than One (Lars Müller, 2025, with Manuel Orazi).

Works by him has been published on «Dezeen», «Domusweb», «Architectural Record», «The Architects Newspaper», «Abitare».