The scarcity of resources and impelling due to climate change, requires the architecture and construction sector to (re)establish the value given to systems and components across life cycles. This shift gives more importance to careful use of the materials, reversibility, and hybridization of the systems.
This talk explores the development of systems from the scale of connections to the scale of large buildings, that challenge conventional linear approaches to construction and promote design strategies grounded in disassembly, adaptability, and circularity.
Drawing on research, teaching, and built work developed over the years, the presentation traces a trajectory of investigations into reversible assemblies, material-efficient structural systems, advanced manufacturing processes, and hybrid construction approaches that enable components to retain value beyond a single use cycle. Through a series of prototypes, experimental structures, and building-scale applications, the talk demonstrates how design for disassembly can become a generative architectural principle rather than a technical afterthought.
By reflecting on lessons learned through research, teaching, and practice, the talk argues for a broader understanding of circular architecture: one that combines resource stewardship, advanced manufacturing, technological innovation, and architectural quality.
Ornella Iuorio is Associate Professor of Architectural Engineering at Politecnico di Milano in Italy. Graduated in Architecture from University of Naples Federico II, with a PhD in “Design, Analysis and Experimentation of Structures” and following a Postdoc at MIT, She has been Full Professor and Chair in Architecture and Structures at the University of Leeds in UK. She is currently leading the “thin Architecture and Structures Lab” (AS_Lab) at Politecnico di Milano and is Vice President of the International Association on Structures and Architecture (IASA). In her work, She explores the opportunities offered by computational design, lightweight prefab and advanced manufacturing to develop construction systems that are resilient, low carbon and circular.
