Biography
Born in Palermo, Mario Cucinella (1960) is an Italian architect, designer and academic, particularly renowned for his environmentally sustainable buildings.Graduating from Genoa with Giancarlo De Carlo in 1986, in subsequent years he worked with Renzo Piano in his Building Workshop in Genoa and Paris. He founded his own practice, Mario Cucinella Architects (MCA), in Paris in 1992 followed by Bologna in 1999.
MCA now has a team of 90 professionals with a variety of expertise, including architectural, engineering, urban and regional planning, and industrial design. The practice’s mission is to create projects with a reduced environmental impact in an ongoing attempt to conserve energy.
Using the most innovative technology, combined with environmental sustainability, ethical behavior and positive social impact, buildings such as the Sino Italian Ecological Building (SIEEB), Beijing, Center for Sustainable Energy Technologies in Ningbo (China), new Town Hall, Bologna, 3M headquarters in Milan, project for ARPA (regional environmental agency) in Ferrara, “La Balena” nursery school, Guastalla which replaced the public nursery school damaged in the 2012 earthquake, and One Airport Square in Accra, a mixed-use building located in a commercial area under development.
"Holistic design, sustainability applied to the building and rational use of resources is at the heart of Cucinella’s work and research. All his projects point to the long-term positive impact each building should have on its surroundings and natural, social, economic and urban regeneration. Working side by side with clients and communities, Cucinella has always adopted architectural concepts which convey the beauty, richness and resources of local cultures.”
Projects under construction include the University Center in Aosta, with the renovation and transformation of a former barracks totaling over 56,000 sq.m., new “Sud Salento” hospital in Maglie, City of Health and Research, Sesto San Giovanni, and new surgical and accident and emergency center, I.R.C.C.S., S. Raffaele Hospital, Milan.
Two iconic buildings are under construction in Algeria, ARPT (Post and Telecommunications authority), inspired by the "Algerian desert landscape where dunes appear like natural buildings, shaped by the wind and sand", and University Hospital Center, where the "physical and visual are integrated in green areas and areas for patients and visitors(...) promoting humanization and environmental control", referencing traditional care spaces in Islamic culture.
With the aim of developing and disseminating architectural principles aimed at respecting the environment, in 2012 Cucinella founded Building Green Futures, a non-profit organization which combines environmental research and technology in developing countries.
In 2015, Cucinella also founded SOS - School of Sustainability, a post-graduate academy “focused on the application of sustainable architecture, from urban to production, development to advanced communities, integrating education, research and practice in a multi-disciplinary context.
His work has frequently been the subject of specialist journals and numerous exhibitions. In 2008 he exhibited his “Casa 100k” research project in the Italian Hall at the Venice Biennale, in 2010 he took part in the Washington RETECH Renewable Energy Technology Conference and Exhibition, and in 2013 he took part in the 10th Architecture Biennale in Sao Paulo, Brazil in the “public spaces” section with the Masterplan San Berillo, Catania.
In 2018 Mario Cucinella was curator of "Arcipelago Italia” in the Italian Hall at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale and in 2019 launched Mario Cucinella Design and the Building Objects collection inspired by his architecture projects.
As a teacher and guest professor, since the end of the Eighties Cucinella has lectured in several universities, including Ferrara Faculty of Architecture, Universities of Nottingham and Monaco, IED, Turin, and Federico II University, Naples.
His prestigious awards include International Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects (2016) and Honorary Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects (2017).
Mario Cucinella selected works and projects
- Nuovo Ospedale del Sud Salento (progetto), Maglie, Lecce (Italia), 2019 - in corso
- Centro Socio Sanitario di San Felice sul Panaro, Modena (Italia), 2019
- Nuovo polo scolastico Campus Kid (progetto), San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna (Italia), 2018 - in corso
- ARPAE Agenzia Regionale per l’Ambiente e l’Energia, Ferrara (Italia), 2018
- Scuola di Danza Reggiolo, Reggio Emilia (Italia), 2018
- Casa Della Musica di Pieve di Cento, Bologna (Italia), 2017
- Nuova sede direzionale COIMA, Milano (Italia), 2017
- Centro Ricreativo “Hub Oltrepò Mantovano” di Quistello, Mantova (Italia), 2017
- Centro Polifunzionale di Arte e Cultura a Bondeno, Ferrara (Italia), 2017
- Centro Arti e Scienze Golinelli, Bologna (Italia), 2016
- Edificio multifunzionale One airport square, Accra (Ghana), 2015
- GreenHouse-Deloitte, Milano (Italia), 2015
- Nido d’Infanzia “La Balena”, Guastalla, Reggio Emilia (Italia), 2015
- Centro Universitario Ospedaliero, Algeri (Algeria), 2014 - in corso
- Palazzo delle Poste - ARPT, Algeri (Algeria), 2013 - in corso
- Edifici scolastici temporanei Mantovani e Gonelli, Mirabello, Ferrara (Italia), 2012
- Edificio per uffici Parallelo, Milano (Italia), 2012
- Centro polifunzionale per l’infanzia Terra dei Bambini, Um al Nasser, Striscia di Gaza, 2012
- Nuova sede direzionali ed uffici 3M Italia, Pioltello , Milano (Italia), 2010
- CSET – Centro per le tecnologie energetiche sostenibili, Ningbo (Cina), 2008
- Edificio multifunzionale Centro Forum, Rimini (Italia), 2008
- Nuova sede degli uffici del Comune di Bologna (Italia), 2008
- SIEEB – Sino-Italian Ecological and Energy Efficient Building per Tsinghua University, Pechino (Cina), 2006
- Edificio per uffici Focchi Spa, Poggio Berni (Rimini), 2005
- Recupero e rifunzionalizzazione di edificio ad uso misto Casa di Bianco, Cremona (Italia), 2005
- Nuova sede Uniflair Industries Spa, Conselve, Padova (Italia), 2004
- Ristrutturazione di un edificio per uffici Bergognone 53, Milano (Italia), 2004
- eBO, Exhibition pavilion on projects for the city, Bologna (Italia), 2003
- Otranto Maritime Station, Otranto (Italia), 2001
- Paris Metro, Villejuif -Leo Lagrange metro station, Parigi (Francia), 2000
- iGuizzini, Historical Museum of the iGuzzini lighting, Recanati (Italia), 1997
- Ispra Renovation of Building No. 8 IspraEco Centre, Ispra (VA), (Italia), 1996
Official website:
www.mcarchitects.it
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