A portrait of Sergio Pascolo in his studio in Venice.
Sergio Pascolo, graduated from the IUAV University of Architecture in Venice, having studied under leading figures such as Manfredo Tafuri, Gino Valle, and Vittorio Gregotti. After graduating he worked with Gregotti Associati in Milan (1985-1993) designing as project leader, among many others, the Centro Cultural de Belém project in Lisbon.
Architect and urban designer, he has designed and built in Italy, Portugal, China, Africa, and Germany, where he received the Zukunft Wohnen Architekturpreis (Future living Award) and the German Design Award Special for a social housing complex that the Federal Government chose as the flagship example of its national initiative on affordable housing.
He teaches Architectural and Urban Design at the Politecnico of Turin and at the IUAV University of Venice and gives lectures, seminars, and workshops at universities at Politecnico of Milan, University of Florence, University Federico II of Naples, University of Trieste, University La Sapienza of Rome, University of Palermo, University of Parma, University of Innsbruck, HCU Hafencity Universität Hamburg, TU München.
Sergio Pascolo worked in Milan at the Gregotti Associati practice on the competition entry for the Centro Cultural de Belém and subsequently on the final design and working drawings at the Lisbon office of the Gregotti Associati|Risco consortium, right through to the construction phase.
His research into the urban future has led him to work at the scale of the city participating in international competitions for major urban projects, with his team in the practice, such as Hamburg’s HafenCity and the Bicocca Center in Milan, as coordinator of a team of researcher at Iuav University for the Greater Helsinki Vision 2050, with international partners the project for an institutional headquarters in Addis Ababa, leading a team of experts for a research project for Abu Dhabi’s 2030 development plan.
From 2012 to 2018, as a member of the Committee for Architectural Culture and Landscape of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, he advised on the quality and landscape integration of nearly six hundred projects.
He has exhibited his work at the Italian Cultural Institute in Hamburg and at Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University (XJTLU) in Suzhou, China.
Having lived in Milan, Lisbon, and Hamburg, he chose to settle in Venice in 2006, where his studio occupies the space that once housed Carlo Scarpa’s practice. Venice, a fragile city facing challenges that call into question its very existence as an inhabited city, has become a paradigmatic object of his research in design studios at IUAV, the subject of his reflections and proposals in the books “Abitando Venezia” and “Venezia Secolo Ventuno. Visions and Strategies for a Sustainable Renaissance”, and the reason behind the founding of Venice Urban Lab, a civic association that involves citizens in processes of urban transformation.
Sergio Pascolo and Vittorio Gregotti
Sergio Pascolo with Clemens F. Kusch and the curators of the German Pavilion, Arno Brandlhuber and Olaf Grawert during Olaf Scholz's visit to the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021.
Committee for Architectural Culture and Landscape.
Sergio Pascolo at the Panel discussion with Giulia Foscari and Louisa Hutton at the German Centre of Venetian Studies.
Sergio Pascolo with Pierre Alain Croset at the opening of the "Total Housing" exhibition, showcasing Sergio Pascolo Architects' projects and research. XJTLU University, Suzhou, China.
Sergio Pascolo with Nicola di Battista, director of Domus
Sergio Pascolo and Vittorio Gregotti
Sergio Pascolo with Adriano Oggiano, Sonja Gasparin and Dieter Jüngling at Landesbeirat Bozen
Sergio Pascolo with Reiner Nagel, President of the German Federal Foundation of Baukultur, during the biennial International Baukultur Days in Venice.
Sergio Pascolo with Jo Cohen, curator of IBA Parkstad at Palazzo Querini Stampalia, Venice.
TEACHING
Over the course of more than 20 years of teaching in the master’s degree first at the Polytechnic of Turin (2003-05) and then at the Iuav University of Venice Pascolo has directed numerous architectural and urban design workshops.
As a practicing professor, his commitment to teaching has always been conceived as the transfer of experience gained from design practice. Given that this is constantly evolving and requires ongoing research, it follows that Design, Teaching and Research are intertwined and interconnected within a circular continuum.
As a thesis supervisor, he has guided a series of dissertations dedicated to architecture for the city investigating both the complexity of the system and the potential of architecture for transformation by fragments of the existing.
In addition to design workshops on case studies in Venice, Mestre, Palermo, Padua, Gorizia, Trento, Rovereto and individual theses on Milan, Mantua Berlin, and Hong Kong, he directed a group of coordinated theses called Future City Lab (Urban regeneration projects in Verona, Ravenna, Bologna, Padova, Bolzano) and a group of coordinated theses called WaVe – Water Venice on the sustainable development of the Venice metropolitan system.
CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
Lectures and conferences
Sergio Pascolo regularly delivers public talks, lectures and presentations on specific topics
relating to architecture, Baukultur, the New European Bauhaus movement and urban development, to inform, educate and inspire the public:
Universities
- Bauhaus University Weimar
- Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Art
- HCU Hafencity Universität Hamburg
- Wiesbaden University of Applied Sciences and Art
- TUM München
- University of Innsbruck
- Universidade Limeira (Brazil)
- Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou (China)
- Politecnico di Milano
- Politecnico di Torino
- Università Iuav di Venezia
- Università degli Studi di Firenze
- Università degli Studi di Napoli
- Università degli Studi di Trieste
- Università di Udine
- Università La Sapienza di Roma
- Università degli Studi di Palermo
- Università di Parma
- Università di Sassari
- Libera Università di Bolzano
Others institutions
- Bundesstiftung Baukultur Potsdam
- Architektenkammer Hannover
- Freie Hansestadt Stadt Bremen
- Stadt Göttingen
- Wdw Hannover
- Theatre Engineering Conference London
- Jourmala days of architecture
- Regione Emilia Romagna
- Consolato Generale Svizzera Venezia
- Biennale di Venezia
- Ateneo Veneto
- Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere e Arti
- EURAC Bolzano
- Rivista Ottagono
- Forum Perspecta The Plan
- Climathon
- Oappc Venezia
- Oappc Treviso
- Oappc Bolzano
- Comune di Vione
- Comune di Trento
Participation on juries for architectural competitions and awards
2024 – Preisgericht Quartierseingang Grüne Mitte Ebertal, Göttingen, Member of the Jury
2021 – Architektoniches Gutachterverfahren in Göttingen – Member of the Jury
2020 – Competition New central core of Laives (BZ) -Member of Jury
2019 – Marcello D’Olivo Prize, Udine – Member of Jury
2016 – Competition Re-Quality Carrè (VI) – Member of the Jury
2011 – Multifunctional centre competition in Sappada – President of the Jury
2008 – Arch&Stone Architecture Prize, Botticino (BS) – Member of the Jury
CONSULTING
The commitment and passion for design mean that everything is viewed as a generative transformation. That is why, whether working with public or private clients, we provide strategic advice as part of a consultancy relationship, which is often followed by an actual design phase.
International Board of Experts NEBourhoods
New European Bauhaus lighthouse Project
Pascolo was appointed to the International Board of Experts in Munich for one of the six New European Bauhaus pilot projects called NEBourhoods – Neuperlach.
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The working group includes Catalin Berescu (Romanian Academy – Research Institute for Quality of Life), Kees Christiaanse (KCAP, ETH Zürich), Bernd Fesel (Director European Creative Business Network), Simon Güntner (TU Vienna), Maria Hansen (ELIA Art Schools), Anna Heringer (UNESCO Chair BuildCultures), Tanja Jauernig (ADEPT Architecture), Jonathan Natanian (Technion Institute of Technion), Katia Perini (University of Genoa), Tina Saaby (Cityarchitect in Gladsaxe), Milota Sidorova (Metropolitný inštitút Bratislavy), Ivan Tosic (Metropolitan Research Institute), Frank v. d. Hoeven (Director of Research, TU Delft).
Committee for Architectural Culture and Landscape
He has been a Member of the Building Culture and Landscape Committee from 2012 to 2018. The Committee, consisting of three internationally renowned experts from Switzerland, Austria and Italy, is a highly specialised board.
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The Committee basically has an advisory function and is conceived as a service of the provincial administration for private and public building owners and municipal and provincial authorities. Its institutional objective is to enhance the value of the landscape and to raise public awareness of building in a way that is appropriate to the location and the landscape context.
The Committee’s main task is to help address and try to reconcile in the best possible way, concretely, the conflict that is somehow intrinsic in all transformation
projects between private and community interests. The issue is relevant because it addresses the divergence of approach between working for immediate needs and thinking about the long-term civic responsibility of planned transformations.
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
A strong awareness of the civic responsibility involved in practising architecture.
At the heart of every design project lies a strong awareness of the social responsibility inherent in the architectural profession. This forms the foundation of every single project commission, but it is also the driving force behind our consultancy work, as well as the participation in forums and conferences, discussions and round-table talks, and the writing of essays and books.
Commitment for the sustainable development of Venice since 2011
Venice Urban Lab
In 2021, he founded Venice Urban Lab, an independent civic organisation dedicated to the city’s sustainable transformation processes through a holistic and multidisciplinary approach.
The association built a community committed to the future of Venice as a vibrant, lively and well-populated city.
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In addition to its co-founder members, active, committed citizens and professionals and a multidisciplinary group of local and internationalI experts, the association involves students and young professionals, an extensive network of lecturers and scholars from various disciplines and collaborates with associations, craft businesses, local authorities and institutions, schools and universities. Alongside renowned European universities, institutions and organisations, Venice Urban Lab is an official partner of the New European Bauhaus and works to tackle global challenges with local solutions.
WORK AS A PUBLICIST, ESSAYIST, AND WRITER
Contributing to public debate through articles in local newspapers or writing essays for specialist journals or monographs is a way of helping to foster an appreciation of the enduring nature of architecture, which can serve as a point of reference for society.
VENEZIA SECOLO VENTUNO “Visioni e strategie per un rinascimento sostenibile” di Sergio Pascolo
2021
Venezia e il suo destino, l’urbanizzazione globale e la sorte del
pianeta. Temi apparentemente distanti, che si fondono.
Universalmente riconosciuta come una delle più belle città
del mondo, Venezia è oggi minacciata dall’acqua alta e dalla
monocultura turistica, si sta spopolando, sta morendo. Com’è
possibile che se ne accetti o addirittura se ne pianifichi la fine?
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Nello scenario mondiale del ventunesimo secolo, Venezia
potrebbe essere una delle più attrattive città del pianeta
perché, per la sua intrinseca sostenibilità, è un esempio
paradigmatico di città del futuro. Una città compatta a misura
d’uomo, porto delle idee, crocevia di conoscenza e di saperi,
un ponte tra Oriente e Occidente, dove abitare si coniuga con
bellezza, armonia e sostenibilità.
Questo libro spiega come se ne possa immaginare e tracciare
concretamente un rinascimento sostenibile con una riflessione
ampia sull’idea di città inserita nella prospettiva globale che
riguarda l’intero pianeta.
Prefazione di Gianni De Luigi
Postfazione di Reiner Nagel
in copertina “Il futuro dell’utopia della storia”, opera di Gianluigi Colin
Edizioni Anteferma
Stampato a Venezia presso Grafiche Veneziane
Si trova nelle librerie MarcoPolo, Mare di Carta, Toletta, Cluva a Venezia ed è acquistabile online qui
ABITANDO VENEZIA
2015
Every year, a few thousand people leave Venice, giving up the chance to live in one of the world’s most extraordinary urban settings. How can we explain this paradox?
Others Essay
- Städte nach neuen Paradigmen zu gestalten. Essay in: Baukultur ist… ,p. 99-100, Bundesstiftung Baukultur, Potsdam, 2016
- Venise comme modèle, Marghera comme prototype: réflexions sur la ville à venir. Essay in: CONFÉRENCE, n°40, p.367-376, 2015. ISBN: 978-2-912771-76-6
- Compact Buildings for a Mixed-city, Compact city through Mixed-Buildings. Essay in: ENERGIAE: Bedrohung oder Chance für die europäische Stadtlandschaft ? p. 188-195, TUM, München, 2015. ISBN: 978-3-941370-68-5
- Venezia come modello, Marghera come prototipo. Essay in: Territorio – Rivista del Politecnico di Milano, vol. 67, p. 103-106, 2013. ISSN: 1825-8689
- Marghera e Venezia riunite dal futuro. Essay in: Trasporti e cultura, vol. 36, p. 44-53, 2013. ISSN: 1971-6524
- CK TOWN – CLAUS EN KAAN. Editore Libria – collana Arianuova, 2013. Text introduction – curated by: Sergio Pascolo. ISBN: 978-88-6764-014-0
- Da Logos a Olos. Essay in: Stato di necessità – matter of necessity, 93-94, Edizioni Architettando, Cittadella (VI), 2012. ISBN: 978-88-906968-0-0
- Abitando Venezia. vol. 1, p. 5-34, Corte del Fontego, Venezia, 2012. ISBN: 9788895124261
- The amphibious city as a urban model: Sustainable development of Venice, city of water, and its amphibious
metropolitan area. Essay in: Water, Climate Change and Architecture. p. 125-131, B. Albrecht and A. Magrin, Università Iuav di Venezia, 2011. ISBN: 9788887697681 - Naturale, essenziale, complesso: verso nuove forme di costruito per l‘uomo del XXI secolo. Essay in: AA.VV. , Equivivere per un‘architettura sostenibile. p. 41-43, Il Poligrafo, Padova, 2010. ISBN: 978-88-7115-693-4
- Nuove forme di costruito: essenziale, naturale, complesso. Essay in: AA.VV. Strategie per il progetto della città sostenibile, 42-51, Marsilio Editori, Venezia, 2010
- A Human city: one house-one family-one three. Essay in: Quaderni Iuav 45 WORKSHOP 2005, p. 120-125, IUAV – Il Poligrafo, Venezia – Padova, 2006. ISBN: 88-7115-524-6
- Architetture possibili in paesaggi suburbani. Essay in: Nuovi Corsi 2004 laboratori intensivi di progettazione. IUAV – Il Poligrafo, Venezia – Padova, 2005. ISBN: 88-7115-477-0