Born in Jordan and raised in the United Arab Emirates, I am a London-based Palestinian Architect and multi-disciplinary researcher. I obtained my qualifications in Architecture from the University of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Art, and the Architectural Association. My practice primarily involves the digital reconstruction of Palestinian Architecture in Yafa before the Nakba, using a diverse range of archival materials and personal testimonies from Palestinian exiles. Through drawings, renders, and animations, it charts a virtual return to my now-absent Palestinian hometown, Al-Manshiyya.

IG: @designs.by.zain

Thanos Kastritis is an incorrigible Athenian and urban wonderer (sic). He escaped academia with a Phd in social theory.

IG: @somehow_visual

Lucrezia Ludovici studies architecture between Iuav University of Venice and Politecnico di Milano. She was elected as a representative to the Iuav Student Senate and BoD for four years, where she combined political activism with collective architectural practice. Today, she continues to pursue her ideas, values and initiatives within the Alta Scuola Politecnica XXII cycle.

Urban researcher

IG: @tigliosof  

I’m Valeria, I’m 24 and I’m from Cerignola, a medium sized town located in the Italian deep South, Puglia. I’m currently completing my master’s degree in Architettura e Disegno Urbano at Politecnico di Milano. During my studies I had two Erasmus experiences in Granada and São Paulo, Brazil. These days I’m fighting the well known feeling of saudade. In the future I would like to focus on urban studies and landscape design.

Ilaria Palmieri is a spatial designer and PhD candidate at Roma Tre University, Department of Architecture, City and Landscape. Based between Italy and the Netherlands, she explores dwelling practices, in particular in contexts of migration, and participatory spatial politics. Her research combines architectural analysis, ethnography, and participatory mapping to foreground the active role of people in designing their domestic spaces, while also informing housing policy. Her work has been exhibited at the Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico City, the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam and the Dutch Design Week, among others. In 2022, Ilaria co-founded the research and design duo Common Ground Practice. She co-edited They Asked Me to Design a House, I Asked Them to Design a Home (Set Margins’, 2025) and is a 2025 Graham Foundation Grantee.

website: ilariapalmieri.com

Gabriele Pasqui teaches Urban Policies at Politecnico di Milano. He was Director of the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies from 2013 to 2019. He is President of the Scientific Committee of Urban@it, National center for urban policy studies. His research interests include urban policies and governance processes and the dynamics of transformation of the contemporary city. 

Post-doctoral Researcher at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU) in Politecnico di Milano, holding a Ph.D. in Urban Planning, Design, and Policy. Strongly interested in interdisciplinary research and critical thinking, data collection and analysis methods, and cartographic representation methods. Attracted to matters regarding the relationship between the human body and the environment (either built or natural); slow travel and tourism; active and slow mobility; walkability and bikeability; social sciences and environmental psychology. Passionate about (visual) storytelling through various media, from text and photography to hand drawing and sculpture.

website: dafniriga.com / IG: @dafniriga / Urbinary

Born and raised in Napoli, with a Master Degree in Local Development at the University of Bologna, I’m researching on urban studies, reconversion of abandoned city spaces, and urban commons. 

IG: @eleschip / linkedin: Elena Schipani

Tommaso Tusi works as urban planning consultant for the municipal company AMAT (Agenzia Mobilità Ambiente e Territorio), supporting the Municipality of Milan. Between 2021 and 2025, he worked at private and public urban planning companies, attempting to develop maps for municipal-scale spatial planning. He studied urban planning at the Politecnico di Milano, trying to focus his territorial knowledge on the normative and historical-artistic components, particularly for Milan. He continues to maintain and strengthen this approach in its current position, which consists on technical support for medium planning at the Municipality of Milan. In parallel, he draws and photographs, to interpret and synthesize the spatial phenomena he experiences.

IG: @masotusi1