Dr Marianna Marchesi

I am responsible for the development of a European Commission-funded H2020-MSCA-IF (2018-2020) with the contribution of Arup Foresight (London, UK) on the implementation of the circular economy in the design of social housing.

I hold a Master of Architecture at the University of Ferrara (Italy), and later received a Master of Science in Sustainable Buildings at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy). Here, I also obtained a Ph.D. in Sustainable Energy and Technologies focused on Design Research for the design development of mass-customised modular houses in collaboration with MIT (USA) where I spent a research year.

As a researcher assistant, I collaborated at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano on the development of sustainable high-performance building designs and technologies for two years. I also served as a teaching assistant in Architectural Design courses at the IUAV University (Italy) for three years, and at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy) supporting undergraduate and postgraduate students in design studio activities.

As an architect, I initially worked in architectural firms for four years, and then, as a freelance architect for another four years, collaborating with building contractors, technicians and suppliers on the implementation of full-integrated high-quality buildings.

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Research interests

I am interested in the implementation of a sustainable, resilient and efficient built environment by the application of a circular economy approach combined to advanced design tools and industrial processes on the development of innovative building systems and components.

Research projects

H2020 MSCA IF 2017 – CircuBED: Promoting sustainability in social housing through circular economy and social innovation

In cities around the world, housing demand is high and predicted to increase. Cities struggle with the challenge of providing housing to low and middle-income populations at reasonable costs. In addition, the built environment remains wasteful despite progress in energy efficiency. New approaches are needed to develop solutions that provide housing for citizens of different income groups and their changing needs in efficient buildings with reduced resources consumption and waste generation while social and economic growth is boosted.

This project proposes the application of a circular economy approach combined with social innovation for dealing with this complex challenge. The research will involve a social housing community in London for rethinking an interior system of new social houses focusing on components frequently personalised, maintained, repaired and replaced. A kitchen, as a key example, will be redesigned as a hybrid combination of products and services.

The solution will be developed to allow the community to easily and locally personalise, maintain, refurbish and remanufacture it in order to minimise waste and material consumption and maximise social and economic benefits for the community. This opens a space for social innovation: a social enterprise will be envisioned within the community to involve members in locally-based production/construction, adjustment, refurbishment and remanufacturing activities (by a Fab-Lab).

This initiative will also promote return mechanisms as well as provide training, space and tools for use (by a Library of Things). In this way, residents may be engaged in DIY activities giving them a sense of home ownership, ensuring care, and encouraging a sense of community. This experiment will be finally assessed to evaluate a new means to boost sustainability by linking a new way of producing, a new way of consuming, and new kinds of relationship between people and between people and the environment through circular economy and social innovation.