Faculty

Profile

Fabrizio Furiassi is an architect, researcher, and educator from Rome based in New York and Basel. Since 2010, he has collaborated internationally with cutting-edge architecture firms and cultural institutions to disseminate critical design culture. Furiassi holds master’s degrees from Columbia University GSAPP and La Sapienza University of Rome. He also studied at the Moscow Institute of Architecture, and was a research fellow at the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design. Furiassi is the founding director of Distributed Architecture, a New York-based design and research practice focusing on participatory design projects, and recipient of the NYSCA & The Architectural League of NY's Architecture + Design Independent Projects Grant (2022/2023), and the Columbia GSAPP Incubator Prize (2021/2022 & 2022/2023). He teaches urban research within the MA in Critical Urbanisms at the University of Basel, where is pursuing doctoral studies as fellow of the Swiss National Science Foundation. He is the programme head of the Architectural Association Visiting School Basel, Switzerland, and was a unit tutor at the Visiting School Seoul, South Korea. Currently, he is an Art&Science Fellow of the Swiss Institute in Palermo, Italy. At The New School, Furiassi has taught architectural and urban history/theory, design studio, and transdisciplinary courses for designers and planners. 

Degrees Held

PhD Candidate, Architectural History, University of Basel. 

MS AAD, Columbia University GSAPP.

MArch, La Sapienza University of Rome.

BSc, La Sapienza University of Rome.

Professional Affiliation

Distributed Architecture NY, Founder & Director.

Recent Publications

“Mafia Matters” in Log 53: Why Italy Now? (New York, NY: Anyone Corporation, fall 2021), pp. 117-122.

Performances and Appearances

2024, Lecture, "Designing with Communities: Uni(wi)fied, An Alternative Internet Infrastructure for Harlem, NYC," at Spazio Unico, Milano Arch Week/Triennale di Milano.

2024, Lecture, "Mafia Concrete: A Material History of Power in Sicily, 1945-1992," at Politecnico di Milano, School of Architecture.

2022, Moderator, "Reciprocal Landscapes: Stories of Material Movements," lecture + talk with Jane Mah Hutton (University of Waterloo), at University of Basel, Urban Studies division.

Research Interests

Furiassi's interests lie at the intersection of architectural history, urban politics, and material culture. Rooted in primary research, his work investigates buildings and environments to question canonical narratives that have privileged certain authors and contexts as epicenters of cultural production and historical change. Furiassi's current research focuses on material flows and traces the urbanization of Sicily during Italy’s postwar building boom, elucidating the social and spatial impacts of the Mafia’s concrete developments. Besides his academic endeavors, Furiassi is versed in participatory design practices that connect and strengthen communities. Ongoing architectural projects include an alternative, free wifi infrastructure, that centers and empowers the residents of public housing in East Harlem, New York City.

Awards And Honors

Swiss Institute, Palermo Calling: Art & Science Fellowship 2024/2025

Columbia University, GSAPP Incubator Prize 2021//2022 & 2022/2023

ArchLeague NY & NYSCA, Architecture + Design Independent Projects Grant 2022/2023

Swiss National Science Foundation, Mobility Research Grant 2022/2023

Swiss National Science Foundation, Doc.CH 2022/2026