(1989) Francesco Marras, architect and phD in Civil Engineering and Architecture.

He obtained his PhD in 2017 in co-direction with the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture of Toulouse, with a thesis entitled Water and Soil management, new approaches to architectural design, supervisors prof. C. Atzeni and prof. A. Sanna (University of Cagliari) and prof. Rémi Papillault (ENSA Toulouse).

His field of research consists in the relationship between rural landscape and project, with particular attention to fragile contexts, at hydrogeological risk. His research focuses on historical construction techniques of water management and contemporary practices. He explores the topic of rurality through diversified experiences between research, teaching and design. Since 2013 he has carried out research and teaching assistance at the University of Cagliari, in the fields of architecture and landscape design, in architectural design and construction laboratories, in national and international summer schools. In 2018 he was a visiting fellow at the University of La Rioja in Argentina. Since 2018 he has been responsible for the optional WATER MODULE course. Ecologies, techniques and design with which he explores the relationship between project and water in rural landscapes, addressing the problems of drought risk and flood risk in complex contexts on the island. Since 2022 he has been teaching the Corso integrato Edificio in the LP01 degree course and since 2023 of the Laboratorio Progetto e Costruzione 3 in the L17 degree course in Scienze dell'Architettura.

Since 2014 he has participated in research projects that combine the theme of architectural design with research on places and landscapes. The experiences of participation in research on rural landscapes in Sardinia (winner of a two-year research grant since 2018), research on Sardinian wetlands and transformation projects, consultancy for the municipalities of Ghilarza, Neoneli and Mogoro and finally the inclusion of nuraghi in the provisional list of UNESCO.

The consultancy activity also involved the project at the building scale, highlighting the renovation experiences of Antonio Gramsci's house in Ghilarza, the Macciotta clinics, a large building from the 1950s in Cagliari, the Capra distilleries, a large complex factory in Quartu Sant'Elena and the Mandolesi Pavilion, a modern building built by Enrico Mandolesi on the Engineering Campus.

His applied research activity and his architectural projects have received awards and mentions in several national and international architecture competitions, including Europan and school building competitions in the regional and national territory.

Based on some reflections begun in the doctorate, then in research and architecture work, he participated in the annual seminars of the scientific society of Technical Architecture ArTec and on the recovery of historical architecture ReUSO. He has also participated as a speaker in several important scientific events for landscape scholars, such as ISUF (International Seminar of Urban Form), ECLAS (European Council of Architecture of Landscape Schools), EURAU (European Research in Architecture and Urbanism), and the conference Espace rural & Projet espacial, an international network that deals with landscape and rural planning.

Bonarcado, 30 04 2023