Elena Todella

Elena Todella is a PhD student in “Architecture. History and Project” at Politecnico di Torino.Her research is about decision processes in complex urban and architectural transformations – followed from the inside – in their decisions, negotiations, design practices, by focusing on both architectural design and decision making levels, through a multidisciplinary approach informed by ethnography and “ecology of practices”. Her work follows, over the course of two years, the “Masterplan di Ateneo” project about the transformation of the Politecnico di Torino urban campuses, a current process in which she is also involved as a Project Team’s member. The research shows how the decision process involved different actors (university bodies, technical office, administrative office, architects and researchers, city council members) and analyses how a variety of practices influences the process itself, with a focus on architectural design and projects as negotiation tools.