About

At the Arch // Struct Group we explore the opportunities offered by prefabrication, lightweight steel systems, computational tools, advanced manufacturing and robotics in creating innovative low carbon, circular and resilient construction systems.

Group head: Ornella Iuorio

Ornella Iuorio is Associate Professor in Architectural Engineering at the Polytechnic of Milan (IT). Formerly, she was Full professor and Chair in Architecture and Structures at the University of Leeds, UK, and Program Leader in Architectural Engineering. She now serves as Visiting Professor at University of Leeds.

Professor Iuorio has an established reputation in academia and industry for innovations in: sustainable design of lightweight structures, and resilient built environment. With her group, AS_Group, She explores the opportunities offered by computational tools, prefabrication, lightweight steel systems, advanced manufacturing and robotics in creating innovative low carbon and resilient construction systems. In recognition of her work, she was awarded as one of the “Top 50 Women in Engineering: “Invertors & Innovators”, and her work has been exposed in multiple venues, with the latter, currently exposed at Venice Biennale 2023, where she presented “Set in transition” a robotically assembled dry stack self-standing shell. Professor Iuorio holds a portfolio of funded research projects in excess of 6.5Million Euros, funded by the EPSRC, ESRC, Innovate UK and British Academy. She has also led a World University Network (WUN_BRIC), and held a fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, USA). She serves as Associate Editor for the Journal “Architecture, Structure and Construction”, and as scientific committee member of many international conferences (like ICSA, fib, SEEDS).

Iuorio has published more than 100 papers in international journals, conference proceedings and edited books.