Mariacristina Loi

CEAR-11/A -

Maria Cristina Loi graduated with a degree in Architecture from the Facoltà di Architettura, Università La Sapienza, in Rome, in 1986. Her dissertation was on Thomas Jefferson and American Architecture.

In 1989 she received a Master of Arts from the Art History and Archaeology Department of Columbia University in New York, where she was the recipient of the “President Fellowship” grant. While at Columbia, she undertook a series of studies on Italian Arts during the Renaissance and Baroque, as well as French and English architecture in the XVIII-XIX  centuries, which were all main topics within the program at Columbia University. At the same time, she continued on with her research on American Architecture and its relationship with European Architecture.

She then earned a Ph.D. in Storia dell’Architettura from the Università “La Sapienza”, Rome in 1995. Her dissertation focused on Architecture in Milan and its relationship with Rome in the first half of the XVI century.

Her main topics of research are:
– Italian architecture during the XVI-XX centuries: themes such as tradition and innovation; permanent characters; and treatises.
In this field, a large part of her research has been dedicated to Milan, its identity and its relationship with other cultures and cities;  
– American Architecture, in particular  the work of Thomas Jefferson: how European architecture influenced and shaped American Architecture; the phenomenon of Palladianism in America;
– Architectural drawing, both in modern and contemporary architecture, and the interconnection with visual arts.

In 1990 she began teaching and researching at the Politecnico di  Milano.  

In 2002 she became Assistant Professor.
She is a member of the Board of the PhD course of the Department  ABC of the Politecnico di Milano, and a member of the Scientific Board of the Unesco Chair of the Politecnico di Milano, Polo Territoriale di Mantova.
For many years she has been on the editorial board of the magazine “Il Disegno di Architettura”, directed by Luciano  Patetta.

In 2016 she became a member of the editorial board of the “Annali of the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca”.

In 2019 she became Associate Professor.

She has collaborated and is still collaborating with institutions such as:
Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome
Archivio del Moderno, Mendriso, Switzerland
Instituto de Arquitectura e Urbanismo USP, Sao Carlos, Brazil

She is on the board of the International Center for Jefferson Studies in Charlottesville, VA.

She published several essays and took part to several conferences and exhibition, both as a participant and curator.