Giuseppe Ferrarella

Giuseppe Ferrarella is an architect and researcher whose work traces how buildings, streets, and terrain carry the memory of past forms into the urban present. He earned his doctorate in Architectural and Urban Composition at Roma Tre University, where his dissertation explored how the ground—its modifications, slopes, and patterns—shapes the architecture of a city over time.

Based at the University of Palermo, Giuseppe is part of the ICADA [International Center for Architectural Design and Archaeology] research group, which investigates urban morphology, landscape, and architectural design in Mediterranean contexts. Over the past decade, he has led and contributed to numerous design studios and workshops focused on historic and evolving cities. His 2023 book Palermo. Forme del suolo, Architettura della città investigates how the subterranean rhythms of soil and topography inform Palermo’s urban form today, offering a fresh perspective on continuity, transformation, and the “living traces” beneath surface façades.

He divides his time between Palermo and Rome, working on research, publications, and design projects that explore the dialogue between old and new in the Mediterranean cityscape.